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Center for Great Apes

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Center for Great Apes
Map
Date opened1993
LocationWauchula, Florida
No. of animals71
No. of species27 Orangutans
44 Chimpanzees
Websitewww.centerforgreatapes.org
Center for Orangutan and Chimpanzee Conservation, Inc.
65-0444725[1]
Revenue$1,956,713 (2015)

The Center for Great Apes is an animal sanctuary for great apes located east of Wauchula, Florida. Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1993, the sanctuary has about 70 orangutans and chimpanzees who were formerly used in entertainment, scientific research, or the exotic pet trade.[2] The sanctuary sits on 100 acres of land in rural Florida, southwest of Orlando.

The sanctuary is a founding member of North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA)[3] and is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. As such, it is not open to the general public as an attraction or zoo.

The backstory of six of the chimpanzees at the Center for Great Apes was featured in the TV documentary series Chimp Crazy. As a result of a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals lawsuit, they were removed from a facility in Missouri and sent to the sanctuary in 2021.[4]

The Center for Great Apes is the only accredited orangutan sanctuary in the United States.[5]

The Center for Great Apes has about 2 miles of aerial trailways.
The Center for Great Apes includes about 2 miles (3.2 km) of aerial trailways, allowing chimpanzees an orangutans to explore the sanctuary.

Notable residents

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  • Bubbles, former companion of Michael Jackson.[6][7]
  • Bella,[8] star of the CareerBuilder 2004 Super Bowl XL campaign.[9][10]
  • Sam "Sammy"[11] starred in the movie Dunston Checks In.[12]
  • Sandra was declared a "non-human person" in Argentina after spending 20 years at Buenos Aires Zoo.[13]
  • Sunshine[14] was born in England where her mother was owned by singer Tom Jones’ manager.
  • Bo[15] and Joe,[16] formerly at CW Exotics facility featured in the Netflix series Tiger King.
  • Marco[17] is the oldest and smallest chimpanzee at the Center for Great Apes.
  • Jonah[18] and Jacob[19] are twins. Jonah starred with Mark Wahlberg in the 2001 film Planet of the Apes and with his twin brother worked in the original “Trunk Monkey” commercials.
  • Mari[20] the orangutan, is one of several apes taken care of by the Center for Great Apes who have special needs. Mari lost both arms as an infant before arriving at the sanctuary.
  • Knuckles,[21] a chimpanzee, had cerebral palsy.
  • Allie[22] has Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), a condition that, in Allie's case, prevents the use of her legs or feet.
    Jonah, a chimpanzee, plays in a tub at the Center for Great Apes
    Jonah, a chimpanzee, plays in a tub
Three orangutans look toward the camera
Sunshine with her daughter Cahaya and friend Keagan
Marco smiles as he sits in the grass ina huge habitat at the Center for Great Apes
Marco the chimpanzee at the Center for Great Apes was wild-caught in Africa and sold to a circus in America and then sold to a family. He arrived at the Center for Great Apes in 2005.
Mari, a pure Sumatran orangutan, at the Center for Great Apes
Mari, a Sumatran orangutan, arrived at the Center for Great Apes from a language and cognition study in Georgia. She has no arms due to an accident prior to her arrival at the Center for Great Apes.

References

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  1. ^ "CENTER FOR ORANGUTAN AND CHIMPANZEE CONSERVATION INC Form 990 2015". ProPublica. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  2. ^ "About". The Center for Great Apes. August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "FAQ - Primate Sanctuaries". Primate Sanctuaries. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  4. ^ "Victory! After Years of Dedicated Effort, PETA Secures a New Life for Exploited Chimpanzees". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. July 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Homepage". The Center for Great Apes. August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Furness, Dyllan (February 2, 2016). "Michael Jackson's Pet Chimp is Living Out His Twilight Years in Florida". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Mufson, Beckett (June 28, 2017). "Michael Jackson's Famous Chimp, Bubbles, Is Selling Paintings to Get By". Vice. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  8. ^ "Bella". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  9. ^ Ragan, Patti (February 7, 2011). "Super Bowl commercials: What happens to those CareerBuilder chimps?". The Christian Science Monitor (Opinion). Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Royce, Brenda Scott (February 13, 2011). "For CareerBuilder Chimps, Sadly, the Joke Is On Them". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  11. ^ "Sammy". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  12. ^ Sokol, Zach (April 22, 2015). "All the Animals From Your Favorite Childhood Movies Are Dead". Vice. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "Orangutan Sandra granted personhood settles into new Florida home". The Guardian. November 7, 2019. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "Sunshine". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  15. ^ "Bo". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  16. ^ "Joe". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  17. ^ "Marco". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  18. ^ "Jonah". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  19. ^ "Jacob". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  20. ^ "Mari". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  21. ^ "Knuckles". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  22. ^ "Allie". Center for Great Apes. Retrieved 2023-06-16.

Further reading

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