Monrovia — Animal protection charity Humane Society International, and its sanctuary Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge Liberia, are celebrating World Chimpanzee Day on 14th July with a moving tribute to colleague Joseph Thomas who died in January this year after more than 40 years of dedicated care for over 60 retired chimpanzees in Liberia who were formerly used in invasive biomedical research. SCCRL and HSI are now embarking on an exciting new phase of sanctuary development with architectural and construction plans to build a veterinary clinic and new facilities on the chimpanzees' island homes.
Thomas first met the chimps in 1979 when he began work at the research facility where they were being used in experiments. When civil war broke out in Liberia, and then years later Ebola devastated the country, Thomas and other local workers stayed behind at the facility and risked their own lives to care for the chimps. In the mid-2000s Joseph helped to relocate the chimpanzees to six estuary islands in the Farmington and Little Bassa rivers in western-central Liberia as research on them was being phased out. In 2015, when the research company's funding for the animals came to an end, it was Thomas who signaled an international plea for help while he did his best to gather local resources to continue feeding the chimpanzees. His plea reached the attention of Humane Society International who stepped in to provide initial emergency funding to save the chimps. HSI has since committed to their lifetime care.
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