Chimp Haven Featured on WWL-TV New Orleans!

Tue Apr 29, 2008

By Angela Hill

Every face is a story.  Whether born in Africa or born in a cage, each of the chimps at Chimp Haven has spent decades in medical labs.  Each has contributed to the understanding of polio, Hepatitis and HIV.  They've done their job.  Now they are free and they are home.

“I saw them when they were in a situation where they would only rock and bang their head against the wall,” said Dr. Linda Brent, director and president of Chimp Haven in Shreveport.

"I never would have imagined that they would live in a big social group and behave normally.”

Brent spent 20 years working with chimps in medical labs.  She and others formed the non-profit group that now runs the sanctuary.

Dr. Linda Brent speaks to Angela
Hill about Chimp Haven's successes. 

As the chimps arrived, there was enormous curiosity.  Would the older chimps born in Africa remember how to climb a tree?  Would the ones born in cages be afraid of the trees, the grass or their freedom?

“The best day of my life was when we opened them up to the forest area and saw what they could do out there,” Brent said.

The older chimps ultimately showed the younger ones how to climb, how to forage for food, how to build nests, how to be chimps.

“Even using sticks, just like they do in Africa to fish for termites and ants, all of these things are coming out, not because we taught them anything,” Brent added, “but because we gave them the environment that allows the behaviors to naturally occur.”

Kathleen Candito also worked with chimps in medical labs for years.  Now she is colony manager at Chimp Haven and like the 12 caregivers who work with her, she knows each chimp by name and personality.

For example, Lolita is the oldest female in this group.  She and her daughter Sheila were reunited after being separated for ten years.

Now they are just two of the chimps living out their lives at the haven, where Candito and her crew create a fun and happy environment for the retirees.

Every inch of the setting has been designed with the happiness of the chimps in mind.   Their bedrooms open to huge play yards, which open into five-acre forests, allowing them 24-hour access to
wherever they want to go.

“It allows them the freedom to make choices, and that is part of Chimp Haven’s goal, to allow them to make choices for the first time in their lives.”

If there is one theme running through Chimp Haven it is that this is not a home for a group of chimps but rather a home for 140 individual chimps with 140 very different personalities.

“Some are introverts and some are extroverts,” says behaviorist Amy Fultz.

“Juan likes bananas and onions and not a lot of other things.  Paul lines up his food before he eats.  Cody makes a loud sound that lets us know that he is a big tough guy in the group,” she described.  “His hair is standing on end.  He is trying to make himself look bigger.”

Who the alpha male is and who is aiming for the position are all part of the very complicated society these chimps create within a very short time of being grouped together.

“We have some younger males, 10 and 11 years old and that’s the same as a teenaged boy, so often it’s like a teenaged boy showing off a little bit.”

At Chimp Haven it is easy to see that the boys will be boys and the girls will be girls.  Violet is in her late teens and carries around an old stuffed Sponge Bob Square Pants character.  It is her baby.

“She is a good mom with it, she doesn’t leave it,” says caregiver Christine Sumner.

The day we visited, Sumner said caregivers had tried for weeks to give Violet a new Sponge Bob toy, as hers is flat and worn out, but she had no interest, until the day we watched, when all of a sudden she picked it up, flipped it on her back .and walked away, thrilling everyone around.

The goal everyday is to keep these chimps happy and interested.  Mike Christy comes up with creative feeding and entertainment ideas with very simple things like a ball with peanut butter and raisins stuffed inside.  The chimps stick their fingers and sticks into the ball to try to get the food out.

Christy also makes Jell-O for Jell-O shots and fills giant kitty litter buckets with juice and fruit and creates “apesicles” that will keep the animals entertained for hours.

Christy spends many nights thinking up new ideas.  There is a daily enrichment calendar and a popcorn forage on Saturdays.  On rainy days there is always the toy room.  There are CDs for easy listening, books and even television sets where the chimps watch movies like Jane Goodall's "Return to Gombe" and "Black Beauty."

For these chimps, this is a life perhaps only dreamt about, such a contrast from their days and years in cages in labs.  They come to Chimp Haven in their old age, many with heart disease, arthritis and other health issues but each is respected for what they have given to us all, and with a commitment by everyone at Chimp Haven that their remaining days will be the best they can be.

To view part 1 of the story, CLICK HERE.

The dream of a retirement sanctuary for hundreds of chimps who have been used in medical research became a reality in Shreveport, Louisiana.

As we showed you in the first part of our two-part special, Chimp Haven has become a real haven for 140 chimps who devoted decades of their lives to science and  medicine.

Video: View Part II 

Primatologists and behaviorists were curious how the chimps would adapt to life outside of cages.  And a glimpse at the haven in Shreveport shows that these beautiful beasts are living the good life, from steel bars and cement floors to giant play yards, full forests and fun.

There are toys, plentiful food and, most of all, freedom: to sleep in the sunshine, play with friends, and even show off.  After decades of confinement, it was not a surprise but a thrill for all the employees at the sanctuary to watch them become chimps again, reverting back to their instinctive behaviors.

What was a major surprise was the baby born to the 41-year-old chimp named Teresa.

“She had it out in the forest and brought it up to show everyone in the morning,” said Dr. Linda Brent, the director of Chimp Haven.

Brent calls the birth a shock, not only because Teresa was older but because all the males in the group had had vasectomies.  Obviously, one of them failed.

With no idea who the father was, crew members did DNA paternity tests, taking hair samples from the chimps: Midget, Grandpa, Trevor, Magnum and Conan.  The tests revealed the father was Conan, not the alpha chimp but in the upper echelon of the group.

Chimp Haven workers named the baby Tracy and she has stolen the hearts of everyone.

“She is incredibly well loved and well adjusted and it’s an incredible opportunity to see her develop in a natural environment,” said Dr. Brent.

At 14 months old, Tracy has learned to climb trees and to forage, yet continues to ride on her mother's stomach because Teresa has a bad back.  But there are surrogate aunts who often give mother a break.

These chimps are all part of phase one at Chimp Haven, which has been open for three years.

It is phase two which holds the most prominent reminder of why there is a place like Chimp Haven.  The chimps there have been exposed to either HIV or hepatitis during their professional lives.   Most had lived alone.

“So their background is different and they carry that baggage here,” explained Dr. Brent.

“They take a long time to develop trust in humans again.  Something as simple as moving from one area to another and opening and closing a door, they are afraid to be by themselves.”

But Brent says trust is being built and they too are loving retirement.  But what isn't being built is the rest of phase two.

“We were doing construction when Hurricanes Rita and Katrina hit, so that just blew our costs out.  One of our subcontractors even went bankrupt,” Brent said.

So until they can raise another $500,000, there is no room for the more than 600 chimps on waiting lists.

As they work at fundraising, they are motivated by what they see everyday in the eyes and the faces of those who are lucky enough to be here at Chimp Haven.

Little Tracy rides on the back of Sarah, who gives her best friend Teresa a maternal break.  Lolita, the oldest female, walks as part of this little community, so far from the labs and cages. 

The simple joy of freedom, of a walk in the forest, says it all.