On a typical Monday, Flora and Valentina Rose groom each other while basking in the warm sunshine. Alpha chimp Mason and his buddy Jimmy Dean patrol their perimeter. Sara Soda forages, Carlee climbs a tree, and Arden battles Natalie over a banana. It’s a regular day for this troop of chimpanzees. But these chimps aren’t wandering the wilds of Africa. They live on two hundred peaceful acres in rural Keithville, south of Shreveport. 

Chimp Haven celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year. The largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, it’s home to over three hundred residents. “We welcome chimpanzees young and old, in all stages of life, and provide them with compassionate care and an opportunity to live what we call the Chimp Life—a lifestyle as close to wild as it gets,” said Rana Smith, Chimp Haven’s CEO. 

Co-founders Amy Fultz and Linda Brent were working with chimpanzees at a San Antonio, Texas, research facility in 1995 when they began imagining a home for chimps who were retired from biomedical research. At that time, more than one thousand chimpanzees were being used in research—and such a sanctuary did not exist.  

With Chimp Haven, the pair began their quest for a safe place where chimps could be cared for in an environment that provided features of their natural habitats. Initially looking in East Texas and elsewhere, they ultimately discovered property at the twelve-hundred-acre Eddie D. Jones Nature Park in Keithville and were offered a parcel for the sanctuary. “It was perfect for chimps, with tall trees and isolated wild areas to roam,” said Chimp Haven’s colony director, Michelle Reininger. 

 In 2000 Congress passed the CHIMP Act, establishing a national system to relocate retired chimpanzees from research facilities to sanctuaries. This further motivated and spurred Fultz, Brent, and fellow co-founder Dr. Tom Butler in pursuit of their goal. In 2002, Chimp Haven successfully competed for the National Institutes of Health contract to run the new National Chimpanzee Sanctuary System; with federal support, sanctuary construction began in 2003, and Chimp Haven welcomed its first residents, Rita and Teresa, in 2005. 

Until ten years ago, chimps were commonly used for biomedical research, because they share 98.8% of their DNA with humans. In 2015, captive chimpanzees were deemed endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and the National Institutes of Health ended their support of chimpanzees in biomedical research. This prompted a surge in the number of chimps transitioning to the sanctuary at Chimp Haven. “When we founded Chimp Haven, I never thought I would see the day when chimpanzees would no longer be used in research,” said Fultz. 

Chimp Haven is divided into six unique multi-acre forested habitats and other housing options accommodating over thirty troops, or social groups, each with their own distinct hierarchies. When chimps first arrive at Chimp Haven, they spend approximately a month in quarantine at the Welcome Center. Attending veterinarian Raven “Dr. J” Jackson said their care is specifically tailored to each chimp’s needs. When the staff determines a new chimp is ready, the chimp is introduced to a group the staff feels will be a good fit. Caregivers limit their interactions with the chimps, rarely touching them, both for their own safety and because they want the chimps to interact primarily with each other. Yet the caregivers do form bonds with the chimps. “It’s important for us to be able to care for them,” said Reininger. “We need them to trust us.”  

Pearl, Jeff Lebowski, and Daisy are three of Chimp Haven’s permanent residents. Courtesy of Chimp Haven

Residents at Chimp Haven range in age from Carlee, age eight, to sixty-five-year-old co-patriarchs Jacob and Julius—the oldest living male chimps in human care in the United States. While most chimps arrive from research facilities, the sanctuary welcomes any chimp who needs a home. 

Henry, age forty, came to Chimp Haven in 2009. Abused and malnourished, he was rescued by Houston, Texas, animal control officers who found him in an unkept cage in a garage, where he’d been living for fifteen years. Reininger said he’s doing well today, but his initial introduction to Chimp Haven was difficult. “Henry struggled to assimilate into any social grouping. It took time for us to find the perfect group for him. It was also a challenge for a group to accept him because he had adopted some quirky human behaviors. For example, he likes to blow kisses. He’s come a long way, gaining social skills, learning cues from other chimps, and building relationships.” 

The Captive Primate Safety Act, first introduced in 2005, would prohibit private ownership of primates and, if passed, essentially end the chimp pet industry. This bill has been passed by the House of Representatives multiple times but, as of 2024, is still awaiting approval by the Senate. 

Funding for Chimp Haven comes primarily from the federal government, which is committed to caring for chimps who have been used in federal research. The facility also relies on contributions from private donors, tours, and grant money. The most recent arrivals to this refuge are twenty-one chimps from a primate facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico. An enclosure was built earlier this year to house these newcomers at a cost of approximately five million dollars, all of which came from private supporters.  

In 2025, to commemorate their thirtieth year, they collaborated with Seventh Tap Brewing Project in nearby Shreveport to create a limited-edition strawberry-banana beer called Sparky’s Sourberry, with a percentage of proceeds benefiting Chimp Haven.  

Today the sanctuary continues to be at the forefront of chimpanzee well-being and advocacy. All three founders remain active within the organization. Brent lives on the East Coast and serves on Chimp Haven’s advisory board, as does Butler. Fultz, who lives in Michigan, is Chimp Haven’s welfare scientist and director of special projects and works at the facility as needed. “It’s remarkable and humbling,” Fultz said, “to look back and realize what we accomplished and how much these chimpanzees’ lives have been enriched, thanks to so many people who supported the dream of the sanctuary.” 

Chimp Haven is not a zoo, but they do host several opportunities for the public to experience the sanctuary. They offer quarterly webinars called Chimp Haven at Home; regular Chimp Chats which include a tour and conversation with the staff; spring and fall Discovery Days (the latter this October 18); and private tours (find details on their website, chimphaven.org). A 2020 National Geographic series called Meet the Chimps was filmed at Chimp Haven and is available for streaming on Disney Plus. 

Angie Kay Dilmore is a freelance writer, editor, and children’s author in Lake Charles. Her recently published picture book, Bedtime Lullabayou, celebrates Louisiana’s unique culture and natural beauty. Learn more at angiekaydilmore.com.