Vanilla, a chimpanzee who survived a terrifying scientific experiment program, saw the sky for the first time in her new sanctuary home and was captured in a beautiful video. After years of confinement and abuse, 29-year-old Vanilla the chimpanzee made her way to the refuge in Fort Pierce, Florida, according to the Mirror. There, she finally found comfort and contentment.
The Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) in New York, which housed countless chimps and monkeys until its closing in 1996, was Vanilla’s previous home. There, she endured pain. Animal protection organizations like Project R&R have revealed that chimpanzees like Vanilla were kept in tiny cages and denied access to the outdoors.
Vanilla was warmly welcomed to her new home, a three-acre island, by the alpha male Dwight
Vanilla was saved at the age of two and brought to the Wildlife Waystation in California, a much bigger habitat. Nevertheless, wildfires forced the sanctuary to close in 2019, forcing the evacuation of approximately 480 animals, including 42 chimpanzees. Assisted by the FedEx Cares program and Pero Family Farms, Vanilla set out on a cross-country trek to Florida with her family unit.
Vanilla was warmly welcomed to her new home, a three-acre island, by the alpha male Dwight. The two got along well, and Vanilla even joked about taking food from Dwight. Vanilla’s new enclosure, according to Save the Chimps primatologist, Dr. Andrew Halloran, is a vast improvement over the one she had in California previously. He described her settling in well, exploring the island with her fellow chimps, and often perching atop a three-story climbing platform to survey her new world.
Watch the viral video
Currently, 226 chimps are cared for at Save the Chimps, a sanctuary dedicated to giving refuge to primates rescued from a variety of backgrounds, including the exotic pet trade, roadside zoos, laboratories, and the entertainment business. Like Vanilla, some of these chimpanzees have never had the chance to interact with members of their own species. There are 18 other chimps living on Vanilla’s island, and she has developed good ties with them. Vanilla’s journey from captivity to freedom is a monument to the tenacity and transforming power of sanctuary homes, which give these amazing animals a second chance at life.
