FORT PIERCE, FLA. (WSVN) – Vanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, has embarked on a remarkable journey of discovery after spending her entire life in captivity. Recently integrated into a large chimpanzee family at Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Vanilla and her companion Shake now have the opportunity to explore a sprawling 3-acre island that has become their new home.
The transition to freedom was not without its challenges.
As Shake confidently ventured onto the island, Vanilla hesitated at the doorway, her apprehension evident. However, with the encouragement of Dwight, the alpha male of the family, Vanilla took a leap of faith and joined him, an emotional moment captured on camera.
Vanilla’s earlier years were marked by confinement in a New York-based biomedical research lab, where she was housed in a small cage, suspended from the ground like a birdcage.
In 1995, she was one of thirty chimpanzees relocated to the Wildlife Waystation, where she became part of a small family group.
In 2019, the closure of the Wildlife Waystation necessitated the rehoming of nearly 480 animals, including 42 chimpanzees. Vanilla was among the final seven to be relocated, embarking on a cross-country journey from New York to Fort Pierce, thanks to the FedEx Cares program. Transported in a FedEx airplane, she was then driven to the sanctuary in a climate-controlled semi-truck, provided by Pero Family Farms.
Following a quarantine period, a standard procedure for all new chimpanzees at Save the Chimps, Vanilla and her family were introduced to one of the larger family groups in the sanctuary. Now fully integrated, Vanilla relishes the freedom to explore the 3-acre island and make her own choices.
Her first encounter with the outdoors left her awestruck as she gazed at the open and expansive sky, a sight she had never witnessed before due to the cage tops of her former homes.
Vanilla spends her days exploring the island, engaging in relaxation, and participating in grooming sessions with her newfound family. The sanctuary provides her with a long-awaited chance to live a life filled with freedom and natural experiences, a world she never thought she would be a part of until now.
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