- Target: Yerkes National Primate Research Center
- Sponsored by: Tiffany Stearns / Georgia Animal Rights and Protection
57 years in a lab and still counting..........
Wenka was born to lab parents in 1954. When you think of the fifties, you think of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and James Brown. These performers have long passed, yet Wenka still sits in a concrete prison four decades later. Wenka is the oldest known chimpanzee in a U.S. lab, and during her lifetime she has been used in studies that include alcohol, oral contraceptives, aging, and cognitive studies at Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. During her lifetime she has had her babies taken away, she has had cell-mates she has bonded with come and go, but for the most part she has had a sad solitary life.
The suffering of chimpanzees and other animals used for research is not limited to what goes on in actual experiments. Their day-to-day existence in a laboratory is traumatic in itself. Chimpanzees experience ongoing mental and physical suffering from the endless boredom, confinement, and fear and stress of daily laboratory life. Former employees at Yerkes say that Wenka suffers from severe stress. She can be seen rocking back and forth, and is said to have a 1000 mile stare. Wenka has endured enough abuse in the name of science. After five decades in a cell, and only a few remaining years left, Wenka deserves to be at peace in a chimpanzee sanctuary.
ALL Elders deserve retirement. Please help us make this happen!
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