By Stephanie Edwards
The chimpanzee—human's closest relative—is in the spotlight as PBS celebrates the 25th anniversary of its acclaimed series "Nature", Sunday, Nov. 5.
"Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History," by award-winning filmmaker Allison Argon, tells the heart-wrenching stories of chimpanzees rescued from research labs and retired to sanctuary life. The documentary features Save the Chimps, Fauna Foundation and the Center for Great Apes, three organizations dedicated to sparing these creatures from life in a laboratory cage.
From Research to Freedom
Two rescued chimpanzees, Ron and Thoto, are featured along with Save the Chimps Director Carole Noon. Save the Chimps took on 266 chimpanzees when the Coulston Foundation, a research facility that bred and used chimpanzees for research, went bankrupt after years of Animal Welfare Act violations and subsequent loss of government funds. The film charts Ron and Thoto's journey from the former Coulston facility in New Mexico to Islands in the Sun, the Save the Chimps sanctuary of large, man-made islands in Florida, where viewers glimpse the chimpanzees' new life, free of cage bars.
Also featured is a reunion between chimpanzee Billy Jo and the man who owned him before the chimpanzee was sent to a laboratory. Billy Jo is seen with 14 other chimpanzees at Fauna Foundation. Eight of the primates, including Billy Jo, were infected with HIV. While Billy Jo's former owner recognizes a persistent playful side in the chimpanzee, Fauna Foundation Director Gloria Grow sees many emotional issues in him. Life alone in a cage can have devastating and lasting effects on the animals.
Our Closest Relative
Because of their similarity to humans, chimpanzees have been used in many types of experimentation from space travel to HIV and hepatitis research. The irony is that, although they share almost 99 percent of their DNA with humans, these animals often do not contract disease in the same way as humans. For example, chimpanzees do not develop AIDS as humans do.
Chimpanzees have a high level of intelligence, a wide range of emotions and social skills. They maintain strong families bonds, sustain friendships and make enemies, as humans do. Despite these commonalities with humans, which make harmful research on them inhumane, they continue to be kept in laboratory cages and used in research in the United States.
Thankfully, the chimpanzees in the "Nature" documentary have all been granted a sanctuary life. But 1,300 chimps, including some captured from the wild, still live in laboratories in the United States. Some have been there for more than 40 years.
Stephanie Edwards is the outreach coordinator for the Animal Research Issues section of The HSUS.
