It is very difficult not to be moved when seeing Vanilla the monkey seeing the sky for the first time after spending her entire life in a cage.
His face says it all. There is no doubt that the chimpanzee is absorbed by the immensity. Dwight, her kin and alpha male in her community, seems to pick up on her doubt (or emotion) from her and reassures her by giving her a warm hug.
Vanilla, 29, is a survivor of the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) in New York. The first time she saw heaven it was her when she arrived at the 'Save the Chimps' sanctuary, in Fort Pierce (Florida) where she will live from now on.
Vanilla arrived at the sanctuary accompanied by Shake, who, unlike her, did not hesitate to immediately go out and explore her new habitat.
The chimpanzee lived until she was two years old in the aforementioned laboratory. She remained there until LEMSIP closed in 1997.
From then until 2019, he lived with a group of primates transferred to California, in a larger enclosure that was constantly threatened by forest fires.
Vanilla ended up on 'Save the Chimps' after the sanctuary arranged with FedEx to fly her and her group to a 150-acre area of the Sunshine State.
Save the Chimps primatologist Dr. Andrew Halloran told the New York Post that Vanilla "lived with a handful of chimpanzees inside a chain-link fence cage with no grass and very little enrichment."
Now, Vanilla remains on an island along with 225 other chimpanzees discarded from laboratories, the entertainment industry, the exotic pet trade and zoos. Many had never interacted with individuals of their species.
Halloran assures that the monkey in the video uploaded by Save the Chimps "is adjusting very well" to her new home and that she regularly explores the island with her "friends". “She Usually she can be found sitting on top of a three-story climbing platform looking out at her new world.”
On the island, there are 12 chimpanzee communities distributed according to the personality of each animal. Vanilla lives with 18 others. "She has a particularly playful relationship with the alpha male Dwight, from whom she steals food," said the primatologist.
