![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/\nchimphav.jpg\")
This past spring, in a secluded patch of forest in
\n northwest Louisiana’s Caddo Parish, a singularly bizarre bit of evolution
\n unfolded. There, amid the sun-dappled pines and flitting birds, a pair
\n of 40-something chimpanzees named Rita and Teresa — lifetime research
\n subjects who were originally taken from Africa for use in NASA’s space
\n program — became American pioneers of a whole other sort: the first
\n beneficiaries of an inspired piece of retirement legislation passed by
\n the United States government. Rita and
\n Teresa checked in on the afternoon of April 4 at the recently opened
\n Chimp Haven, the first federally financed, taxpayer-supported retirement
\n home for chimpanzees.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, 260 chimpanzees at Save the Chimps, virtually all of them bred
\n in captivity and used for research, will be set free on one of a dozen
\n three-acre islands on the sanctuary grounds.<\/p>\n
They arrived in a specially equipped trailer after an eight-hour drive
\n from the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Tex.
\n After receiving full physicals from Chimp Haven’s in-house veterinarian,
\n including dental checkups for possible extractions or root canals, the
\n two chimps were shown to their spacious new sleeping quarters, complete
\n with fresh running water and cross-ventilation, multiple windows and skylights,
\n hammocks made of neatly crosshatched sections of used fire hose, bedding
\n of warm blankets and hay, vanity mirrors, as well as a TV, a VCR and DVD
\n and CD players.<\/p>\n
Following a long nap, Rita and Teresa awoke to a couple of banana smoothies
\n and were shown the door to their courtyard. As it was recalled to me by
\n a staff member, they paused a moment to regard the somewhat otherworldly
\n prospect of a wide-open, odor-free patio, a playground jungle gym and,
\n just beyond the play yard’s far walls, their own private five-acre expanse
\n of grapevine-laced pines and sweetgums. <\/p>\n
For a fifty-something educator facing early retirement from a loong article in the New York Times<\/a>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This past spring, in a secluded patch of forest in northwest Louisiana’s Caddo Parish, a singularly bizarre bit of evolution unfolded. There, amid the sun-dappled pines and flitting birds, a pair of 40-something chimpanzees named Rita and Teresa — lifetime … Continue reading
\n options ranging from defecting to North Korea to relocating to a homeless
\n shelter,
\n this deal sounds pretty good. And Rita and Teresa sound like
\n a couple wild and crazy single gals in their 40’s. Where do we sign up?<\/em><\/p>\n