Saturday, April 13, was a beautiful day to hike, have a cookout, or visit some chimpanzees. It was also the perfect day for the annual Chimps Rock.
Tucked away in the woods of Morganton is Project Chimps, a safe haven for 95 chimpanzees.
In 2013 the United States outlawed experimenting on endangered species. When the law was passed the chimps that were being experimented on were born in the labs making it difficult to send them back to Africa because the natural instinct to live in that environment was not developed.
In the effort to rescue these chimps, Project Chimps was created. The 95 chimps that are there are only a few of those still needing to be rescued. In effort to house up to 200 chimps, Project Chimps raises money through donations, entrance fees, and the gift shop.
An anonymous donor gave about eight million dollars to go towards an 18 million dollar expansion.
Money is needed to feed and care for each chimpanzee, which costs around $33,000 a chimp.
The chimps are not forced to eat, entertain or socialize if they do not want to. There are facilities throughout the camp that accommodates them, including surgery rooms if needed.
Donors like Rachel Ray, who funded the Chimp Kitchen, make it possible for the chimps to have a safe place to live while still being able to have their own personalities and interact as they would in a natural habitat.
Project Chimps is open to visitors and hikers.
Project Chimps is a nonprofit organization and thanks all their donors for making their work possible. Donate at https://projectchimps.org/donate/. This site will also give you more information on their events and get to know each unique chimpanzee.