See the moment a 28-year-old lab chimp glimpses the open sky for the 1st time
A heartwarming video shows a 28-year-old captive chimpanzee finally seeing the sky.

Vanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, has lived her entire life in captivity without an unobscured view of the sky. But now, a heartwarming new video shows the great ape seeing the sky for the first time at an island chimp sanctuary in Florida.
For a portion of her early life, Vanilla lived inside a New York biomedical research facility, where she and dozens of other chimps (Pan troglodytes) were housed in small cages "suspended from the ground like bird cages," according to a statement from Save the Chimps, a sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida, that rescued her and 29 of her peers.
After being removed from the New York facility in 1995, Vanilla and other captive chimps were shipped to the Wildlife Waystation, an animal rescue facility in California that shuttered in 2019, where she was boxed inside a roofed enclosure, cut off from the outside world, according to the Daily Mail.
"In California, Vanilla lived with a handful of chimps inside a chain-link-fence cage with no grass and very little enrichment," Andrew Halloran, a primatologist and director of Save the Chimps, told the New York Post.
Related: Chimps learned tool use long ago without human help
After the Wildlife Waystation closed, Vanilla and members of her cohort came to Save the Chimps via a FedEx airplane that's part of FedEx Cares, a global community engagement program, before arriving to the organization's sanctuary in a semi-truck.
After spending time in quarantine, a standard procedure at the sanctuary, the chimps were gradually introduced into one of the facility's larger family groups, according to a statement.
In the recently released video, Vanilla, at first hesitant, can be seen leaping out of a doorway and embraced by Dwight, a male chimp. Throughout the clip, she repeatedly looks skyward as she explores her new grassy, open-air habitat on the 3-acre (1.2 hectares) island.
"Shake [another rescued chimp] went out onto the island without hesitation, but Vanilla was a bit more apprehensive when the door opened to this new world," Save the Chimps representatives wrote in the statement. "She sat in the doorway until Dwight, the alpha male, encouraged her to join him."
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Jennifer Nalewicki is a Salt Lake City-based journalist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and more. She covers several science topics from planet Earth to paleontology and archaeology to health and culture. Prior to freelancing, Jennifer held an Editor role at Time Inc. Jennifer has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.
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artofray It was a well written optimistic and hopeful article. My first reaction to the story was one of profound sadness. Im grateful he was finally able to see the sky..but that it took 28 years and how many countless individuals did nothing but reinforce a view that surely all humans are monsters to ape family. Every human along his journey who did nothing should be ashamed and forced to spend a week locked up alone and in the dark. Im normally all about the good news and seeing the bright side. Recently i saw on the Joe Rogan podcast a man who spent 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. It was inspiring for sure and thankfully the "prosecutor" who had history of wrongful prosecutions was caught and sentenced to 3 years..(which in and of itself is a travesty of justice). Unfortunately there is a systematic problem in our criminal justice system. Prisoners have become a commodity and represent cash dollars so the incentive is to keep putting more in prison not to help educate and rehabilitate. And I have a hunch there is a systematic problem in our "animal prison"system. Thank you for being and advocate for them. And for being able to have optimistic view in the face of cruelty. Be Well. Thequantumstew.comReply -
litzwritten This just shows how ill the people with power and money are and very low moral and these are the minds of our decision makers it will always be low regards to anything that isn't them and is the very reason Americans need to fight back harderReply -
artofray Indeed. It seems insurmountable odds when viewed from the Army of One mindset. We need to embrace all of humanity, set aside our differences to recognize who are enemy is. Its not our neighbors who voted for trump or Biden. Its the politicians themselves who are guilty of treason. Only by loving each other can we find the #unity2023 strength for the journey before us. May our hearts be pure, our minds clear, our gaze unwavering, and our resolve set in granite.Reply -
Rolfe1 A heartwarming sight captured on video shows a 28-year-old laboratory chimpanzee experiencing the open sky for the first time. The chimp's expression reveals a mix of wonder and awe as it glimpses the vast expanse above, symbolizing a moment of freedom and connection with nature after a life spent in captivity.Reply
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