Welcome to the home of Noah Brier. I'm the co-founder of Variance and general internet tinkerer. Most of my writing these days is happening over at Why is this interesting?, a daily email full of interesting stuff. This site has been around since 2004. Feel free to get in touch. Good places to get started are my Framework of the Day posts or my favorite books and podcasts. Get in touch.

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Chimp Haven

Last year This American Life covered the topic of retired chimpanzees. Chimps, it turns out, are the only animals we don’t euthanize when we’re done experimenting or keeping them as pets (because they seem so much like humans). What that means is that we need place for all the retired research, actor and pet chimps of this country.

So, in 2000 the US passed the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act. As the Humane Society explains, “The CHIMP Act establishes a national sanctuary system for those chimpanzees who have provided long service in laboratories, enduring sometimes painful and distressing experimental procedures.” What came out of that act was a retirement home called Chimp Haven, located about 20 miles away from Shreveport, Louisiana where the chimps are treated somewhere between animals and human retirees.

Just thought you should know.

April 27, 2009