Save the Chimps
Save the Chimps is the first sanctuary in the
US devoted to chimpanzees—and a fitting caretaker of the chimps
formerly imprisoned by the Coulston Foundation. Save the Chimps
and TCF have a history.
 Back
in 1997, the Air Force decided to get out of the "chimp business"
and discharge 111 chimpanzee veterans of the American space program.
Some of these involuntary soldiers were descendants of Ham, the
first chimp in space, and Enos, the first chimp to orbit the Earth;
others were survivors of space shuttle and jet plane research. Save the Chimps
tried to retire the chimps to their sanctuary, but the Air Force
instead gave them all to the Coulston Foundation—a research
facility that was under USDA scrutiny for mistreatment of animals
at the time. Save the Chimps sued the Air Force and gained custody of 21 of
the former space chimps in 1999. They are now living out their natural
lives at the sanctuary’s Florida compound.
 Under
the direction of Dr. Carole Noon, an expert in chimp re-socialization,
and with a board boasting such luminaries as primatologists Jane
Goodall and Roger Fouts, Save the Chimps seeks to provide permanent sanctuary
for all captive chimpanzees. It boldly stands behind this mission
by taking on such challenges as caring for the 266 chimps obtained
from Coulston in 2002.
Learn more by visiting the Save the Chimps’s web site: www.SaveTheChimps.org
How You Can
Help:
- Wish
List for the Chimps—from treats to toys, here is a list
of items you can donate to the chimps.
- Volunteer
Opportunities—learn what opportunities are available
both in Alamogordo as well as in your hometown for helping the
chimps and their caretakers.
News Clips:
Sanctuary! by APNM Board member Deborah Schildkraut and Volunteering at
Save the Chimps by APNM member Ardeth Baxter, Petroglyphs magazine,
Spring 2003
Good
Life Awaits Primates, Albuquerque Journal, November 12,
2002
(requires subscription)
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