America's last group of biomedical research chimps to make forever home in Georgia sanctuary.

NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D, from a news release  by the National Institute of Health , June 26, 2013:

Americans have benefitted greatly from the chimpanzees’ service to biomedical research, but new scientific methods and technologies have rendered their use in research largely unnecessary,their likeness to humans has made them uniquely valuable for certain types of research, but also demands greater justification for their use. After extensive consideration with the expert guidance of many, I am confident that greatly reducing their use in biomedical research is scientifically sound and the right thing to do. 

​Nine former biomedical research chimpanzees—Jennifer, Gracie, Genesis, Buttercup, Charisse, Emma, Gertrude, Latricia and Samira—are now being housed at a Blue Ridge, Georgia sanctuary called Project Chimps. They were moved on September 8, 2016. These first arrivals will ultimately become a group of over 200 chimpanzees, with the hope that privately held chimps can be rescued and relocated there as well, bringing the total chimp population rescued to 300. The chimps’ previous home was the University of Louisiana’s New Iberia Research Center. The chimpanzees will be able for the first time to interact with other chimps. They will live in social groups within small villas, they will have access to open outdoor space  and of course plenty of toys.

Mary Jo DiLonardo has a must-read article that is published in Mother Nature Network:

There are five habitat buildings with indoor and outdoor caged play areas. They back up to six acres of open-air habitat. In the beginning, the chimps will be in quarantine, but they will eventually be able to go out into those six acres of greenspace. The habitats are surrounded by the 200-plus acres of woods and other facilities that make up the rest of the sanctuary. The chimps won't have access to that land at this point.

"These are chimps coming from the lab and although we would like to see them go off into the trees, it will be a while before they feel comfortable in those sorts of open spaces," says Baeckler Davis. "We'll give them a couple months in more familiar surrounding ... because even just the feeling of dirt for some chimps that have been in captivity can be intimidating. We have to help them adjust to their lives before giving them new experiences."

Although many of these chimps coming from New Iberia have had that experience, others haven't, she says. Though it may sound counterintuitive, the animals may not want to leave the concrete and cages for quite some time because it's comforting.

"Sometimes we see a chimp that will go out in a beautiful space but will only go out as far as she can touch the wall."

The Guardian explains:

The chimps will live in groups of 10 to 20 and have access to a forested area and a villa that was named Cedar Tree by Billie Joe Armstrong, the Green Day frontman who is among donors to the sanctuary. Enrichment will be provided via donated toys, puzzles and magazines – which chimps like to flip through.

Hammocks have been set up and meals will consist of bananas, apples and “monkey chow” – a sort of chimp-friendly biscuit. It’s hoped that following a quarantine period, limited numbers of visitors will be allowed to view the chimps. The sanctuary will not however be run as a zoo.

Further sanctuaries may be needed, given the limited capacity of existing facilities including Save the Chimps, in Florida, and Chimp Haven in Louisiana.

Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of HSUS, said sanctuaries “will rely primarily on donations from the public to care for their new residents and to make retirement a reality for many others – so this is just a start, and much more heavy lifting remains.