Happy Valentine's Day from AAVS! Valentine’s Day is our favorite holiday at AAVS because of… chimps! Every year at this time, we send a grant to the Chimp Haven sanctuary to fulfill our promise to provide Total Lifetime Care for seven chimpanzees who arrived there as babies in 2013. The TLC youngsters continue to come into their own and absolutely delight the Chimp Haven staff as they watch them grow. Many are featured on National Geographic’s documentary series Meet the Chimps, available to stream on Disney+. Here’s what they’ve been up to: - As the only two males in their group, Jimmy and Mason (both age 11) are in the middle of social changes as they figure out who will be alpha one day. Jimmy is even-keeled and political, while Mason is all about strength and brawn.
- Fearless Quilla (age 10) is a staff favorite with her athleticism and affinity for playing with care givers. Seeing her swing and fly through the air is one of the bright spots of the staff’s day.
- Beautiful and bright Arden (age 11) is among the low-ranking youngsters in her group, but lately she’s working to establish herself as the ‘boss’ of the young squad.
- With her youthful mischief not tempering with time, Diane (age 11) is always looking for a chance to rile things up for chimps and care staff alike.
- As the only male in his group, Riley (age 9) has energy to burn, and enjoys taunting his group mates. But he’s got some growing up to do if he’s going to become alpha male one day.
- Spicy Onyx (age 10) has plenty of smarts and loads of attitude, often giving the ‘chimp arm’ (the equivalent of an eye-roll) for no good reason.
Chimp Haven is the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary, where skilled staff care for a growing colony of over 300 residents formerly used in biomedical research. They now enjoy enriched lives in an environment designed especially for them, complete with expert veterinary care, healthy foods prepared daily, multi-acre forested habitats to explore, and large, dynamic social groups. Through your support of our TLC for Chimps Fund and Sanctuary Fund, you make a difference for all of the residents at Chimp Haven, as well as for thousands of other animals in sanctuaries throughout the U.S. THANK YOU! |
