About Us History Board Programs H I S T O R Y Saving Space Chimps In the 1950s, the Air Force established a colony of baby chimpanzees captured from the forests of Africa to serve in the U.S. space program. Because chimpanzees have a genetic makeup that is 98.6 percent the same as humans, they were considered ideal guinea pigs to test the effects of space travel on humans. It was a chimp named Enos, for instance, who NASA put into earth orbit the year before it put John Glenn into space. But while Americans took their human astronaut heroes to heart, the chimpanzees who were NASA pioneers were consigned to languish in cages. After showing the right stuff for NASA, the chimpanzees became biomedical research subjects for the next 30 years. A generation of chimpanzee babies grew up in lab cages and then had babies of their own. In 1997, the Air Force announced it was leaving the chimpanzee research business. The U.S. government sent most of the chimpanzees to the Coulston Foundation, a New Mexico laboratory with the worst record of any lab in the history of the Animal Welfare Act. About the same time, Save the Chimps established under leadership of Dr. Carole Noon, with the encouragement of Jane Goodall, and other experts, to respond to the dilemma of the Air Force chimpanzees. Save the Chimps sued the Air Force on behalf of the chimpanzees given to the Coulston Foundation. After a year-long legal battle, Save the Chimps gained permanent custody of 21 chimps the Air Force had essentially thrown away. They are now in our Sanctuary in South Florida and will live out their lives without the threat of ever returning to a lab. Vowing never to forget the Air Force chimps, Save the Chimps continued its pursuit of the other NASA chimpanzees left behind at the Coulston Lab. Rescuing Chimps from Coulston Lab In September 2002, the notorious Coulston Foundation primate-testing laboratory was on the verge of bankruptcy and offered Save the Chimps the unique opportunity to buy their land and buildings. In return, they would donate their inventory of chimpanzees and monkeys. By purchasing the laboratory, Save the Chimps would insure that each of the 266 chimpanzees and 61 monkeys would be permanently removed from research. The Coulston lab had been investigated at least seven times and formally charged an unprecedented four times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The charges included the negligent deaths of 4 chimpanzees and 10 monkeys. Among these was Donna, a 36 year old former Air Force chimpanzee who died from a massive infection and a ruptured uterus after carrying a large dead fetus in her womb for weeks. And there were Robert, James and Raymond, who literally cooked to death when a malfunctioning heater sent the temperature in their cage soaring to 150 degrees. After governmental funding was withdrawn from Coulston, and with the future of the primates in jeopardy, Save the Chimps received an unprecedented grant of $3.7 million from the Arcus Foundation of Kalamazoo, Michigan to allow for the purchase of the laboratory. Funding from The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Doris Day Animal League, Friends of Washoe, In Defense of Animals, and New England Anti-Vivisection Society provided additional support - making this the largest single effort on behalf of captive chimpanzees ever. Among the chimpanzees being permanently retired are 16 of the celebrated Air Force chimpanzees who are survivors or descendants of chimpanzees used in the U.S. space program. With the acquisition of the Coulston Lab, Save the Chimps became the world's largest chimpanzee sanctuary. It solidified its place as the largest national movement to save captive chimpanzees and it is working to create an international movement as well. Save the Chimps is also working as an advocate to educate people about the chimpanzees' troubles and to place more captive chimpanzees into natural habitats.   Save the Chimps is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization and all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. ©2004 - Present savethechimps.org. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Contact Us