Sanctuary Updates

Construction underway to welcome remaining chimps housed in research facilities

Chimp Haven July 3, 2018

Today the Chimp Haven sanctuary is home to more than 250 chimps who have been retired from biomedical research. Here, they spend their days enjoying the Chimp Life, with forested habitats to explore, friends to meet, and fresh food to enjoy.

Of course, our goal is to make sure all former research chimps get a chance to live the Chimp Life, and with our Welcome Them Home construction campaign, we’re making room to do just that.

With our current facility very close to capacity, we’ve launched a $20 million capital campaign to greatly expand Chimp Haven in order to accommodate all remaining chimpanzees currently housed in research facilities. It’s a labor of love for the chimps!

So far, we have exceeded $14.7 million in gifts and pledges from individuals and foundations toward our $20 million campaign!

Three new naturally forested habitats will provide a comfortable and enriching space to accommodate new retirees, and will include all the things chimpanzees love—open forest, grassy substrates and space to climb, play, interact, search for food, and simply enjoy life.

The addition of two new open-air corrals, with 15,000 square feet of green grass, growing trees, and multi-level structures for chimpanzees to explore, will give Chimp Haven even more flexible spaces in which chimpanzee groups can live, play, and eat.

Construction is well underway and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2019.

Currently, the construction crew is completing the trench work for the large freshwater moat that will run through each of the multi-acre forested habitats and is close to completing the outdoor enclosure walls, which are made of wood and mesh so that neighboring chimpanzee groups will be able to see and interact with one another.