Together at Last : 9 Chimps Retire From Laboratory Into a Life of Freedom

For most of their lives they had served science, primarily as test animals for researchers developing hepatitis vaccinations. But on Monday, the nine old chimpanzees entered a life of retirement in the hills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

They also face an unusual challenge, a test that is perhaps more daunting than those they endured while housed at the New York University School of Medicine. After being isolated in cages for so many years, the chimpanzees will have the chance to run free--and have to learn how to socialize with their own kind. In short, they will have to learn what it’s like to be chimps again.

“They’ve been deprived, for so many years, of social contact with each other, because of the nature of the testing we’ve done and the fear of disease,” said Dr. James Mahoney, deputy director of the laboratory for experimental medicine and surgery at NYU. “It’s really been a form of cruelty to keep them apart. Now, they can all just finally be together.”

Mahoney had been with some of the apes 20 years. Standing back from a set of nine newly constructed animal enclosures, hands on hips, James Mahoney took in the scene before him Monday at the Wildlife Waystation north of Lake View Terrace. His sharp blue eyes were filled with a mixture of relief, concern and excitement.

After two decades of living and learning with the nine chimps--one of whom he literally pulled from the womb--it was time to say goodby.

As Chas, one of the nine new Waystation wards, was released from a small portable cage into his new quarantine enclosure, he let out ear-splitting screeches and clung frantically to the welded-wire caging directly in front of Mahoney, who faced him from the other side of the enclosure.

“It’s OK, it’s OK,” Mahoney said, scratching the animal’s belly and shushing him. “Don’t be frightened, please.” Gradually, Chas quieted down and toured his new quarters, sniffing the hay bedding and picking up his new toys.

After traveling across country by truck, the chimps arrived Monday at the Wildlife Waystation, a refuge for abused, abandoned and sick animals in the Angeles National Forest.

“This is a landmark, a true breakthrough,” said Mahoney. “Usually, when these animals are ready for retirement, they just sit in cages, alone, in labs, while we humans talk and talk and talk about what should be done with them. But here, something was done.”

Waystation director and founder Martine Colette met Mahoney just a few weeks ago, talked to him, shook his hand, and started building temporary shelters for the animals immediately. The last two days, Waystation employees and volunteers worked without sleep to finish the handsome new enclosures, which can be heated and include enough room for the chimps to climb and play on beams and ropes. The new structures cost Colette about $150,000 to build.

The highly intelligent primates will reside in the brick, wood and steel enclosures until Colette raises enough money to build a new primatology center. When it’s ready, she plans to start the slow process of socializing the animals--introducing them to each other, allowing them to interact, hug, fight, form relationships.

The chimps range in age from 16 to 39, and were used primarily in laboratory-based testing of vaccinations, including testing of hepatitis B and hepatitis C vaccinations.

Booie, a 28-year-old chimp, learned sign language at the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma before going to NYU. His ability is more than imitative, Mahoney said.

“He once accused me of lying to him, when he asked me for a treat and I told him I didn’t have any,” he said. “Booie said, ‘Booie SEE treat,’ and he pointed at my pocket, and said it again. And yes, I had a treat in my pocket.” He also knows the signs for “play,” “hug,” “drink,” “cigarette,” and many other words.

But the other chimps now at the Waystation are also communicative and understand a variety of words and phrases, Mahoney pointed out.

Mike Dee, curator of mammals at the Los Angeles Zoo, said Monday that the successful retirement of the NYU laboratory chimps at the Waystation would be something of a first.

“It’s somewhat unique to have animals that age, if they’ve been kept in solitude for invasive experimentation, to be introduced to each other and be able to socialize,” Dee said. Some ex-laboratory primates have learned to socialize, but such animals are generally younger than the NYU chimps.

“For the chimps’ sake, I’m glad they’ve been taken out of the experiment situation,” he said. “But this is an experiment, too, to see if they can socialize, which I know Martine will want to try.”

Today, Mahoney’s flight back to New York leaves at 3 p.m. He plans to spend some quality time alone with the chimps in the morning. Asked how he would sign farewell to Booie, he considered the question for a minute.

“I will just tell him I love him, that he has got to be good, and that I’m coming back to see him soon. And I’ll give him a kiss. I don’t have to sign that. He knows what it means.”