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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

Free at last! Chimps caged for 30 years and injected with HIV in cruel experiments finally feel the sun on their faces againBy Allan Hall
Last updated at 10:11 AM on 8th September 2011
Like prisoners emerging from a lifetime behind bars, a group of chimpanzees step blinking into the sunlight with what appears for all the world to be a wave and a smile.
And they have much to be joyful about. For this is the first time they have felt grass under their feet and breathed fresh air for 30 years.
Though a few of the chimps were born in captivity, most were kidnapped from African jungles as babies and flown to Europe, where they were locked in metal laboratory cages to be used in a long series of experiments.
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Hello world: With a wave and what appears to be a smile, chimpanzees step into the daylight for the first time in 30 years at the Gut Aiderbichl Animal Sanctuary, near Salzburg, Austria
 
 
What do you think? Clyde the chimpanzee takes a brave peek at the great outdoors, and right, three chimps jostle for a glimpse of their new world. A total of 38 chimps have been released into the £3m sanctuary
 

Sweet dreams: Susi, a 37-year-old chimp, sunbathes in freedom for the first time. Susi has not been outside for 35 years

Horrifyingly, their mothers - who would usually raise them for six years - were all slaughtered.
The aim of the firm that bought them was to find a vaccine to combat Aids. Because chimps share  99per cent of the gene code of man, they seemed natural subjects for study.


Behind bars: One of the chimps in the cages that were home to them for many years

But that meant they suffered terrible cruelties in the years that followed, including being injected with the HIV virus.
Hooked up to machines and pumped full of chemicals, they were truly prisoners of utter despair. With no stimulation, no nurturing love and no hope, many were driven to the brink of madness and sometimes beyond.
 
But their ordeal finally ended on Tuesday when the 38 surviving chimps were released into a £3million sanctuary in Austria, allowing them to feel the nurturing contact of their fellow chimps after years of being separated by bars and bullet-proof glass.
Now, Susi, David, Clyde, Lingoa, Moritz and all the others will be free to enjoy the remainder of their lives together, thanks to the unstinting efforts of a 59-year-old conservationist named Michael Aufhauser.
The founder of an animal charity that operates in four European countries, he oversaw the construction of the sanctuary outside Vienna, which is built on the site of a defunct safari park.
‘Who knows what scars they carry on the inside,’ says Mr Aufhauser.
 

Overjoyed: The apes embrace before venturing out onto the grass together
 

Free at last! A chimp appears to grin widely as he explores grassy terrain after decades in captivity
 

Is it safe? A chimpanzee tentatively waits inside after a door is opened to his freedom

‘They are all traumatised to greater or lesser degrees. Two of them died before the reserve was finished, but at least those that are left will have a quality of life that was unthinkable when they were prisoners of the lab.
‘Some chimpanzees were infected with the HIV virus. Of course, they became HIV positive. But none of them, not here in Austria or anywhere else in the world, developed full-blown Aids. Therefore, the programme was useless. It achieved absolutely nothing.’
Several years ago, the giant American pharmaceutical company Baxter took over the Austrian laboratory, and immediately announced it had no intention of continuing the testing programme.
More than that, its bosses decided the firm had a moral responsibility to improve the life of the chimps, who can live to the age of 50 or 60.
They were moved to an indoor shelter in a safari park, but when it went into liquidation in 2004 the building of an outdoor sanctuary was stopped and the animals were forced to spend several more years in cages.
But no longer. ‘At last,’ says Mr Aufhauser. ‘They will have some dignity and some fun for what remains of their lives.’
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCuxabHGe5Q&feature=player_embedded [/youtube]

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First I found the video on YT and I was very touched when I saw their anxious and curious faces looking around in the sun for the first time of their lives.  :'(  :) I searched for news related to the video and found this well written article with great photo's. They got their freedom, I love to see this. I just wanted to share this with you :)

L.O.V.E. 
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Awhh <33
I hate animal testing, it's so sad. I'm so happy for these chimps !  :mrgreen:
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أملي هو فيكم.

