Member News

Senators Want Chimps Moved to Sanctuary

Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall of New Mexico want the National Institutes of Health to reconsider a decision to keep more than 40 chimpanzees at a facility at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo.

Read Publication

World’s Largest Chimpanzee Sanctuary Closer to San Antonio Than You Think

Just across the border into Louisiana, about a six-hour drive from the Alamo City, and you’ll find Chimp Haven in the town of Keithville. At 200 acres, it claims the title as biggest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world.

Read Publication

Opinion: How We Treat Old Chimpanzees — and What That Says About Us

The National Institutes of Health announced that it will be breaking its promise to move 44 chimpanzees currently being held in a biomedical facility in New Mexico to Chimp Haven, a sanctuary in Louisiana. Francis Collins, the head of NIH, said a review panel had determined that these chimpanzees are either too old or too sick to relocate safely. This is bad news for the chimpanzees. It also reflects a troubling reality about all research on nonhuman subjects.

Read Publication

Some Lab Chimps May Never Retire to a Sanctuary

In 2015, the National Institutes of Health decided to retire all the chimpanzees it owned. Since then, animal welfare groups have been pushing for quicker action, even as some of the facilities that once conducted experiments have urged caution, arguing that some chimps are too old and sick to be moved. In October 2019, the NIH announced that an independent panel of veterinarians had determined that the 44 chimpanzees remaining at the Alamogordo Primate Facility, or APF, in New Mexico were too ill to move, as the facility had contended. Rana Smith, president of Chimp Haven, expressed disappointment at the decision. “We respect the medical opinions of the veterinary panel,” she wrote in an email. However, she said, “we firmly believe that sanctuary life is the best place for chimpanzees.”

Read Publication

NIH: Aging Chimps to Stay in NM

The National Institutes of Health said 44 aging chimpanzees are too fragile to be moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility to a sanctuary in Louisiana. Instead, they will spend the rest of their lives at the facility in southeastern New Mexico, the NIH announced Thursday.

Read Publication

Some of NIH’s Chimpanzees Will Not Retire to a Sanctuary as Planned

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) will not be retiring all of its chimpanzees to Chimp Haven, as it originally pledged to do. Nearly four dozen chimps at a biomedical primate facility in New Mexico will remain there because they are too old and sick to move, he said, although scientific studies of them have ended.

Read Publication

Chimp Haven Reaches Milestone with Expansion Project

Chimp Haven has reached a milestone as it makes room for former research chimpanzees still awaiting sanctuary retirement.

Read Publication

Chimp Haven Continues to Expand

Chimp Haven has reached an exciting milestone as it makes room for former research chimpanzees still awaiting sanctuary retirement.

Read Publication

Chimp Haven Fosters a New Beginning for Two Staff Members Who Met & Fell in Love at the Louisiana Sanctuary

Chimp Haven is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the life and happiness of chimpanzees in the U.S. Its 200-acre property in Louisiana currently houses over 270 chimps who are cared for by a team of passionate animal lovers. Since its founding in 2005, Chimp Haven has made a difference in many lives by fostering a joyful environment. For instance, Rebekah and Mark met while caring for chimpanzees at Chimp Haven, and they later got married at the sanctuary.

Read Publication

Chimp Haven Prepares for First Chimpanzee Discovery Day of 2019

Click the link for video, including an interview with Michelle Reininger, Colony Director at Chimp Haven and an alternate on NAPSA’s Steering Committee.

Read Publication

Chimp Haven takes a look back at all of their surprise babies

Chimp Haven was built to provide a retirement home for chimpanzees who have spent their lives living in research laboratories. The natural environment allows them the freedom to live in social groups, sleep and eat when they want to and play around. But that playing around has had some surprising results, in the form of unexpected pregnancies.

Read Publication

Sanctuary Celebrates Chimp Love Stories with Valentine’s Day Cards Dedicated to the Cutest Couples

Chimp Haven celebrated the many relationships between its chimpanzees for Valentine’s Day.

Read Publication