Chimpanzees Find Peace at Save the Chimps

Beneath a blue sky, amidst a peaceful landscape, a chimpanzee sits and flips through the pages of a picture book.

She is one of 221 chimpanzees living at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, where they receive the best of food and medical care, along with personal attention and love. 

Before their rescues, many were subjected to experimentation; others were kept illegally as pets or used in the entertainment industry. Their journeys have been like the chimpanzee version of Dante’s Divine Comedy—from the inferno of laboratories to the paradise of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary has 12 separate habitats known as islands, each with its own adoptive family group of chimpanzees. The daily menu requires two and half tons of fresh produce, much of which is donated by Delray Beach–based Pero Family Farms. The chimps have their own chef, Josh Henderson, and he keeps menus varied to provide enjoyment as well as nutrition.

Save the Chimps was founded in the 1990s by the late primatologist Carole Noon, who gained custody of 21 animals that had been used for research by the Air Force. Interestingly, Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter was a Save the Chimps supporter.

Soon, a biomedical research laboratory in New Mexico went bankrupt and offered to donate 266 more chimpanzees. Noon and her colleagues wondered if they could take them all, but once they met them, they knew they had to try. It was the largest single rescue effort on behalf of chimpanzees in all of history, and they were all brought to the refuge.

CEO Ana Paula Tavares explains that self-determination and individuality are fundamental principles for Save the Chimps. “That’s what we do—we give them a second chance at life.” Each chimpanzee can choose how to spend time: enjoying the sun, roaming through the habitat, visiting with friends or staff, or curling up for a nap.

A moving example of how the chimpanzees react to this new life is found in the story of Cash, who was rescued from a small, privately owned zoo in Ohio where his only outdoor access was through a long, dark tunnel that led to a tiny yard. He may have been afraid of the tunnel, because he never used it; when he arrived at Fort Pierce his skin was pale from lack of sunlight.

Cash soon began to enjoy exploring his island habitat. When the cart full of food first appeared, he danced and “sang,” making joyful sounds. The second time the food cart appeared, he did the same thing. It was as if he couldn’t believe it was back. Getting a cart full of food and treats every day was, it seems, more than he had ever imagined.

The individual personalities of the chimpanzees can be discerned from their behavior. While one chimp enjoys looking at picture books, another always carries a teddy bear. One chimp has a baby monkey toy; when it is time to wash the toy, she gives it to the staff and then waits attentively until they give it back. 

One chimp, named September, has her own “pets,” as Tavares puts it—a remarkable example of just how individual their personalities are. “You will go early in the morning, and you will see her going near the wildflowers and moving as if she is doing tai chi,” Tavares explains. “She is actually trying to catch bees.” Fascinated with honeybees, September will hold them in her hand and put them on her fur to encourage them to walk on her. She will even take a sliced-up piece of hose—called a “tickle stick” because staff members use them to touch and play with the chimps—and turn it into a “bee slide.”

A recent rescue is a chimpanzee named Tonka, whose story was featured in the HBO documentary series Chimp Crazy. Tonka’s background involved being taken from his mother prematurely to be used in Hollywood films, and eventually being kept illegally in a basement cage. There were fears he might never adjust to living a natural life with other chimpanzees. However, after a carefully monitored period of adjustment, Tonka is now a happy part of a 17-chimp group on one of the sanctuary’s islands.

Curator Jenny Paciello recalls, “The older females were pivotal to getting him accepted here.” In a curious twist, one of the other chimps in the group, a male named Cayleb, is actually Tonka’s son. The two seem to have a close bond. Do they have some instinctive idea of the relationship? There is no way to know. In any case, Tavares says, “Tonka is a guy they almost euthanized because they said he could never live with other chimps. And here he is.”

Enrichment is an important part of giving animals full lives, and at the sanctuary, that takes ingenious forms. For example, one famous type of behavior exhibited by chimpanzees on the African savanna is the use of blades of grass as tools; they insert them into termite mounds in order to catch the insects, which they eat. How do you mimic that in Florida? By building artificial termite mounds and filling them with peanut butter. The chimpanzees follow the same pattern of behavior, but instead of getting termites, they find the blades of grass emerge from the mound coated with yummy peanut butter.

Tavares wants to enrich the habitat further by planting trees, bringing the sanctuary closer to conditions chimpanzees would enjoy in the wild. Experts told her this was impossible because the chimps would uproot the saplings, but this has proved not to be the case at all. The chimps are interested in the new plantings, but they are not destructive. One chimp named Yolanda did try to climb a sapling, however. “It started to wobble,” Tavares says, “and you could see her thinking, ‘Maybe it’s not ready yet.’ But it was great, because that’s just what we want them to do.” 

Further plans for sanctuary expansion include building a state-of-the-art veterinary facility. Currently, Tavares says, the sanctuary’s veterinarians are experts who are pioneering new techniques in chimpanzee medicine, but they need a care center that is bigger and better.

It takes a tremendous number of employees, volunteers, and supporters to carry out the sanctuary’s mission. Tavares concludes, “It’s inspiring to see the compassion of donors, the philanthropic community, and our volunteers. Without them, we would not be able to give these chimpanzees a second chance.”

An especially profound second chance is the one that was given to a chimp named Vanilla, who had lived her entire life in laboratory cages and enclosures. When she came to the sanctuary, she was welcomed by a kindly alpha named Dwight, who coaxed her into the open. A now-famous video shows her leaping into his arms and then, finally, looking up.

The expression on her face suggests awe and amazement. For the first time in her life, she is looking at the sky, endless and blue above her.

How to Help

Run. While the Save the Chimps sanctuary is not open to the public, the annual fundraising Chimpathon affords an opportunity to walk/run through the grounds. The chimps often watch the runners curiously.

Give. Save the Chimps would welcome donations of trees from nurseries and garden centers. Gumbo limbo and live oak trees are especially needed, along with mulberry and mango. For more information on donations, contact development coordinator Aquinna Murphy (amurphy@savethechimps.org).

Volunteer. For more information on volunteering, contact volunteer and human resources coordinator Kathryn Curvino (kcurvino@savethechimps.org).