Project Chimps is a privately funded

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit

animal sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

for

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

s formerly used in

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

. It will eventually house 200 chimpanzees on an over 230 acre property in the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

Morganton, Georgia Morganton is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, Fannin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 303 at the 2010 census. History Prior to European colonization, the area that is now Morganton was inhabited by the Che ...

History

In addition to their use as pets and entertainers, captive chimpanzees have served as subjects for scientific research. Anticipating that medical research on chimpanzees would be key to understanding diseases, such

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

, the United States government and private laboratories embarked on chimpanzee breeding programs in the 1980s. A decade later, the experimental use of chimpanzees declined, resulting in a surplus population of captive chimpanzees. The significant cost of caring for the approximately 700 privately owned chimpanzees housed in U.S. research facilities required the development of alternatives to standard laboratory housing for chimpanzees no longer active in research. Concurrent with the plight of research chimpanzees, hundreds of privately owned chimpanzees who proved unmanageable to keep as pets or performers were also in need of a professionally run facility—a sanctuary. Project Chimps was founded in 2014 following the end of

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

funding for biomedical research on chimpanzees. The sanctuary occupies land originally occupied by a

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

sanctuary funded by software mogul C. E. Steuart Dewar and Jane, his wife at the time. Project Chimps bought the land for about $1.6 million; the Dewar Wildlife Trust donated the facilities. The sanctuary is intended to house more than 200 animals including the retired research chimpanzees at the New Iberia Research Center in

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, L ...

. The facility includes office buildings, a veterinary clinic, and several buildings that house 10 to 15 chimpanzees each.

Present day

The mission of Project Chimps is: "to provide lifelong exemplary care to chimpanzees retired from research". To fulfill its mission of for these endangered nonhuman primates, Project Chimps has established several public education programs including: Discovery Days and Chimpcation, The sanctuary also hosts veterinary, behavioral, animal care and organizational development interns throughout the year. Ali Crumpacker was hired as the executive director in 2017. In 2019, Project Chimps published a 5-year Strategic Plan to expand the facility and accommodate the remaining chimpanzees still living at the New Iberia Research Center. The chimpanzees receive 6-7 pounds of fresh produce every day along with daily enrichment activities and sometimes larger celebrations, such as "Chimpsgiving" feasts. In 2020, Project Chimps established Project Harvest, a multi-acre farm area on the property to begin growing their own food for the chimpanzees. In 2021, Project Chimps opened several hiking trails on its property on the perimeter, outside of the chimpanzee area. Hikers can explore the trails from dawn to dusk every day of the year and may hear the chimps as they hike. As of 2023, Project Chimps is home to 96 chimpanzees. The chimpanzees live in dynamic social family groups ranging in size from 13 to 19 members.

References

External links

* {{official site, https://projectchimps.org/ Buildings and structures in Fannin County, Georgia Primate sanctuaries