{"id":772894,"date":"2023-06-29T08:07:27","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T12:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=772894"},"modified":"2023-06-29T08:54:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T12:54:39","slug":"lab-chimpanzee-sees-blue-sky-for-first-time-after-29-years-in-captivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=772894","title":{"rendered":"CHANGE-UP ‘BLUES’: Lab chimpanzee Vanilla sees blue sky for first time after 29 years in horrific captivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Vanilla was born into captivity at LEMSIP lab in 1995 and immediately separated from her mother. At the lab she lived in an elevated wire-mesh cage and forced to eat and sleep above feces. Through the late 1990s, researchers infected the chimpanzee with various diseases. The lab specialized in research for HIV and hepatitis.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

MICHAEL KAPLAN:<\/strong> For the first time in her 29 years, a chimp named Vanilla finally saw the sky. A viral video, posted to YouTube by the animal sanctuary Save the Chimps, shows the primate looking absolutely astonished. \u201cShe is clearly elated to have suddenly found freedom,\u201d Dan Mathews, the sanctuary\u2019s director of events and special projects, told The Post. The heartwarming video was shared at Friday\u2019s American Society of Primatologists symposium in Reno by Save the Chimps\u2019 primatologist Dr. Andrew Halloran.<\/em><\/p>\n

Vanilla, a 29-year-old survivor of the notorious Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), located in Tuxedo, NY, saw the open sky after one year of arriving at Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida. Mathews said Vanilla wasn\u2019t even sure about stepping outside at first. \u201cDwight, the alpha male who\u2019s in charge of the chimps, coaxed her out with open arms,\u201d Mathews explained.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the video, you see her going into his arms for a hug. It is the first time she was outdoors with more than 10 feet of fence around her on all sides from top to bottom.\u201d In the video, Vanilla looks up in wonderment, just as a human might upon making a marvelous discovery. \u201cChimps have 98.8% of DNA similarity with humans,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cNow that Vanilla is out, she hardly goes back to the care-house. Yesterday, she was sunbathing on one of the outdoor platforms.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After decades locked away, Vanilla is living the good life at what Mathews calls \u201cFlorida\u2019s wildest retirement community.\u201d She was born into captivity at LEMSIP in 1995 \u2014 and immediately separated from her mother. \u201cIt was a horrible lab and protested by animal rights activists for decades. Jane Goodall targeted the place as a hellhole,\u201d Mathews said. \u201cThe chimps there watched TV and never saw the light of day…<\/em><\/p>\n

Through the late 1990s, the lab specialized in research for HIV and hepatitis. \u201cVanilla was one of the last who could have been tested,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cResearchers drew blood and did biopsies. They infected the chimpanzees with various diseases, but I don\u2019t know if Vanilla was infected.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Animals at the lab lived in elevated wire-mesh cages and kept in a manner that amounted to cruelty. \u201cThey used mesh so they could clean cages by hosing them down,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cThen the waste would go out through the mesh, collect on the ground and be hosed down from the ground. That way the chimps never had to be let out of their cages for cleaning purposes. It was convenient for the facility but cruel for the chimps. These creatures, with a strong sense of smell, were forced to eat and sleep above feces.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact, it was the cages that led to LEMSIP being shut down. \u201cThe USDA wanted the cages upgraded but LEMSIP didn\u2019t want to spend the money to do so,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cAs a result, the lab was shut down and more than 100 chimps had to be relocated.\u201d…<\/em><\/p>\n

Vanilla arrived at the chimp-tastic sanctuary in July 2022. \u201cShe spent a few months in quarantine, with other new arrivals,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cThen it became clear that she fit in with a group of other chimps. At that point, we introduced her and the group to different islands to see where they would fit in…<\/em><\/p>\n

The outdoors-loving Vanilla now forages for strategically placed food, swings around on lengths of rope and, if inspiration strikes, has opportunities to paint. \u201cVanilla has a long future; she can live here for another 30 or 40 years,\u201d said Mathews. \u201cShe seems elated to have her own world, to finally have the closest thing to a natural habitat. She is embracing it”. <\/em>SOURCE…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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