Sanctuaries/facilities housing chimpanzees in the United States, Canada, and the E.U., and Japan (excluding zoos and laboratories)

Fauna Foundation (www.faunafoundation.org)

The Fauna Foundation was established as a not-for-profit organization in 1997 by Gloria Grow (Project R&R Honorary Co-Chair) and her partner Richard Allan, DVM. Fauna had rescued hundreds of domestic, farmed, and exotic animals for year prior to that, then in 1997, Grow responded to a plea to take in 15 chimpanzees from biomedical research, many of whom had been infected with HIV, from the now closed Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) in New York. Since then, Fauna rescued 4 other chimpanzees from zoos, three of which had a history of use in research as children.

Life for Fauna’s chimpanzees has dramatically and continually improved since their arrival. The sanctuary is committed to ever expanding the chimpanzees’ facilities and enrichment of their daily lives. Recent projects have included the creation of an overhead “skywalk” tunnel system through which they can explore much of the property, and the building of lush islands that permit life without bars. At Fauna, the chimpanzees make choices, often for the first time in their lives – choices about where they will go, what they will eat, and whom they will befriend. Fauna currently has 13 chimpanzees in residence.

In recent years, Fauna grieved the deaths of Sophie (2008), Jeannie (2007), Billy Jo (2006), Donna Rae (2005), Annie (2002) and Pablo (2001). Their sudden and untimely deaths were surrounded by complications and compromises in their health from decades of research. The loss of these six special chimpanzees has made Gloria Grow an even stronger advocate for Project R&R as they remind us of the urgency to get the remaining chimpanzees out of U.S. labs before it is too late for them.

Save the Chimps (www.savethechimps.org)

Save the Chimps (originally known as the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care) was founded in 1997 by biological anthropologist Carole Noon, PhD, (Project R&R Advisory Board member) in response to the U.S. Air Force announcing that they were ending their use of chimpanzees in research. Instead of being released into sanctuary, the majority of the Air Force chimpanzees were sent to a biomedical laboratory for continuing use in research. Save the Chimps sued the Air Force and after a year-long legal battle, they were successful in gaining custody of 21 chimpanzees, some of whom had been originally captured in Africa and used for air and space research. The 21 chimpanzees were relocated to the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida.

In 2002, Dr. Noon rescued 266 more chimpanzees from the notorious Coulston Foundation, a private biomedical research lab in New Mexico with a horrific history of Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations. Save the Chimps took control of the laboratory facility and has steadily improved the lives of the chimpanzees that remain there while they await construction of their permanent home in Florida. As of 2009, roughly half of the chimpanzees in NM have been relocated to Florida. In total, Save the Chimps provides sanctuary to 282 chimpanzees.

Save the Chimps has completed their islands, where one day all the former New Mexico chimpanzees will join the former Air Force chimpanzees and others, and live in groups in protected open spaces. The transfers are happening as quickly as possible. The process demands an enormous amount of work to form new and stable groups, an expertise Save the Chimps is known for and without which the housing of so many chimpanzees would be nearly impossible. For chimpanzees bred in captivity, Save the Chimps is their first taste of life without bars and for many others, their first opportunity to live in a large family group. And for those captured in Africa, who may have roamed free with their mothers, it will be the first time to see their world without bars since then.

Center for Great Apes (Center for Orangutan and Chimpanzee Conservation)
(www.prime-apes.org)

This beautiful Florida sanctuary is home to 42 great apes, including Butch and Chipper, two chimpanzees, and Mari, an orangutan, all former laboratory subjects. The sanctuary sits on 100 lush acres resembling tropical forests. The apes all live in species-specific social groups in large outdoor enclosures where they spend much of their time. Residents are provided with an extensive 300 foot overhead tunnel system, which allows the chimpanzees and orangutans to travel at will throughout the grounds. During the two hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004, the Center lost nearly 50 percent of its trees, which provided much-needed shade for residents. Extensive replanting and the new plantings have once again created a wonderful tropical setting. Director Patti Ragan (Project R&R Advisory Board member) is committed to helping all great apes including those from research, though the majority of her residents are from the entertainment and “pet” industries. The Center is currently home to 28 chimpanzees and 14 orangutans.

Primate Rescue Center (www.primaterescue.org)

The Primate Rescue Center (PRC) began as a home for rescued monkeys in the 1980s, and expanded to become a home for chimpanzees in 1996.

