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‘RETIRED’ CHIMPS CAN’T FIND A HOME

Friday, June 17, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we investigate what happens to these ‘retired’ chimps, what’s behind the Yellowstone floods, find a legendary treasure ship, see rare wildcats around the world … and discover one father’s fishing lessons.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANNIE MARIE MUSSELMAN

Most of these chimps “worked” in U.S. research labs. In 2015, rising opposition forced U.S. labs to stop invasive research on chimps. What has happened to these “retired” chimps since?

Many are in accredited wildlife sanctuaries. They are expensive to feed and to quarter. More than 250 chimps remain in labs. Many have been promised a home, but some—like 18 awaiting permanent homes in a California animal sanctuary (above)—remain in limbo, Nat Geo has found.

Accountability is lacking from the labs who used them. “You shouldn’t be legally allowed to have that animal unless there’s a whole plan—you don’t just get to throw it away,” says Kate Thompson, a board member of California’s 160-acre Wildlife Waystation. “These aren't inanimate objects—they’re living, breathing things.”

Read the full story here.

Waiting for a permanent home: Jeff (pictured above left) is the peacemaker of a group of chimps at a California sanctuary. Many came from a closed lab that had kept chimps alone in metal cages (above right). Pictured at top is Magic, one of 18 chimpanzees stranded at California’s Wildlife Waystation.

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY JACOB W. FRANK, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE VIA AP

What’s behind the Yellowstone floods? (pictured above, Yellowstone’s North Entrance Road)

How do humans deal with extreme heat?

Legendary treasure ship that inspired The Goonies is found

For the emu and the leafy seadragon, the males do the heavy child-care lifting

Newly identified polar bear group relies on freshwater glaciers, not threatened sea ice

Father’s Day: What my dad taught me about fishing

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

Meow: Don’t mistake them for housecats. They’re wild—but small and gritty. They have names like jaguarundis and caracal. “Small cats are lean feats of evolution, high-performance predators that hit their stride millions of years ago and have changed little ever since,” Christine Dell’Amore writes. They pose no threat to humans, yet they face challenges from our encroaching habitat. (Above, the Canada lynx, photographed by Nat Geo Explorer Joel Sartore.)

Related: A rare victory for the Iberian lynx

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EAST WEST PLAYERS

Sanctuaries: From New York to Minneapolis to Boston, indie theaters have encouraged, developed, and showcased the stories and talent of Asian Americans. The theaters serve as sanctuaries while showing the depth of experiences of Asian Americans, who often still are viewed as foreigners or existential threats in the U.S., Amy Alipio writes. (Pictured above, John Cho and Reggie Lee perform in David Henry Hwang’s play FOB in Los Angeles in 1997.)

Related: U.S. Chinatowns tell tales of history and heritage

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

I knew I was gay. I knew I wanted to be an explorer. I had no idea that anybody else ticked those two boxes.

K. David Harrison

Linguist, anthropologist, Nat Geo Explorer

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY @GRETARYBUS

The daily share: Women are taking on a greater role in traditionally patriarchal Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. In this image above, a collective of women divides the day's catch equally among themselves. Women are participating in fishing, and aquaculture like seaweed and sea sponge farming, even though many did not get the opportunity to learn to swim. A recent Nat Geo story examines an effort to change that.

SWIMMING LESSONS

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Heather Kim, Jen Tse, and Monica Williams. Have an idea? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

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