 12 Month Countdown to Retire 30 Air Force Chimpanzees Begins with Arrival of First 5 AmbassadorsOn December 10, 1998, five American heroes, chimpanzee retirees from the U.S. Air Force Space Program, will be coming home to Primarily Primates, a sanctuary for unwanted animals. Unlike the astronauts John Glen or Buzz Aldrin whose names you might recognize, GiGi, Hope, Lisa, Betty and Rosemary are five chimpanzee members of the former space program chimpanzee colony whose names are unknown or have been forgotten. They will, however, be the first space program chimpanzees to be given permanent lifetime retirement at Primarily Primates. They are the ambassadors in our campaign to retire 30 chimpanzees awarded to Primarily Primates for retirement by the U.S. Air Force. Originally, they were part of a colony of 141 chimpanzees owned by the U.S. Air Force. In the 1960's, the Air Force acquired a large colony of chimpanzees to test the effects of space travel. When the chimpanzees were no longer needed for the space program, they were leased to various research facilities where they were used for biomedical research. They were among the first chimpanzees to be used for research on Hepatitis and AIDS. In 1997, the U.S. Air Force put out a Request For Proposals to divest the colony of chimpanzees. Literally, the chimpanzees were being forced out of "service." Of four organizations that attempted to gain custody of the chimpanzees, only two qualified: Primarily Primates and the Coulston Foundation. Primarily Primates was awarded 30 chimpanzees for retirement purposes while the remaining 111 were awarded to the Coulston Foundation for research purposes. These 30 chimpanzees were the only ones to be retired from service. In less than a week, for five chimpanzees from the space program, retirement at Primarily Primates will come true. For Hope, Lisa, Betty, and GiGi, the hills of San Antonio are soon to echo with their calls. Incredibly, in an amazing joint retirement cooperative effort with the Coulston Foundation, Hope, Lisa, Betty, and GiGi will be joined by Rosemary who was awarded to the Coulston Foundation. Rosemary is now oficially the 31st former space program chimpanzee being given retirement at Primarily Primates. These five female chimpanzees are the first to be officially placed into permanent retirement here at Primarily Primates. As December 10th approches, Primarily Primates is preparing to celebrate the arrival of these American heroes who will join 41 other chimpanzees already living at the rehabilitation center and sanctuary. Primarily Primates is extremely excited about the first five retirees from the space program; however, we are continually reminded that there are still 26 chimpanzees who are depending on Primarily Primates for their future. Primarily Primates must raise in excess of $750,000 just to build five new enclosures to house these apes. Neither the government nor the U.S. Air Force will aid the effort to retire the chimpanzees at Primarily Primates; therefore, we must depend on public contributions to make this retirement effort possible. Without public suppport, the campaign to retire all 31 chimpanzees will not be possible and the future of these chimapnzees will be uncertain. A donation today, to celebrate the arrival of the first five U.S. Air Force chimpanzees will help pave the way for more unsung American heroes to come home to Primarily Primates. To make a contribution to Primarily Primates to help with retirement efforts of the Air Force Chimapnzees can be sent to Primarily Primates All contributions are tax deductible. If you have questions please call Stephen Tello of Primarily Primates at (830)755-8868.
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