by Megan Manecke, Lifestyles Editor
Have you ever wondered what happened to the title character of the 1996 movie, Dunston Checks In – you know, the hairy orange performer with the long arms? That movie was made 13 years ago. Where is that once-famous orangutan now?
TV and movie viewers are accustomed to watching great apes perform in movies, TV shows, and commercials. But most people do not know what happens to these animal actors once they’ve passed their prime. Great apes start becoming unpredictable to work with around the age of seven, and have to be retired. However, they live to be forty to fifty years old – and then where do they go?
Sammy, the star of Dunston Checks In, also appeared in The Flintstones in 1994, as well as the Planet of the Apes remake in 2001. Sammy was retired from his acting career when he became too dangerous to handle, and he is currently living at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida.
“Sammy became a breeder and ended up in a backyard in a small cage. Now he lives in a huge three-story enclosure with his mate, Geri,” said Patti Ragan, founder of the Center for Great Apes.
Sammy and Geri have a son named Jam. Their baby was separated from them so that he, too, could be trained to work in commercials, TV shows, and movies. In March 2005, Jam came to the Center for Great Apes and was reunited with his mother.
Tango is another performing orangutan who has starred in ads for Tang, Budweiser, and appeared in the 2001 movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. She came to the Center for Great Apes in 2004, after being retired at seven years old. A chimpanzee named Ellie came to the center after starring in the successful CareerBuilder.com ads that aired during the Super Bowl.
From the Circus to the Lab
Sadly, not all great apes in the entertainment industry are retired directly to a center that will take care of them. Chipper, a chimpanzee, was born in Africa in the early 1970s. He was caught and sold to a circus trainer at the age of two. After performing for ten years in the Ringling Brothers Circus, he was sent to a bio-medical research lab in New Mexico. In 1985, Chipper was sent to a roadside zoo for retired performing circus animals in northern Florida, and after being moved around several times to other small facilities, finally arrived at the Center for Great Apes in 2000.
The Center for Great Apes is more than just a refuge for retired “entertainers” – it also includes orangutans and chimpanzees who were privately owned as pets. One chimpanzee came to the center after living in a cage in a backyard for 30 years. Denyse had lived on a diet of marshmallows, pizza, and beer, and the staff at the Center had to wean her off her addiction to alcohol. In 2006, Linus, Kiki, and Mickey – two adult orangutans and a chimpanzee – arrived at the Center after living in a garage for ten years, in cages that were too small for them.
“Denyse lived with an elderly couple for 35 years in a very restrictive enclosure. She wasn’t well cared for and doesn’t like other chimps. They are done a disservice when raised as people,” Ragan said.
Why Not Zoos?
It may seem like zoos would be the logical place for the retirement of great apes. But unfortunately, many apes that are in the entertainment industry or privately owned cannot be sent to accredited zoos, due to a lack of experience and interaction with their own species.
“Zoos won’t take them because they don’t know the proper behaviors of their own kind.” Ragan said. “Normally, baby chimps and orangutans stay with their mother until they are eight or nine. When an infant is taken away from their mother so young, they do not learn how to communicate or act like normal chimpanzees or orangutans.”
Patti Ragan, the founder of the Center for Great Apes, began volunteering with wild orangutans in 1984 in Borneo. She helped orangutans that had been captured by rehabilitating them before releasing them back into the wild.
In 1990, Ragan was volunteering for a small attraction in Miami that had orangutans and chimpanzees that were being sold to the entertainment industry. She was helping to care for two great ape infants – an orangutan and a chimpanzee – but she disliked the idea of great apes working as entertainers. She decided to start her own shelter when she could not find a home for the two great ape infants in her care. In 1993, she founded a nonprofit organization, and a few years later found a perfect location for her refuge.
“In 1990, there were no sanctuary facilities for orangutans… and only one or two places for chimpanzees. I wanted a secure home for them when they left the entertainment industry. So, after selling my small business in Miami, I was able to find a place to start a sanctuary,” Ragan said.
The Center for Great Apes has grown significantly in the past 15 years. It now has a total of 42 residents – 28 chimpanzees and 14 orangutans, ranging in age from four to fifty years old. Since orangutans and chimpanzees are retired at age seven, they need a secure place to call home. That place is not a roadside zoo or a research lab. There are many more great apes in desperate need of a place to retire, but the Center is currently at maximum capacity. Ragan wants to expand her facility to accommodate more great apes.
“It costs a great deal of money to take care of the apes. They need food and vet care. There are a lot of others on the waiting list but every time we take more apes, we need to expand our budget. Right now, we need money for another enclosure,” Ragan said.
There is a way for you to help. Donations can be made to the Center for Great Apes, and you can become a member. Members receive a subscription to the Center’s newsletter and are invited to the annual Spring Member Day. There are different levels of membership, and at the highest level of support, you can stay overnight at the sanctuary. There is also an adoption program – the first level of adoption makes you an automatic member for one year. Also, when you adopt one of the great apes, you receive a certificate and a framed photo of the great ape you will be helping.
To learn more about Center for Great Apes, please visit www.centerforgreatapes.org.
Do you contribute to or otherwise help an animal charity? If so let us know!
Wow! This has really opened my eyes. I had no idea that Apes in entertainment could end up leading such tragic lives.
Posted by: Belinda Miller | April 29, 2009 at 07:26 PM