REPORT #1737
"A simple choice is something they never had before. The
Sum total of what we've done if given them a choice."
Carole Noon, Ph.D.
Save the Chimps, Ft. Pierce, FL
SAVE THE CHIMPS
BACKGROUND: Chimpanzees are our closest living relative and share all but 1.4 percent of our DNA. Fifty years ago, there were about one million chimpanzees in Africa. Today, there are as few as 150,000 left in the wild. They are an endangered species that are completely extinct in four of the countries they used to inhabit. There are about 2,900 chimpanzees living in the United States -- but of course, none in the wild. About 1,700 of the chimps in the U.S. are used for biomedical testing; 500 live in zoos; 200 are used for entertainment and about 500 live in sanctuaries. Chimpanzees have large brains and a wide range of emotions that include joy, anger, grief, sorrow, pleasure, boredom and depression. Like humans, chimpanzees comfort one another by kissing and embracing.
ONE WOMAN'S MISSION: Carole Noon, Ph.D., a primatologist who was inspired by Jane Goodall, has been learning from and fighting for chimpanzees for most of her life. Her lifelong dream was to open a chimpanzee sanctuary -- and in 1997, she did. She established a chimpanzee sanctuary in Ft. Pierce, FL called "Save the Chimps." The United States Air Force announced it was getting out of the "chimpanzee research business" so Dr. Noon put in a bid to gain custody of some of the chimps the Air Force was trying to "unload." She lost the bid and the Air Force sent the chimpanzees to the Coulston Foundation -- a biomedical research lab in New Mexico that had the worst record of any lab in the history of the Animal Welfare Act. Dr. Noon says, "The Air Force decided this was an appropriate home for the chimpanzees that they had used for 40 years. They wanted out and they took whatever out they got. The out they got was despicable." Dr. Noon responded … by suing the Air Force. After a year-long battle, Dr. Noon won custody of 21 chimpanzees in an out-of-court settlement with the Air Force. Those 21 chimpanzees were the first inhabitants of her sanctuary in Florida. One year after she gained custody of those 21 chimpanzees, Dr. Noon got a call from the Coulston Foundation -- it was on the verge of bankruptcy and they asked Dr. Noon if she was interested in buying the laboratory and the buildings. She bought the lab with a 3.7 million dollar grant from the Arcus Foundation. And as part of the agreement, Fred Coulston "donated" his 266 chimpanzees to Dr. Noon's sanctuary.
THE SANCTUARY: Chimpanzees that were once used for biomedical testing, NASA space research, and as crash test dummies are now free to just "be" at the Save the Chimps sanctuary. The Sanctuary is 200 acres, consisting of 12 three-acre islands separated by canals. It is a $4 million a year operation with 91 people behind the scenes who keep it going. To date, 142 of the chimpanzees have been transported from the lab buildings in New Mexico (which are now safe, clean and run by the Save the Chimps Foundation until all the chimps are able to be transferred). The rest are in the process of being transferred across the country. It costs $2,500 to transfer each chimpanzee from New Mexico to Florida.
SMART WOMAN CONTACT:
http://savethechimps.org
