Lab chimpanzees are now free.
(Mirror Daily, United States) Militants for animal rights will be glad to hear news on lab chimpanzees at a research center in the Unites States. The animals will switch labs for a new home, namely a sanctuary. There they will be able to live a much more free life than they were used to.
Nine lab chimpanzees have recently arrived at a special shelter in Georgia. They were born in captivity and used for experiments. All of them are females and about ten years old, and they will enjoy a free life for the first time.
This happy denouement is possible thanks to a non-profit organization, called Project Chimps. The nine primates are not the only beneficiaries of the advocates’ work. Some other two hundred lab chimpanzees will be heading towards Georgia, at the wildlife refuge.
Thanks to the endeavor of the people behind the Project Chimps, the animals will be no longer exploited and used for experiments. This is an important victory for people who have been struggling for years to save the animals from what they consider to be a cruel treatment against them.
Specialists know that chimpanzees are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. They were also regarded as an endangered species, including the individuals that lived in captivity. This law was implemented last year, and it was a great impediment for scientists who intended to base their research on chimps.
Institutions had promised that lab chimps’ situation would be revised before. They should have been transferred to sanctuaries at the beginning of the year, but it only comes to happen now.
Project Chimps committed to taking responsibility for approximately two hundred lab chimpanzees coming from the New Iberia Research Center – a laboratory which used the animals for research. The chimps rescuers stated that they had enough space for them, including a vast outdoors area. The animals will also be given toys, proper food, and any tools they need so that they should live a comfortable, happy life. They will receive medical care, as well.
The sanctuary is located in a Georgian rainforest, and it measures 236 acres. Four special houses for the chimps have been already built inside the sanctuary, and each can host at most fifteen individuals. The owners hope that the animals will get used to their new home as soon as possible.
Image courtesy of: Flickr