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Grace

Gut Aiderbichl is a miracle and such a beautiful place.
Unfortunately, one of the chimps just died some weeks ago before he could understand what grass is.
He was born in captivity and never saw sunlight.
These animals deserve so much respect.

Gut Aiderbichl never releases any animals they have purchased. Instead, all of them are bought to find a peaceful time in these sanctuaries until they die.
It is heartbreaking in which state some animals are finding their freedom there.

This is their homepage - read through their stories if you like and enjoy.
If you want to do something for the better, you can adopt an animal through donation (which will stay at the farm).
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Geraldine Chaplin has been there as well as other celebs to offer their support.
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This a long version video about the chimps - enjoy:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgo6ee6uas&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]
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Last Edit: September 08, 2011, 04:21:33 PM by Grace
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Create your day. Create the most astounding year of your life. Be the change you want to see in the world! L.O.V.E.
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"I am tired, I am really tired of manipulation." Michael Jackson, Harlem, New York, NY, July 6, 2002
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******* Let's tear the walls in the brains of this world down.*******

Time to BE.

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_Anna_

I will condamn until the end animal cruelty. It's something I am simply NOT build to accept and understand. It's nothing to understand about this. That's what I always said: humans are the worst animals. Because they hurt and kill being conscious, while an animal attacks just to defend himself or if he's being attacked or harmed.
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When the chimp turns to hug the other one, I started crying.
I'm so HAPPY for them! Its a sanctuary and not the wild, but its too late to release them back in the wild when they are 30 years old. They wouldn't know what to do. Its so nice to know that there are people making differences.
Love is powerful, it moves mountains.
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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

Thank you all for sharing thoughts. I condemn animal cruelty by humans too, because they hurt and kill being conscious, like you said Anna.
You're right TheMoon, Love is powerful, it moves mountains, as we can see in the sanctuary Gut Aiderbichl. Thanks Grace for the web link of the sanctuary and the long version of the video. I simply can't get enough to see how happy the chimps are. They deserve this so much.
When I watched the video on the website of Gut Aiderbichl I felt happy & sad at the same time, because I saw the white horse in a very poor exhausted condition and I felt relieved that she finally got there in the sanctuary where she can be happy for the little time she has left, as for the other animals too. I laughed when I saw the four piggies leaning on the fence  :lol: , a funny part.
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liegi

Thank you for posting. I am happy the chimps were finally allowed to be outside, but I am appalled at their treatment, which appears to have been all in vain. I am against animal testing.
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everlastinglove_MJTopic starter

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Thank you for posting. I am happy the chimps were finally allowed to be outside, but I am appalled at their treatment, which appears to have been all in vain. I am against animal testing.

I agree, I'm against animal testing too and their 'given' freedom is no excuse or pay off for the cruel treatment they suffered :(
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paula-c

Some human beings are equal to .....
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Andrea

A tragedy with a happy ending.  Humans were not put on this earth to use and abuse the creatures God created.  It sickens me how some people think they have the right to grossly mistreat animals "in the name of science."  And what really sickens me is that it's all about $$.  Pharmaceutical companies create many diseases so people have to pay for treatments.

Watching that video made me choke up.  There are still so many animals out there that need to be rescued but it warms my heart to see these chimps free of their cages, at last.
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paula-c

There is now a mexican circus in Caracas, there are people who have been denounced by twitter that they be picking dogs in the street to feed them tigers and lions :evil:
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mjj4ever777

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Those poor animals! /overreacting/ Someone should throw those "scientists" in a cage and inject THEM with experimental drugs, for 30 years, and see how they like it!!!!!!!!! There is NO excuse for cruelty to animals...NO WAY, NO HOW!!!!
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~Souza~

I hate it to see people suffer, but I get furious beyond belief when I see animals or children suffer. I can't even express it in words. Glad to see these chimps will have a good few years left, they are so much like us. I could watch them 24/7.
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