SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (AP) -- Over-the-hill chimpanzees will soon spend their retirement years in a Louisiana old folks home.
Construction has begun on Chimp Haven, planned as the country's only preserve dedicated to chimps who have been retired as entertainers or as subjects of laboratory research. Up to 300 chimps will find themselves on 200 acres (80 hectares) of grass and woods for foraging, climbing and monkeying around.
"A lot of young adult chimpanzees have been born in captivity, and a huge number have never walked on grass, climbed a tree or poked a stick in the mud," said Linda Brent, a behavioral primatologist and Chimp Haven's president. "They haven't had the stimulation they need to grow socially, and that will be part of what they'll need to learn at Chimp Haven."
About 1,600 chimps now live in the United States, most in drug and infectious disease research labs, but they lost their research value. Once the tests are done, a chimp's lab career is usually over.
Animal experts say it's only right to provide the primates -- whose genetic makeup varies less than 1 percent from man's -- with spacious grounds that have facilities to accommodate their high intelligence levels.
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Construction has begun on Chimp Haven, planned as the country's only preserve dedicated to chimps who have been retired as entertainers or as subjects of laboratory research. Up to 300 chimps will find themselves on 200 acres (80 hectares) of grass and woods for foraging, climbing and monkeying around.
"A lot of young adult chimpanzees have been born in captivity, and a huge number have never walked on grass, climbed a tree or poked a stick in the mud," said Linda Brent, a behavioral primatologist and Chimp Haven's president. "They haven't had the stimulation they need to grow socially, and that will be part of what they'll need to learn at Chimp Haven."
About 1,600 chimps now live in the United States, most in drug and infectious disease research labs, but they lost their research value. Once the tests are done, a chimp's lab career is usually over.
Animal experts say it's only right to provide the primates -- whose genetic makeup varies less than 1 percent from man's -- with spacious grounds that have facilities to accommodate their high intelligence levels.
Full Story
Maybe I can get a job.. working for them, as a chimps personal assistant !! :bigthumb: