Heartwarming Moment: 28-Year-Old Chimpanzee Sees Sky For The First Time After A Lifetime In Captivity

In a beautiful video shot at her new home in Florida, a 28-year-old chimp who had been imprisoned her entire life glimpsed the broad sky for the first time. Watch the heartwarming video here.

Rescued chimp sees sky for the first time

Heart-warming moment Vanilla the chimp, 29, explodes with joy when she sees the sky for the first time after being caged her entire life. pic.twitter.com/LYbf7S1lWB

¡ª Carlos Perez (@CarlosP95095856) June 27, 2023

Vanilla, the rescued chimp, spent years at a biomedical research centre in New York, where chimps were frequently housed in small cages "suspended from the ground like bird cages," according to Save the Chimps, a chimp sanctuary.

In the video surfacing online, Vanilla runs into Dwight's arms and looks up at the sky for the first time in 28 years in the beautiful footage caught by the shelter.

Vanilla was one of the final seven chimps to be rehomed, according to Save the Chimps. Vanilla and four other chimps, Shake, Magic, Jeff, and Ernesta, were moved to a refuge in Florida.

Vanilla and her family were introduced to the larger family groups at the sanctuary after quarantine, a procedure that all new chimps go through, and are now fully integrated, according to Save the Chimps.

Another chimp, Shake went out onto the island without hesitation, but Vanilla was a bit more apprehensive when the door opened to this new world according to Save the Chimps. She sat in the doorway until the alpha male, Dwight, encouraged her to join him, who she can be seen hugging in the video.

Vanilla and around 30 other chimps were moved to the Wildlife Waystation

Twitter Screengrab

Vanilla and around 30 other chimps were moved to the Wildlife Waystation, a now-defunct animal refuge in California, in 1995, where she became part of a small family group.

When Wildlife Waystation closed due to financial difficulties in 2019, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife relocated all of the animals living in the Los Angeles County sanctuary to other facilities across the country. Officials with the CDFW stated that finding a suitable home for the 42 chimps "proved especially difficult."

The use of chimps in medical research has fallen substantially in the United States. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service designated captive chimps as endangered in 2015, making research on them more difficult.

In the same year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced plans to retire the majority of its chimps and discontinue funding for chimp research. In November 2015, the NIH formally ended all biomedical research on chimps in the United States, except in rare circumstances when it may be vital for human health.

There has been a growing global trend towards stricter regulations and ethical considerations when it comes to using chimpanzees for research purposes.

Captivity can have various effects on animals

Inadequate food, insufficient exercise, and unusual living conditions may cause health problems in captive animals. When compared to their wild counterparts, they may suffer from hunger, obesity, compromised immune systems, and a shorter lifespan.

Pacing, self-mutilation, stereotypic movements (repetitive activities with no apparent aim), and hostility are common among captive animals. These behaviours may indicate tension, irritation, or boredom as a result of confinement and a lack of mental and physical stimulation.

Animals in captivity may lose or forget their inherent instincts and talents required for survival in the wild. This reduces their chances of adapting if they are eventually restored to their original environments.

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