Chimps are some of the closest relatives that humans have on the earth! Watching them live and move can sometimes be a bit uncanny because of their similarities to humans. Something else that chimps and humans have in common is our capacity for emotion. Unfortunately, that is often forgotten when using them for testing.
Chimps are often used for lab testing.
Chimps and sometimes taken, or even bred, for the sole purpose of testing in a laboratory. They have such close genetic information to humans that they are used as a substitute instead. This results in some very sad things, one of which are chimps who are locked away their entire life.
One group of chimps were recently allowed to go outside for the first time!
A group of research chimps had been used for testing their entire lives. From the time they were little, the had only seen the inside of cages and test rooms. For an animal that is so intelligent and emotionally capable, it would have been a horrible existence.
Thankfully, there are organizations like Project Chimps.
Project Chimps is a sanctuary that is dedicated to making a home for chimps retired from medical research. Their sanctuary is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia and homes many wonderful chimp inhabitants.
In a recent video, we get to see chimps step outside for the first time in their life.
In the Peachtree Habitat, we get a chance to see some chimps leave their cages to go outside. The group consists of nine females that had spent their lives in testing. Walking out of the cage, we see them holding and embracing each other for comfort. This is a new and scary thing for them!
In a different villa, we see another group of chimps.
This group consists of six males and they are about to go outside for their first time as well. Seeing the grass outside of the cage, one of the chimps looks around, a bit confused. One of the chimps named Lance steps outside and breaks the barrier. Walking around, he looks like he has a massive smile on his face. Eventually, the rest of the group joins him.
One of the males named Bo is a bit scared.
Some of the other males notice that Bo is scared and decides to give him a hug! Lance, the first one out, sees him and walks over to give him the much-needed hug. Watching them is truly incredible.
The males went out further than the females did.
In typical fashion, the males were a bit more adventurous and explored as far as they could get in a day. They even noticed that some humans were watching them from a window and ran towards them, leaping off the wall!
Whether climbing, playing or eating, you can see how happy they are.
Just watching them for a little bit, you can see how ecstatic the animals are to be outside playing and doing whatever they want.
After a life in a cage, this little section of the Blue Ridge Mountains seems like paradise. Watch their reaction below.
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