Touching moment Vanilla the chimp sees sky for the first time following a lifetime spent caged
27 June 2023, 11:55 | Updated: 27 June 2023, 12:32
The heart-warming moment a 29-year-old chimpanzee saw the sky for the first time has been caught on camera after a lifetime of indoor captivity.
The chimp, named Vanilla, was caged in an experimental New York lab until she was two-years-old, before being placed in an enclosure in a Californian rescue centre.
Moving to his new home at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida, alongside her sister Shake, the emotional footage shows the animal staring at the sky in wonder - even appearing to mouth 'wow' as she gazes above her.
The video, taken by Save the Chimps' primatologist Dr Andrew Halloran, sees Alpha male chimp Dwight embrace the newly-free chimp in a giant hug as she's welcomed to her new home.
Spending her early years in New York's Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), Vanilla was confined to a five-square-foot cage hanging from the ceiling.
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Sweet footage shows moment chimp sees the sky for the first time
Founded by Caroline Noon in 1997, Save the Chimps is one on the largest chimpanzee sanctuaries in the world.
Using 1,150 bananas are eaten by the inhabitants on a daily basis, the non-profit was founded in response to the U.S. Air Force’s announcement that it would no longer conduct research on chimpanzees.
The charity, dedicated to saving animals who have been kept as pets, used in laboratory testing and in the entertainment industry, is now home to 220 chimps.
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Posted to the charity's social media accounts, the footage goes on to show Vanilla exploring the grassy surroundings of her new home on what the the three-acre island.
Vanilla joins 18 other chimps on her island - one of 12 islands over 150-acres that make up the sanctuary, with each landmass separated by water.
Dr Halloran told the New York Post: "In California, Vanilla lived with a handful of chimps inside a chain-link fence cage with no grass and very little enrichment."
He goes on to explain that Vanilla enjoys a special relationship with alpha male Dwight, pointing out she even steals food from him on occasion.
Vanilla was among 30 chimpanzees sent to the Wildlife Waystation in California where she lived until it was closed in 2019.
One of 480 other animals left without a home, Vanilla's move to Save the Chimps has seen her thrive among her fellow chimps.
