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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest Takes In Seized Chimpanzee Living Alone At West Coast Game Park Safari

CLE ELUM, Wash., June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum, Washington sent a rescue team to the Oregon Coast to relocate a lone chimpanzee from West Coast Game Park Safari on May 15th and continues to care for him as investigations remain active.

George at West Coast Game Park Safari, photo from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

The 21-year-old chimpanzee, George, was the first animal to be removed from West Coast Game Park Safari during a four-day operation that included action and evidence gathering by several branches of law enforcement. 310 animals in total were seized and relocated.

The Bandon, OR safari park received 78 animal welfare citations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the past year alone, noting cases of underfed lions, missing animals, poor sanitation, lack of veterinary care, and the absence of an enrichment program for chimpanzee George.

This is an ongoing story. Since the removal of the animals, the owner of the roadside zoo has been arrested and released on drug-related charges.

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest's rescue team was able to safely sedate George and transport him to the sanctuary. They applaud the Oregon State Police and the Oregon Humane Society for their dedicated work on this case.

George is currently in quarantine, separate from the other 15 chimpanzees in residence. The sanctuary is not open to the public; however, George's caregivers have been sharing updates about how he is settling into his new environment via the sanctuary's daily blog and other social media.

Co-Direct Diana Goodrich said, "We are grateful to our supporters who have built this sanctuary from the ground up, enabling us to help chimpanzees like George in their time of need. We are delighted by the response to our updates on our blog and other social media from those who live on the Oregon Coast and have met George at the roadside zoo over the years. It's heartening to learn how many people are interested in George's future."

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is accredited by the Global Federation of Sanctuaries, which requires adherence to high standards of animal care and nonprofit best practices that help ensure the organization is able to provide for the chimpanzees in both the short and long term. The sanctuary works to raise the standards of primate care, educate the public about the plight of primates, provide a learning experience for student interns interested in sanctuary care, and work via the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance to help place primates in need.

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is run entirely by the generosity of individuals and receives no government support.

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Scientists Discover Chimpanzees Use Stones To Make Sounds—possibly To Communicate

A new five-year study has revealed that wild chimpanzees in West Africa may be using stones to communicate with one another.

This remarkable behavior, documented by researchers from Wageningen University & Research and the German Primate Research Center, offers new insight into how these animals interact—and how their behaviors might be more complex and human-like than we once thought.

The study took place in Guinea-Bissau, where researchers set up camera traps in a protected nature reserve.

With help from local field guides, they recorded chimpanzees at five different locations.

At certain sites, the team noticed a curious pattern: adult male chimpanzees were seen repeatedly throwing or striking stones against the trunks of trees.

Over time, this created small piles of stones at the base of these trees—evidence that this wasn't just random behavior.

Lead researcher Sem van Loon describes this activity as "stone-assisted drumming."

It's similar to a well-known chimpanzee behavior where they drum with their hands or feet on hollow tree roots, usually to communicate over long distances or to show dominance. But this new behavior is a little different.

In traditional drumming, the chimpanzees are usually quiet before making noise. In contrast, with stone drumming, the chimps often make loud "pant-hoot" calls before suddenly going silent and then throwing the stone.

Van Loon believes the purpose may also be different. She suggests that the sound of a stone hitting a tree may travel farther through dense forest than other kinds of noise, making it a more effective way for chimps to send a message over long distances.

What's especially fascinating is that this behavior seems to be passed down through learning. Younger chimps copy the behavior from older ones, meaning it's not something they are born knowing—it's part of their culture. This kind of social learning is something we once believed only humans did.

Professor Marc Naguib, who specializes in behavioral ecology, says this discovery reminds us that culture isn't exclusive to humans. Chimpanzees also pass down learned traditions, and that's something conservation efforts should recognize and protect.

The study, published in the journal Biology Letters, opens up new questions about how animals communicate and how complex their social lives may really be.


Tragic Life Of Last PG Tips Chimpanzee From Poaching Injuries To Heartbreaking Death

Nine years on from the passing of a "beloved" chimpanzee, Choppers, famed for starring in PG Tips tea adverts, scientists have uncovered disturbing truths about her past. Astonishingly, the Western Chimpanzee who played the character of grandmother Ada Lott while still young, was housed at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire for over four decades until she died in 2016, ITV reports.

Groundbreaking revelations about her life have come to light via National Museums Scotland (NMS) researchers, employing what they describe as "cutting-edge" techniques to narrate her life "like never before."

Interestingly, this state-of-the-art method is similar to that used to decipher the history of King Richard III, whose remains emerged from beneath a Leicester car park. Known as osteobiographical analysis, it necessitates meticulous inspection of an individual's skeletal and soft tissues.

While the technique typically sheds light on the lives of human entities, detailing their histories with impressive precision, its application to contemporary animal subjects is unheard of. Yet, NMS asserts that this occasion marks possibly the first time such a comprehensive use of this approach has been undertaken to probe the existence of a zoo creature.

Choppers, a former TV-star chimp who was famously rescued from West African poachers at six weeks old and later became a beloved character known as Ada Lott on British screens, tragically passed away with her skeleton being exhibited at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS), reports the Express.

Before settling into retirement around the age of six or seven, Choppers featured in countless living rooms, eventually leaving show business due to her maturing age. Back in 2014, the very zoo that trained chimps for television admitted to the BBC that utilising apes in entertainment was a mistake that led to lasting harm for the animals.

In an enduring contribution to science after death, Choppers's remains were given to NMS by the Twycross Zoo, adding to a vast natural science trove boasting more than 10 million artefacts.

NMS's Dr David Cooper, who conducted a cutting-edge osteobiographical study, said: "Choppers was beloved by audiences across the UK for years. Now the innovative application of osteobiographical analysis has allowed us to tell her story like never before.

"Her life is a testament to the many thousands of chimpanzees that were taken from the wild and charts a crucial shift in the priorities of zoos away from entertainment and towards education, conservation, research and welfare."

The research revealed personal hardships experienced by Choppers, including distressing injuries obtained during her capture as a baby. These afflictions affected her mobility and exacerbated age-related degenerative conditions, confirmed by scientific investigation.

Experts have discovered that Choppers, a chimpanzee who was once a TV star, experienced significant changes in her diet and geography between the ages of three and four, coinciding with her move to the UK where she was introduced to a zoological diet.

The study revealed that Choppers's upper jaw was "significantly elongated" compared to wild chimpanzees, a result of an early diet rich in sugary soft fruit.

Researchers have noted that zoo primates' diets have recently changed to include tougher, less sugary vegetables, leading to marked improvements in their health and behaviour.

The findings, detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, were a collaborative effort involving experts from the University of Exeter, the University of Reading, Twycross Zoo, and the University of Edinburgh.

Phillipa Dobbs, veterinary services manager at Twycross Zoo, expressed delight at participating in the research, stating: "Choppers was an important part of our history and this pioneering research offers new insights into her life and the evolving role of modern zoos."

She added: "By supporting studies like this, we can continue to learn from the past and drive progress in animal care, welfare, science and conservation. It's an honour to be involved."






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