More than 300 residents spend their retirement years at Chimp Haven, a sanctuary for chimpanzees, that is spread out across 200 acres in Northwest Louisiana. Correspondent Conor Knighton reports on the special care given to chimps of all ages, many of whom have given much of their lives to scientific research.

Keithville

Chimp Haven, located in northwest Louisiana, is the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, spanning 200 acres and housing more than 300 chimpanzees. Many of these animals previously spent decades involved in biomedical research, including space programs and disease studies. The sanctuary was established following the Chimp Act, which mandated care for retired research chimps and provided federal funding for their upkeep.

The facility is designed to ensure the well-being of its residents, with specialized care, regular veterinary checkups, and carefully managed social groupings. Staff interact with the chimps using strict health protocols to minimize disease transmission. With the National Institutes of Health ending support for chimpanzee research, Chimp Haven continues to provide a permanent home for these animals, recognizing their contributions to science and emphasizing the responsibility to care for them throughout their lives.

A visit to chimpanzee sanctuary Chimp Haven

As our Conor Knighton can report, humans aren't alone in their quest for the good life. Spread out across 200 acres in northwest Louisiana, Chimp Haven is the world's largest chimpanzee sanctuary. Every detail from the moat to the meal plan has been designed to ensure the more than 300 residents here are getting the most out of their retirement years. A lot of the chimpanzees that are here at Chimp Haven, they spent decades in biomedical research, but Chimp Haven provides their happy endings. Raina Smith is the president and CEO of Chimp Haven. Chimpanzees have been used in research for decades. Back in the 1950s and 60s, they were part of the NASA space program. Then in the 70s, kind of moved into infectious disease. They are ideal surrogates for men in tests involving potentially hazardous conditions. Chimpanzees were instrumental in the development of everything from rocket ships to the hepatitis B vaccine. In the 1980s, they were used in HIV research. But precisely because of how similar they are to us, attitudes about chimp research began to change. In 2000, Congress passed the Chimp Act, establishing a sanctuary system to care for retired research chimpanzees. You've done a good job with this. It's a humane bill. The bill required the National Institutes of Health to kick in 75% of the funding for the retirees. It costs around $25,000 a year to care for each chimp, and the banana budget alone is impressive. They go through an annual 117,000 of them. Colony Director Michelle Reiniger, Mike Olvestaf here, All right, Miss Fanny. knows the chimps by name. There you go, puppy. For you, what is it about chimps that make them different than any other species? I think it's their personalities. I like the sassy ones. I like the ones who you have to really work hard to get them to respond to you and to trust you. And when you get that trust, there's no feeling like it in the world to have that bond with an animal like that. Hi, Sparkles. Hi, Sparkles. To minimize disease transmission, staff only interact with the chimps while wearing masks and gloves. Good job. Hey, guys! The animals receive regular checkups from veterinarian Raven Jackson. Chimpanzee medicine is challenging. It's like working with a really strong toddler. Each day I start with, am I smarter than the chimp? Are there days where you feel like they outsmart you? Oh, all the time. I work for them, and they don't work for me. Since Dr. Jackson's patients were retired at different ages, plus a fewer rescues or former pets, she treats a wide variety of conditions. If you were a doctor at a retirement home for humans, you're not seeing anybody until they're in the later stages of life, but you have much younger chimps here as well. Yeah, so as young as seven, all the way up until the mid-60s. It keeps things very interesting, and I think it also keeps things interesting for the chimpanzees because you're able to put them in these very dynamic social groupings where you're going to see various age ranges. Each of the 30 or so groups has its own characteristics and alpha leader. They don't always get along, but they're quick to make up. They always want to reconcile, right? Very quickly. And so it taught me, like, hey, it isn't worth holding onto anything. Like, learn from the chimps. One day, a sanctuary like Chimp Haven may be unnecessary. Ten years ago, the NIH announced that it would no longer support any biomedical research on chimpanzees. While there are still some new arrivals, animals that the labs had initially deemed too challenging to move, eventually, there will no longer be chimpanzees retiring from careers they never chose. Do you think we owe a debt to the chimpanzees? Chimpanzees have given so much of their life to science, and we feel like it's our responsibility and the government's responsibility to care for those chimps for the rest of their life.

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