When the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) began releasing some of their chimpanzees to sanctuary to avoid their transfer to the dreaded Coulston Foundation, director April Truitt (Project R&R Advisory Board member) took seven juveniles – ranging in age from one and a half to six years old (Ike, the oldest boy of the group, had spent the most time with his mother – a mere year and a half - before he was taken to the LEMSIP nursery where humans raised young chimpanzees to prepare them for active research protocols). The babies are now young adults and have been joined at the PRC by four adult chimpanzees who were privately “owned” before their rescue. In August 2006, the chimpanzees moved into expanded living quarters in a brand new enclosure.

Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI)
(www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci)

CHCI’s family of three chimpanzees – Tatu, Loulis and Dar - enjoy space, attention, and an exceptional standard of care. Originally, the group consisted of five chimpanzees, but Moja died in 2002 and Washoe (the first nonhuman to acquire human sign languageThe) died in 2007. These chimpanzees are all proficient in American Sign Language (ASL). CHCI follows the basic tenets of dedication to the chimpanzees: no breeding, no transfer to other facilities, and a lifetime commitment to their residents’ care and well-being. The institution’s main focus is on enrichment for the chimpanzees, and its policy is that non-invasive observational studies come second to the needs of the primates.

Roger S. Fouts, PhD, and Deborah H. Fouts, MS (Project R&R Advisory Board members) and their staff are staunch defenders of chimpanzees. They argue strenuously against the captivity of chimpanzees and are committed to ending the use of chimpanzees in all forms of entertainment and research. Experts in the area of chimpanzee and human communication, the Foutses educate audiences about the harm done to chimpanzees in all areas of research, including cognitive, language, and other behavioral studies.

Chimps, Inc. (http://www.chimps-inc.org/)

Chimps, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to furthering chimpanzee conservation through education. The sanctuary is now home to eight chimpanzees, veterans of research labs, parks/zoos, and entertainment. Topo, a 200-pound alpha male, was the first chimpanzee to arrive at the Oregon-based facility in October of 1995.

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
(www.chimpsanctuarynw.org)

Founded in 2003, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is located on a 26-acre farm in Central Washington, between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, approximately 100 miles east of Seattle. The sanctuary will welcomed its first seven residents on June 13, 2008 when Annie, Burrito, Foxy, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra were released from the Buckshire Corporation laboratory in Pennsylvania.

The Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch
(http://blackbeautyranch.org/)

Founded in 1979 by the late author, animal advocate, founder of the Fund for Animals, and former NEAVS President Cleveland Amory, Black Beauty Ranch provides nearly 1,300 acres as home to more than 1,300 animals. The residents have been rescued from biomedical research laboratories, slaughterhouses, trophy hunting ranches, circuses, roadside zoos, the exotic pet trade, and from public lands where they were threatened with extermination by the federal government.

The Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch currently provides a permanent, safe home for three chimpanzees: Kitty, rescued from the Coulston Foundation; and Lulu and Midge, both rescued from LEMSIP. It was also home to their companion Nim Chimpsky who, like Washoe at CHCI, learned American Sign Language.

Nim was an extraordinary chimpanzee who was raised as a member of a human family until he was approximately two years old. He was part of a cross-fostering/language acquisition study in which he learned to communicate using American Sign Language. Language acquisition research in great apes is considered by many scientists to have been a dead end. Consequently, as grant money for sign language research dried up, Nim - like many of the language study-apes including Booee, Ally, Bruno, and others - was destined for a cage in a biomedical research lab. He was to be used in hepatitis research at NYU.

Appalled when he learned about Nim’s unjust fate, Cleveland Amory offered Black Beauty Ranch as a more fitting lifetime home. Fortunately for Nim, he was rescued from a fate in intrusive biomedical research. He lived at Black Beauty Ranch for the rest of his life until his passing in 2000. He was 26 years old when he died. Currently, Black Beauty Ranch is home to three other chimpanzees: Kitty, rescued from the Coulston Foundation; and Lulu and Midge, both rescued from LEMSIP.

Chimp Haven (www.chimphaven.org)

Chimp Haven is the first and, so far, only facility awarded a contract under the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection Act (CHIMP Act). In 2000, the CHIMP Act was signed into law, creating a system for the retirement of “surplus,” government-owned chimpanzees no longer needed for research. Formerly, to be eligible for government funding, a facility had to agree to certain conditions, including the return of chimpanzees to research if deemed necessary by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). However, in December of 2007, the CHIMP Act was finally amended with the passage of the “Chimp Haven is Home” Act. This critical amendment now secures the permanent placement of all chimpanzees “retired” to facilities that accept federal funding.

