Hello, my name is
Samantha

About Me

I was born on December 6, 1992, to my parents Betty and Ted. I was taken from Betty the very next day and placed in the nursery, where I remained for a year and a half. In May 1994, I was taken from the nursery and put in a cage with a young male my age named Dwight. I was assigned to a research study before my second birthday, but fortunately, the study was canceled. For unknown reasons, I was never assigned to another study, and escaped the fate of so many other chimps born at The Coulston Foundation: frequent anesthesia for painful experimental surgeries, toxic doses of experimental medications, or infection with viruses. Instead, I was anesthetized about twice per year for physicals and lived in a small group with other chimps my age.

I was rescued by Save the Chimps in 2002. I am a kind, loving, and gentle chimp who is always quick with a smile to greet my caregivers every morning. I also keep my caregivers on their toes by sometimes throwing myself unexpectedly onto the mesh to get their attention before asking for head scratches or belly scratches with a tickle stick. Perhaps it is because I did not experience the suffering of so many chimps in research, or perhaps it is just my nature, but I always seem to have a positive outlook on life and spread cheer to all who know me.