A chimp named Vanilla was filmed as she first sees the open sky and feels the sunlight after she had spent the majority of her life in a biomedical research laboratory. The video is heartbreaking as it is heartwarming.
Vanilla lived in a laboratory
The now-30 years old chimpanzee had lived the start of her life in New York’s infamous Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates until she was two years old.
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Chimps in this lab were usually housed in 5’x5’x7’ suspended cages.
She was then transferred to California
Vanilla was transferred with a group of other chimpanzees to California in 1995. They were moved in a larger enclosure at the Wildlife Waystation there.
So the total amount of time Vanilla spent in cages and enclosures was over two decades where she didn’t see the open sky.
The moment was caught on camera
An emotional moment was caught on camera when the chimp, who was 29 years old then, stepped out into the sunlight and looked up at the sky for the first time.
People reacting to the video said it was heartbreaking as it is beautiful.
She was taken to Orlando
Vanilla has now been rehomed after the Wildlife Waystation closed. In 2022, the animal protection organization Save the Chimps flew Vanilla and her group to Florida.
Vanilla and her family of chimpanzees were taken to Orlando to the 150-acre sanctuary where they now live.
She was integrated with the other chimps
The group of new chimps were placed in quarantine before being introduced to one of the larger family groups in the sanctuary.
Vanilla’s page on the chimpanzee sanctuary’s site reads, “I am now fully integrated into the group and we have a 3-acre island to explore and the freedom to choose where and how to spend our days.”
She first seemed unsure about the sun
In the emotional video, Vanilla seems unsure about stepping outside at first, before she’s helped by alpha male Dwight who encourages her to take the brave step.
She’s then seen looking up at the sky for the first time, with amazement apparent on her face as the sun hits her.
The page explained Vanilla’s experience
“My first time outside, I was in awe of the open sky, a sight I had never seen in my life as my former homes had cage tops,” the page explained on behalf of the chimp.
“I enjoy exploring the island and relaxing and grooming with my family on the island.”
Save the Chimps spoke about the rehoming
Dr. Andrew Halloran, primatologist at Save the Chimps, spoke with the New York Post, saying, “In California, Vanilla lived with a handful of chimps inside a chain-link fence cage with no grass and very little enrichment.”
“Vanilla is settling in very well,” he added. “When she’s not exploring the island with her friends, she can usually be found perched atop a three-story climbing platform surveying her new world.”
