Liberia’s rescued chimpanzees receive health checks

Chimpanzees rescued from research laboratories are getting a new lease on life at a sanctuary in Liberia, where specialists are monitoring their health as they grow older.

The animals underwent comprehensive medical examinations at the Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge, including blood and fecal tests, ultrasounds and checks on their bones, muscles and joint mobility.

Liliana Pacheco Ricote, Director, Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge Liberia: "We do a health check to see that, you know, our overall health. That's what we did with the chimps. So it goes from blood testing and then fecal testing, and then we did some ecographies and then we did some like the mobility of the joints and everything to find out if everything was okay."

The chimpanzees are among dozens living on mangrove-covered islands, where they can roam freely and live in social groups.

Many were captured from the wild as infants before spending years in laboratories.

Liliana Pacheco Ricote: "The subspecies of chimpanzees that we are talking about is the Pan troglodytes verus, which is the West African subspecies of chimpanzee and based on the Red List of the IUCN. It’s considered critically endangered, because the numbers are rapidly declining."

The sanctuary says regular health checks are essential to detect disease early and provide lifelong care for the rescued animals.