I am the senior veterinarian at Save the Chimps and have been with the organization since 2003. I received my veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania and practiced medicine in New York and Chicago prior to working with the chimps.
I love what I do and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! 
Help support the chimps’ veterinary care
September 2015 – Clay and his love for sloths: by Janie Gibbons…. Read More
Clay and his love for sloths
Clay is one of the most lovable, playful, and gentle chimpanzees I have had the pleasure of caring for. He lives in Special Needs, so the caregivers at Save the Chimps make an extraordinary effort to spend as much time with him as possible. Often he loves to dance and play chase with us, but sometimes he really loves a relaxing groom session. I get a tickle stick and groom his hair all over his body. His favorite spots are his head and chest. One day when our groom session seemed to be at an end I thought I’d take a minute and use my phone to show him some cute videos of cats on YouTube. He was very interested so I thought I would show him one of my favorite animals, a sloth. I found a video of baby sloths that are being taken care of at a sanctuary in Costa Rica. These orphaned sloths were in a bucket so their caregivers could transport them, and he was completely enthralled. I don’t know if he had ever seen a sloth before, but my impression was that he hadn’t. He immediately made an adorable high-pitched moan of interest, and his eyes were glued to the screen. I was so happy he loved them too so I found another video of the baby sloths that had music along with it. Clay was even more excited. He even stood up and gently bounced in place to the music, something he does when he’s happy to see us! Every time I see Clay it’s hard to pick which activity to do first, but I always show him a new video I’ve found with sloths and we gleefully watch together.
Janie Gibbons
Chimp Care Supervisor
Team member since 2011