Contributors

ALLISON ARGO has made documentary films for twenty-five years that advocate for the just treatment of nonhuman beings. She is known for her emotionally charged and deeply personal films, particularly her intimate portraits of endangered and abused animals. Her films, which she writes, edits, produces, directs, and often narrates, have won six Emmys, a DuPont Columbia award for journalism, and over fifty awards internationally; all have been broadcast on TV by PBS and National Geographic. Her Emmy award-winning film Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, which gives a sobering glimpse into the world of chimpanzees in North America, was broadcast in 2006, capturing the hearts of viewers around the world. Allison has traveled the globe searching for chimpanzees in the mountains of Tanzania, combing the Amazon for endangered frogs, and exploring the underbelly of Bangkok looking for displaced elephants. Her latest film, The Last Pig, continues her mission as a filmmaker to speak out for the voiceless and inspire compassion for all living beings. (www.ArgoFilms.com)

SARAH BAECKLER DAVIS is a primatologist, lawyer, nonprofit fund-raiser, and bridge builder. She has worked with and for chimpanzees since 1997, the year she met Washoe, the famous sign language chimpanzee. Sarah has a graduate degree in primatology from Central Washington University and a JD from Lewis and Clark Law School. She served as executive director of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for its first five years, helping it evolve from infancy to an established and respected member of the chimpanzee sanctuary community. She then spent a year and a half leading the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, which she cofounded in 2010, along with six other sanctuary directors. In 2014, she founded Project Chimps with the mission to retire nearly three hundred chimpanzees. Presently, Sarah is the executive director of Humane Society Naples.

MARK BODAMER, PHD, worked with chimpanzees for more than two decades, including chimpanzee sign language studies with Washoe, Moja, Tatu, Dar, and Loulis at Dr. Roger and Deborah Fouts’s primate facility at Central Washington University. Mark received his PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Nevada-Reno, studying under the pioneering chimpanzee comparative psychologists Drs. R. Allen and Beatrix T. Gardner. Mark’s work helped shed light on the continuity between species and the ethical issues regarding the long-term care and psychological well-being of chimpanzees. As an associate professor of psychology, he taught Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, and Comparative Psychology at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Mark is vice president of the board of trustees for the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia, where he has spent fifteen summers leading his students and colleagues in chimpanzee research, educational outreach, and humanitarian aid projects.

KRISTINA CASPER-DENMAN, PHD, is a professor of anthropology and history at American River College in Sacramento, California, where she also teaches a class in zoo primatology. She was co-coordinator of the ChimpanZoo program at the Sacramento Zoo and the northwest regional volunteer coordinator until 2009. Kristina has observed capuchin and howler monkeys in Costa Rica; worked with a variety of monkeys, including several species of marmosets and macaques; and interned at the Primate Foundation of Arizona, doing research on growth and development, while earning her MA in physical anthropology at Arizona State University. She has presented research papers at the Southwest Anthropology Association, the Sacramento Anthropology Society, the American Society of Primatologists, and ChimpanZoo conferences. Kristina earned her PhD in Native American studies at the University of California, Davis, in 2013.

DEBBY COX began her career in chimpanzee captive management at the Taronga Zoo, Australia, in 1986,visiting over a hundred zoos worldwide to review the management and facilities of great apes. In 2003, she volunteered in Burundi at the Jane Goodall Institute’s ( JGI) halfway house for confiscated chimpanzees and returned as codirector the following year. After translocating the chimps to Kenya, Debby established the Ngamba Island Sanctuary at the request of JGI and the Ugandan government. While acting as project director of the sanctuary and director of JGI Uganda, she received a master’s degree in environmental sciences from Australian National University. In 2004, she turned over the directorship of the sanctuary to a Ugandan national in order to focus on chimpanzee conservation and welfare programs for JGI Uganda. Debby served as a consultant for JGI within the Africa Program countries from 2009 to 2016. She has also been vice president of Captive Care for the International Primatological Society and an advisor for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, as well as on its Captive Care Committee. Debby has returned to her homeland in Australia and is currently working with Indigenous Rangers in Northern Australia.