Chimp Haven promises to provide a comfortable life for the chimpanzees sent there now, with assured permanent protection from any future research. Chimp Haven received 90 percent of the costs to establish the facility from the NIH and the remaining 10 percent from private donations. It will continue to receive 75 percent of its operating costs from NIH with the remaining 25 percent raised from private donations. The facility currently has 134 chimpanzees, with a total of 152 having been retired there since 2005. It is planned to accommodate up to 200 chimpanzees.

The Board of Directors for Chimp Haven includes primate researchers and veterinarians. Their current chairman, Thomas Butler, DVM, MS, DACLAM, is a nonhuman primate veterinarian. Dr. Butler was formally the head of the Department of Laboratory Animal Medicine at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio. Dr. Butler also worked with the U.S. Air Force in its chimpanzee research at Holloman Air Force Base.

Wild Animal Orphanage (www.wildanimalorphanage.org)

A division of The Animal Sanctuary of the United States (ASUS)/Wild Animal Orphanage is home to 17 HIV-infected chimpanzees released to the facility from the now-defunct Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). The facility states that it uses Biosafety Level 2 procedures and that the chimpanzees live in indoor-outdoor enclosures in social groups.

Primarily Primates, Inc. (PPI) (http://www.primarilyprimates.org/)

Primarily Primates, Inc. is located on 75 acres and is home to 450 animals. they have 65 chimpanzees, 47 of which were used in research. Their first chimpanzees from research arrived in 1986. the facility was placed in receivership by the Texas Attorney General and is now under the direction of a new Board of Directors.

Wildlife Waystation (www.wildlifewaystation.org)

The Wildlife Waystation, incorporated in 1976 and located on 160 acres north of the San Fernando Valley in California, is home to more than 400 animals, including some 54 chimpanzees – some retired from the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). Chimpanzees are housed in indoor and outdoor enclosures in small social groups.

AAP Foundation (www.aap.nl/english/index.php)

Located in Almere, Netherlands, the AAP is a European sanctuary that provides professional care, rehabilitation, and housing for exotic animals. For over thirty years, this not-for-profit organization has served as a safe haven for animals who came from illegal trade, research laboratories, circuses, illegal zoos, or from private people as exotic pets.

In 2005, AAP built a Chimpanzee Complex in Almere to provide permanent shelter and re-socialization habitat for chimpanzees from laboratories. In September 2006, 28 chimpanzees infected with HIV and/or Hepatitis C were transferred from the Biomedical Primate Research Center (BPRC) in Rijswijk, Netherlands to the AAP sanctuary in Almere. This occurred as part of an agreement with the Dutch government, who in 2002 banned the use of great apes in biomedical research. The Government also agreed to provide funding for both building and the lifetime care for the chimpanzees. 33 non-infected chimpanzees from BPRC were transferred to De Beekse Bergen, which is a safari wildlife park in the Netherlands. Currently, AAP houses a total of 53 chimpanzees.

In order for AAP to accommodate the increasing number of non-human primates they receive who require permanent housing- particularly chimpanzees, AAP created a retirement plan that includes the construction of a Life Time Care Center called Primadomus, which is located on nearly 450 acres near Alicante, Spain. When the center opens, it will welcome its first re-socialized group of 10 healthy chimpanzees. Eventually, Primadomus will be able to accommodate up to 150 animals, 70 being chimpanzees. The 28 infected chimpanzees formally from BPRC will remain at the Netherlands AAP special care facility because of their infectious status, which does not allow them to leave The Netherlands.

Uto Sanctuary (http://www.cs-uto.org/)

The Uto Sanctuary is located in the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. It is home to 72 chimpanzees, all formerly used by a pharmaceutical company, which runs the sanctuary after ending their use of chimpanzees in 2006. Japan placed an unofficial ban on invasive chimpanzee research that same year. The sanctuary was an initiative of Kyoto University and Nagoya-based Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co. pharmaceutical company. Although invasive research is prohibited, the Uto Sanctuary guidelines state that “comprehensive studies and experimental research” involving the chimpanzees is allowed.

Last revised: 07/13/09