Off the coast of Liberia’s mainland is an island inhabited by 66 chimpanzees.
They are not your ordinary wild chimps…this population was put on the island after US laboratories had no more use for them.
The New York Blood Center (NYBC) said on its website it conducted the tests on the chimps more than a decade ago, with Liberia’s consent, to help develop a low-cost vaccine for Hepatitis B that has since saved millions of lives.
The New York Blood Center stopped animal testing in 2004 and its relationship with the Liberian Institute of Biomedical Research ended three years later.
Now conservationist Jenny Desmond is determined to ensure that the animals are well taken care of.
The Humane Society, a US animal welfare organisation, has stepped in and raised over 200,000 US dollars towards Jenny’s cause ensuring that the animals are well taken care of in their retirement days.