EILEEN DALLAIRE, executive director of the Primate Rescue Center in Kentucky, manages the care of nearly fifty primates and directs the various departments of the sanctuary and staff. Eileen graduated magna cum laude, with a BA in psychology, from the University of Kentucky in 2003. She has participated in the Primate Training and Enrichment Workshop at MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Bastrop, Texas (2008), the Chimpanzee Husbandry Workshop at the Kansas City Zoo (2011), the Leadership Development for Animal Care Managers at Chimp Haven in Shreveport, Louisiana (2012), the USDA Nonhuman Primate Symposium (2017), the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan Conference at Chimp Haven (2017), and the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance Workshops (2013–2018).

LESLEY DAY is the founder of Chimps Inc., a Bend, Oregon–based nonprofit sanctuary for chimpanzees and big cats. Topo, the first chimpanzee to find refuge there— and the one featured in her story—arrived in 1995. Lesley’s first rescue was a snow leopard in 1991, a year after obtaining her United States Department of Agriculture license. She is a founding member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance.

JOHN DEBENHAM, PHD, DVM, graduated with a degree in veterinary science from the University of Sydney in 2011 and in 2015 completed his Certificate in Zoological Medicine from the University of Edinburgh. In 2017, he received his PhD in Intestinal Protozoa in Wildlife from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. During his veterinary studies, he cofounded Survive Australia, which supported conservation projects around the world, including the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre and Roots & Shoots Nepal. Currently, John works as a lecturer and clinical veterinarian at the University Animal Hospital, associated with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and is head veterinarian at the Tangen Zoo. He gained experience in great ape medicine working at Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre in 2006 and Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre in 2012. John’s goal is to combine clinical work with continued research in wildlife diseases, furthering his training as a veterinarian and conservation biologist.

JENNY DESMOND is an animal welfare and conservation consultant living in Liberia. She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Denver. She and her husband, Jim, cofounded Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP) in West Africa and its US affiliate, Partners in Animal Protection and Conservation. As an NGO, the goals of the LCRP are to provide lifelong care for orphaned chimpanzees, work with local governments and international organizations to enforce anti-poaching laws for abolishing the bushmeat and wildlife trafficking trades, and help drive dynamic strategies in the conservation of wild populations. Jenny has consulted with a wide array of animal conservation organizations on projects ranging from strategic planning to establishing animal care protocols, fundraising, and marketing campaigns. Her clients have included the Jane Goodall Institute, Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, Great Ape Survival Project, Smithsonian Institution, Orangutan Foundation International, Harmony Fund, and EcoHealth Alliance.

AMY FULTZ is the director of behavior and research at Chimp Haven, which she cofounded in 1995 and where she welcomed the first chimpanzees in 2005. Amy brings extensive professional experience to Chimp Haven after many years of behavioral work in zoo, sanctuary, and research facilities. Responsible for socialization of the chimpanzees and overseeing the enrichment and training programs, she also conducts observational research on the chimpanzees as they adjust to their new lives at the sanctuary. Working with primates since 1986, and specifically with chimpanzees since 1992, she specializes in introductions, having introduced hundreds of chimpanzees at Chimp Haven alone. Amy is passionate about chimpanzee conservation issues and has published and presented scientific papers based on her research.

ROSA GARRIGA, PHD, DVM, is a veterinarian with almost two decades of experience working with wildlife. She has supervised the health care of over 250 orangutans at the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine in Borneo, Indonesia, and more than 100 orphaned chimpanzees at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. Serving as a field veterinarian and technical advisor, she has worked as an animal handling and facility improvement consultant for hospitals, sanctuaries, and rescue and rehabilitation centers in Guatemala, Gambia, India, and Lebanon. Rosa received her PhD from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in human-chimpanzee coexistence in nonprotected areas of Sierra Leone, West Africa, in 2018; her degree in veterinary science in 1994, also from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; and a master’s degree in wildlife medicine from the University of London in 1999. Since 2011, she has been helping the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary develop and implement research projects for the conservation of wild chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, focusing on their coexistence with humans in nonprotected areas that have been highly degraded by human activities.

DIANA GOODRICH has worked for nonprofit organizations since 1996. She has master of science degrees in psychology and in animals and public policy. Her early career focused on working with children with special needs, managing volunteers, leading research projects on gestural communication in chimpanzees, and coordinating outreach efforts for a nonprofit film production company. She spent three years as a caregiver and executive assistant for the Fauna Foundation, a sanctuary in Canada for chimpanzees who have been retired by laboratories and zoos. Her passion for animal protection has led her to volunteer for numerous organizations, including several involved in emergency response during Hurricane Katrina. Diana began working for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest as the director of outreach before the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees arrived, and now serves as codirector of the sanctuary, along with her husband, J.B. Mulcahy.

