Consider sponsoring Rosemary, the oldest chimp at PPI!

When Rosemary the chimpanzee was being shuffled back and forth between research labs during the 60s, 70s, 80s and most of the 90s, she was only known as #182. But at Primarily Primates, Rosemary, 55, is known as the oldest and one of the sweetest chimpanzees at the sanctuary. Rosemary, who was given sanctuary by PPI in 1999, is also recognized for carrying a “sock baby” wherever she goes. She’s so attached to it that caregivers have often consider naming it.

One of the research programs Rosemary was subjected to was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the space program, very much in its infancy, used monkeys and chimpanzees to test how space flight would affect the human body. In fact, before Alan Shepard Jr. made his famed first American space flight in 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham completed a successful suborbital flight in a Mercury capsule.

Rosemary has put her days exploited in research programs behind her and today adores human attention.

She particularly likes her fingers to be stroked by caregivers. Rosemary loves all food, however, due to her age special diet preparations have to be made. She shares a habitat with her longtime friends Justin, Hope and Lisa.

Click here to sponsor Rosemary by donating a small amount each month!