A chimpanzee named Vanilla looked in awe, seeing a vast, open blue sky for the first time after living in captivity.
The animal protection organizationSave The Chimpsposted aheartwarming videoof the milestone event for the 29-year-old chimpanzee on Facebook Tuesday. The clip shows Vanilla discovering her new outdoor island home at Save the Chimps' Florida sanctuary.
“Dwight, thealpha malewho’s in charge of the chimps, coaxed her out with open arms,” Dan Mathews with Save The Chimps told theNew York Post.
Vanilla the chimpanzee gazing upon the open sky at Save the Chimps' sanctuary.Save the Chimps/Amazing Animals+/TMX
Save the Chimps/Amazing Animals+/TMX
“In the video, you see her going into his arms for a hug. It is the first time she was outdoors with more than 10 feet of fence around her on all sides from top to bottom,” he said, adding that Vanilla was “clearly elated to have suddenly found freedom.”
Vanilla and her sister Shake recently joined a chimp family at the sanctuary after spending years in captivity at the lab and then at the now-shuttered Wildlife Waystation,per Save the Chimps.
Vanilla chimpanzee hugging another primate at Save the Chimps' Florida sanctuary.Save the Chimps/Amazing Animals+/TMX
This new freedom is a long cry from where Vanilla started. The adult chimp was born into captivity at a lab specializing in HIV and hepatitis research and was torn away from her mother shortly after birth.
“Vanilla was one of the last who could have been tested,” he continued. “Researchers drew blood and did biopsies.”
After the closure, Vanilla and her sister Shake were relocated to the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit refuge north of Los Angeles.
However, Matthews noted to thePostthat the conditions were less than ideal as Vanilla lived with five other chimps “in an outdoor enclosure that was about the size of a garage” due to overcrowding at the facility. After Wildlife Waystation closed, the chimp siblings were relocated again.
An outdoor area available to chimpanzees at Save the Chimps' Florida sanctuary.Save the Chimps/Amazing Animals+/TMX
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Vanilla has taken well to her new home. She spends her days foraging for food, swinging on ropes, and taking painting classes, according to Mathews.
“Vanilla has a long future; she can live here for another 30 or 40 years,” he said. “She seems glad to have her own world, to finally have the closest thing to a natural habitat. She is embracing it.”
source: people.com