GLORIA GROW, born in Montreal, is the founder and director of the Fauna Foundation, the first and only sanctuary for chimpanzees in Canada. Accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, Fauna cares for chimpanzees and monkeys who spent years in research, the pet trade, and zoos. Over the last twenty years, Fauna has been home to 23 chimpanzees, 7 monkeys, 230 farm animals, and many dogs and cats. Before finding her calling for rescuing chimpanzees, Gloria attended the Nash Academy of Animal Sciences and for fifteen years operated a dog grooming company. A founding member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, she is a trustee of the American Fund for Alternatives to Animal Research, sits on the board of advisors for the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group, and is co-chair of Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in US Laboratories. Gloria has coauthored two papers on the psychological effects of captivity and research on chimpanzees.

HARRY HMURA, international blues and jazz guitarist, founded Musicians for Apes, which grew into I AM, I AM, a project that supports great apes who have been used in biomedical research, entertainment, and kept as household pets, as well as the many sanctuaries that care for them. He has toured with Grammy Award–winning artists and performed at blues and jazz festivals in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico. Harry has performed on radio, national TV commercials, and a wide range of network and cable television shows; written and produced two solo albums; and performed in the world-renowned Halo video game series Halo, Halo 3ODST, and Reach. His latest CD, I AM, I AM, features great ape vocalizations and sounds that were recorded at sanctuaries and indigenous habitats around the world. (www. iam-iamproject.com. www.harryhmuramusic.com)

MARY LEE JENSVOLD, PHD, is a primate communication scientist, associate director at the Fauna Foundation, and senior lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Museum Studies at Central Washington University. She has worked with the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute family of chimpanzees since 1986. In 1985, she received a BA in psychology from the University of Oregon, in 1989 an MS in experimental psychology from Central Washington University, and in 1996 a PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Nevada-Reno. Specializing in ethological studies of apes, animal intelligence, communication, language, and culture, Mary Lee has published material about conversational behaviors, private signing, phrase development, chimpanzee-to-chimpanzee conversation, imaginary play, and artwork with chimpanzees. She also researches caregiving practices, zoo visitor effects, and public education about chimpanzees. Active in improving conditions for captive chimpanzees, Mary Lee is on the boards of the Animal Welfare Institute, Friends of Washoe, and the Fauna Foundation. She is a 2013–2015 Sigma Xi distinguished lecturer.

ASAMI KABASAWA received a doctorate in Asia and Africa studies in 2009 from Kyoto University, Japan; an MSc in primate conservation in 2003 from Oxford Brookes University, UK; and a BA in anthropology from Hunter College, City University of New York in 1996. During her undergraduate studies, she joined the volunteer program at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine & Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), New York, to improve the psychological well-being of captive chimpanzees, baboons, and other primates. In 1996, Asami worked with Janis Carter to set up a sanctuary for orphaned and confiscated chimpanzees under the Chimpanzee Conservation Project in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. From 1997 to 2001, she worked with retired LEMSIP chimpanzees at the Wildlife Waystation in California, and from 2001 to 2005 she continued her work with captive chimpanzees at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. In 2006, Asami worked as a site manager at Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, Bossou Research Station in Guinea.

ADRIANA MARTIN, a native of Mexico, has an MS degree in experimental psychology from Central Washington University, where she first met the five signing chimpanzees at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI). Additionally, she obtained a JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she was president of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Now a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine, Adriana continues to advocate for ending all use of animals in research and for a vegan ethic. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her three rescued cats—Malachi, Monster, and Evey—and her best canine friend, Bronwyn.

NANCY MEGNA is an animal advocate, activist, and caregiver who has been working with, and on behalf of, animals most of her life, including studying and observing primate behavior in labs, zoos, and in the wild. Nancy gained firsthand knowledge while caring for primates in two laboratories—New York University’s Laboratory for Experimental Medicine & Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) and Yerkes National Primate Research Center. This work compelled her to become a founding member of the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group. As a program specialist and advisory board member for the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, Nancy has shared information about the inhumane practices and living conditions in labs that are hidden from the public due to closed-door policies. Currently, she works as a behaviorist with emotionally and intellectually disabled individuals. Nancy is committed to retiring all lab chimpanzees and ending the use of all animals in biomedical research.

