‘They’ve known the worst of humanity’: new images show life after the lab for Liberia’s chimpanzees
Once subjected to thousands of procedures, chimpanzees rescued from research facilities now live in near-wild conditions across six islands.
Credit: Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge
A chimpanzee sanctuary has released a series of photographs to mark World Chimpanzee Day, offering a rare glimpse into the lives of some of its oldest residents who spent decades inside laboratories enduring invasive experiments.
Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge in Liberia, run by Humane World for Animals, is home to 61 chimpanzees. Most of their residents were either stolen from their families in the wild and later sold to the laboratory or born in captivity as part of the lab’s breeding colony.
During their years used for biomedical research, they were collectively subjected to more than 500 liver biopsies and anaesthetised or tranquilised over 4,000 times, according to Humane World for Animals.
Now, following the closure of the laboratory and the chimpanzees' rescue, the primates who once endured years of testing and confinement, live a near-wild forest existence in small groups split across six estuary islands.
The newly released images, together with details from their former laboratory records, offer a glimpse into the lives of the survivors, from the trauma of repeated experiments and injuries in captivity to the upheaval of Liberia’s civil war.
“Most of the chimps in our care have endured a lifetime of suffering at the hands of poachers, as victims of the pet trade and as experimental subjects in research,” said Jallah Fahnbulleh, government liaison officer at Humane World for Animals Liberia. “They still carry the emotional and physical scars of that trauma years later, but at least we have been able to give them back their freedom and their dignity living near-wild at our sanctuary.
“They have known the worst of humanity but also, I hope the best too,” Fahnbulleh added.
Here are some of the stories of the former laboratory chimpanzees who now spend their days in safety, surrounded by trees, companionship, and care - a far cry from the harsh, sterile conditions of the research facilities:
Samantha: at 51 years old, Samantha is the oldest chimp at the sanctuary. She was born in the wild in 1974, but her family was killed by poachers, and she was sold to the lab by a local villager at just one and half years old. For nearly 30 years she endured invasive research. At the lab’s breeding colony, she gave birth to three babies, all of whom tragically died soon after.
Stuart: born at the laboratory in 1988, Stuart was almost immediately used in harmful research without anesthesia until he was one and a half years old. He was separated from his mother at just two years old and experimented on for over a decade and a half. Stuart’s lab records refer to him as “notorious” for throwing feces at lab workers to protect other chimps.
Saffa: born in 1979, Saffa arrived at the lab in 1981 as a very sick two-year-old. Within months of his arrival, the experiments began; in addition to over 100 liver biopsies, he endured over 500 tranquilizations over nearly 30 years. Now 46 years old, Saffa has no teeth left due to infant malnutrition, poor diet at the lab and old age.
Bullet: Bullet was born in the wild in 1977 and hit by the pet trader’s bullet that killed his mother. He was sold to the lab aged 3 years old for $150 where an infection in his bullet wound eventually led to his arm being amputated. Following surgery, Bullet was soon being used in research that would continue for 20 years including 55 liver biopsies, more than 400 tranquilizations and hundreds of blood draws. He would shake the cage bars and scream loudly when he saw a tranquilizer gun.
Jiminy Cricket: In 1981, when Jiminy Cricket was just four months old, she was sold to a Liberian laboratory for $55 after her mother was killed in the wild. Experiments began immediately. For two decades, she endured invasive procedures, including frequent liver biopsies and blood draws. Tragically, after being moved to the breeding colony, she lost three infants in just two years. Today, on Island 2, Jiminy Cricket has found some peace, often seen caring for Novi, the daughter of fellow chimp Fanta.
How did the experiments end?
Chimp testing in Liberia began 1974, when the New York Blood Center (NYBC) funded biomedical research related to hepatitis B and other diseases. Over the next 30 years, more than 400 chimps were forced to endure invasive experiments at the laboratory.
During Liberia's two civil wars from 1989 – 1997, many of the chimpanzees perished, with many either starving to death or being shot by militia.
When chimpanzee experiments ended at the laboratory in the early 2000s, the surviving great apes were moved onto nearby estuary islands. But, in 2015, NYBC withdrew funding for their care, which led to global outrage.
Brian Hare, a US-based primatologist who launched a petition, wrote at the time: "Effectively they have left these poor chimpanzees to suffer from dehydration and starvation".
But despite funding cuts, local staff at the research centre continued to show up each day to care for the chimpanzees, even as the Ebola epidemic swept through Liberia. And due to public pressure, NYBC eventually agreed to split the long-term care costs for the chimpanzees with Humane World for Animals (then known as the Humane Society) in 2017, pledging $6 million.
Its dedicated team, some of whom are the original caregivers from the laboratory, now visit the chimps twice a day to deliver fresh fruit, vegetables and water, and to support the aging chimpanzees, many still living with health issues from their lab years, Humane World for Animals is building new island structures to make veterinary care faster and less disruptive.
In 2015, Jenny and Jimmy Desmond got a call from the Humane Society of the US, that 66 former laboratory research chimps had been abandoned on some islands in Liberia — could they help? Soon after they arrived (and helped), it became very clear to them that there was a much bigger chimpanzee problem happening throughout Liberia. Listen to Season 7, Episode 1: “Jenny Desmond: Chimpanzees Forever” to hear more about the story of the former lab chimps, and the wider challenge facing chimpanzees in Liberia.
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