![]() ![]() “It was made from chain-link fencing on all sides and up top, with a dirt and concrete floor.” “She is clearly elated to have suddenly found freedom.” Save the Chimps ![]() “Vanilla was with five other chimps in an outdoor enclosure that was about the size of a garage,” he said. Vanilla and her sister Shake were sent to the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit refuge north of Los Angeles, which was essentially “a dumping ground for many animals who were being discarded,” Mathews explained. In fact, it was these inhumane cages that led to the facility’s shuttering in 1997, after which the lab’s over 100 chimps were relocated. The wire netting allowed keepers to hose the enclosures down like a slaughterhouse without removing the animals. In a heartwarming video that shocked the internet earlier this week, the chimp could be seen stepping outside and looking up at the blue sky in astonishment, marking the first time she’d seen it after spending nearly 30 years in a cage. “They infected the chimpanzees with various diseases, but I don’t know if Vanilla was infected.”ĭuring Vanilla’s imprisonment, she was forced to live in an elevated wire mesh cage, where she watched TV and reportedly never saw the sky. “Researchers drew blood and did biopsies,” he explained. Through the late 1990s, the lab specialized in research for HIV and hepatitis, and Vanilla could’ve been one of the last animals tested on there, according to Mathews. She was immediately separated from her mother because researchers find it difficult to experiment on baby chimps with a protective mama present. ![]() It’s been a long and arduous road for Vanilla, who was born into captivity at the LEMSIP testing facility in 1995. He told The Post, “She is clearly elated to have suddenly found freedom.” Vanilla is now thriving in her new world, often seen frolicking around in the fields with other chimps - and periodically glancing up in disbelief. “It is the first time she was outdoors with more than 10 feet of fence around her on all sides from top to bottom.” “In the video, you see her going into his arms for a hug,” the special projects coordinator explained, describing the emotional moment. She was greeted with open arms by Dwight, an “alpha male who’s in charge of the chimps,” per Matthews. In the heartwarming video that shocked the internet earlier this week, the chimp could be seen stepping outside and looking up at the blue sky in astonishment, marking the first time she’d seen it after spending nearly 30 years in a cage. Vanilla is one of 226 chimpanzees living on the idyllic island, dubbed “Florida’s wildest retirement community.” She is a 29-year-old survivor of the notorious, now-closed Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates, in Tuxedo, New York. Thankfully, Vanilla is now thriving in her new world, often seen frolicking around in the fields with other chimps - and periodically glancing up in disbelief. She is a 29-year-old survivor of the notorious, now-closed Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates in Tuxedo, New York.Īccording to Mathews, she had “never felt grass beneath her feet before.” Many have previously endured solitary confinement and never interacted with other chimps before - as was the case with Vanilla. Vanilla is one of 226 chimpanzees living on the idyllic island, dubbed “Florida’s wildest retirement community,” which houses primate refugees from laboratories, the entertainment industry, the exotic pet trade and roadside zoos. “And after all she’s been through, with never being able to walk more than 10 paces in any direction, to have this kind of freedom, she’s just, she’s thriving right now.” “She was just welcomed so warmly,” said Dan Mathews, director of events and special projects at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce where she resides, per the Daily Mail. Rescued chimpanzee Vanilla, who was spellbound after seeing the sky for the first time in three decades last year, is reportedly flourishing at her new home in Florida. NYC cat ‘rescuer’ collared for alleged animal abuse was ratted out by volunteersĪdorable hedgehog ballooned to the size of a football - due to trapped gas Rattlesnake has life-saving surgery - after swallowing mouse in mousetrapįoster dog who got 1 month to live lives another year, completing bucket list ![]()
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