PATTI RAGAN is the founder and director of the Center for Great Apes, the only sanctuary in the United States for chimpanzees and orangutans. She began her career as a teacher on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Florida Everglades. Later she owned a successful staffing business in Miami, before volunteering as a docent at the Miami Metro Zoo and serving on the zoo’s board of directors for six years. In 1984 and 1985, she volunteered at an orangutan rehabilitation center in Borneo, run by primatologist Dr. Biruté Galdikas. In 1993, Patti founded the Center for Great Apes, where, with a staff of dedicated employees and volunteers, she continues to manage the rescue, rehabilitation, and permanent care of great apes.

ANGELA SPARKS is the mother of six children (aka “the Sparkstribe”) who range in age from fourteen to twenty-two. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from the University of Kentucky. Angela began her career in child protection and family crisis work and later shifted to foster and adoptive parent training and program administration, before leaving the workforce to raise her children. Homeschooled for the past eighteen years, her children have been active in everything from sports and church groups to the arts, scouting, and community service activities, inspired by their mother’s willingness to make their dreams a reality. Angela, her husband Kimothy, and the rest of the Sparkstribe live in Los Lunas, New Mexico.

MICAH SPARKS, who wrote his story at age eight, is on a mission to educate every child and adult he meets about the plight of captive chimpanzees and their need for enrichment, socialization, community, and family. He received a Junior Primatologist Certificate from the American Society of Primatologists when he was five years old. BioScape magazine, a publication of the Rio Grande BioPark Society in Albuquerque, hearing that he had been gathering enrichment items for the zoo’s chimpanzees, interviewed him for a feature story, “Sparks of Enthusiasm: Six-Year-Old Enriches Primates,” which appeared in the summer 2011 issue. Micah’s enrichment project is now in its ninth year.

JACQUELINE STEWART is a pseudonym for a biologist and former primate research laboratory employee who wishes to remain anonymous. She has worked in various facilities with many species of nonhuman primates and other wildlife, but chimpanzees remain especially close to her heart. She resides in a small town with her husband and family.

ERNA TOBACK, PHD, was born and raised in Boyle Heights, a multicultural working-class community in California. She attended California State University, Northridge, where she received a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology with a focus on ethnomusicology and folklore, and a master’s degree in physical/biological anthropology. She was awarded a PhD in primatology from the University of Stirling in Scotland. Erna has collected chimpanzee behavioral data at the MD Anderson Cancer Research Center, New Iberia Research Center, and the Los Angeles and Edinburgh Zoos. Additionally, she has created husbandry, behavioral, socialization, and environmental enrichment protocols for chimpanzees retired from biomedical research; taught physical/biological anthropology at Santa Monica College for fifteen years; and been a consultant for the Humane Society of the United States. Currently serving on Chimp Haven’s board of directors, she continues her involvement in activities related to the humane care of captive chimpanzees and the retirement of biomedical research chimpanzees to sanctuaries.

HILDA TRESZ was the behavioral, enrichment, and international welfare coordinator at the Phoenix Zoo. She had twenty-eight years of experience working with chimpanzees and other exotic species around the world. An active mentor for the Jane Goodall Institute, Hilda traveled the world helping chimpanzees who were living in solitary confinement in zoos find new lives through the addition of basic husbandry, enrichment, and assistance with diet, behavioral, and medical problems. She also taught zoo staff how to improve animal welfare by employing free or inexpensive techniques. A Hungarian citizen with permanent residency in the United States since 1989, Hilda died unexpectedly at age fifty-six, while on assignment for the Jane Goodall Institute, as this book was about to go to press.

JAYNE WELLER, DVM, has always had a passion for animals and the natural world. After graduating in 2003 from the University of New South Wales with a science degree in zoology and an arts degree in music and English, Jayne became a senior keeper in a private Australian zoo. While working at the zoo, she became increasingly aware of the plight of captive animals and the importance of educating the public about their conditions and needs. In 2008, she cofounded Survive Australia, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting conservation projects worldwide through fundraising, providing needed supplies, and sharing expertise. Jayne received a Degree of Veterinary Science from Sydney University in 2011, and she successfully acquired a postgraduate certificate in Zoological Medicine from Edinburgh University in 2015. She is currently the veterinarian for the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra, Australia.