Past News
Main Supplier of Hollywood’s Apes in Entertainment Gets Out of the Business:
Eleven chimpanzees and six orangutans sent to sanctuary
January 2005
For Immediate Release
Sixteen chimpanzees and six orangutans owned by Los Angeles animal trainer, Bob Dunn, will be out of the entertainment business in March and headed to a life of permanent sanctuary retirement in Wauchula, Florida. Dunn, owner of Bob Dunn’s Animal Services has for some 30 years been the main supplier of great apes for Hollywood and other entertainment, providing chimpanzees and orangutans to movies, television shows, and advertisements. Dunn is leaving the ape business and donating all his working and breeding apes to the Center for Great Apes, a private, non-profit sanctuary.
“My primates have worked many shows, but now its time for them to retire …. it’s the right thing to do,” said Dunn announcing that he is out of the ape business and will no longer own, breed, train, or work great apes in entertainment or provide them for commercial work.
Located on 100 acres of tropical forest and orange groves in central Florida, the Center for Great Apes was founded by Patti Ragan, who left a business career in order to provide long term care for orangutans and chimpanzees needing permanent care, the mission of the Center. With the assistance of the Arcus Foundation, the Center for Great Apes is building new habitats for Dunn’s retired apes who will move to Florida as soon as the facilities are ready. At that time, the Center will remove from Dunn’s property all cages, nighthouses, transfer crates, and other equipment used for these apes.
What was acceptable to the public 10 years ago is becoming unacceptable as people learn more about the use of apes in entertainment. Babies are taken away from their mothers as tiny infants, trained to do tricks and behaviors for the profit of the trainers, and worked only while they are infants and juveniles. Once they hit their adolescence (about 8 to 9 years old), they are too strong to be handled which results in a large number of unwanted apes. Given that chimpanzees and orangutans can live more than 50 years in captivity, the issue of where they go when they’re cycled out of entertainment is a major concern. Many in the past have been “out-placed” by trainers to roadside attractions, biomedical research facilities, and inappropriate breeding farms where more babies are pulled from their mothers to supply both the entertainment and “exotic” pet industries. The public is starting to understand the toll entertainment takes on such large, strong, smart, socially sophisticated and emotionally complex animals as chimpanzees and orangutans.
The closing of this primary supply of great apes in the entertainment business is a major step toward ending the use of apes in entertainment. While the Center for Great Apes is predominantly a rescue sanctuary, other organizations exist whose missions are public education, program development, and affecting legislation governing the use and ownership of these apes. Ragan anticipates that Dunn’s retirement and placement of his apes into a sanctuary will be applauded by the public that has growing concerns about the use of great apes in entertainment.
Founded in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Center for Great Apes has taken in 18 other great apes needing a permanent home. Ragan says, “The need is great for permanent, protective sanctuary care for great apes. While their lifelong care is a tall order, we make that lifelong commitment to each and everyone of them.”
Sammy, a 15-year-old orangutan, is just one of the new residents who will be arriving at the sanctuary. This red-haired ape had the starring role in the movie “Dunston Checks In” when he was just 6 years old. Now, weighing over 200 pounds and having the strength of several grown men, Sammy cannot be safely worked around human actors anymore. Sanctuary director Ragan says her staff is looking forward to providing Sammy and all the other apes that will accompany him with huge new habitats and a long, elevated tunnel system running through the wooded property.
“Sammy can now do what an orangutan does best and wants to do most…. eat, roam through the forest, and hang around with other orangutans,” commented Ragan. “We are very happy for him and all the others.”
The sanctuary, which is supported by individual memberships and private donations, is not open to the public as an attraction. For more information visit www.CenterForGreatApes.org.
Hurricane Charley 2004August 2004
On Friday, August 13, the Center for Great Apes was slammed by the eye wall of a category 4 hurricane (Charley) packing 145 mph winds. The 7 humans, 14 chimpanzees, 5 orangutans, and 6 dogs who were at the sanctuary during the storm are safe and unharmed. While the ape facilities (indoor and outdoor) appear to be intact,.... the human houses have a few holes in the roofs, (due to huge trees laying on top of the houses), ....front and back patios smashed.... the pump house was crushed under an oak tree... camera and water lines were unearthed by uprooted trees...our 8' perimeter chain link fence is down in a number of areas felled by oaks... wood fences around the ape habitats are down.... and some sections of the chute system were damaged by huge trees falling on top of them.
Each of our staff and interns bunkered down in one of the ape nighthouses at 5 p.m. with the apes, our provisions, and our walkie-talkies. The brunt of the storm hit us at 6 p.m. and didn't let up until 8 or later. While trees were crashing around us outside, we fed the apes, talked to them, and tried to calm them. (For nearly 3 hours, Christopher made "stress-calls" ...Mari hid under her blanket ... and Grub appeared to be very frightened. Many of the apes wanted to touch our hands frequently for reassurance after they peeked out the windows.
Knuckles slept throughout the storm!) While we were euphoric to have all the people and animals safe... and the facilities intact, it's heartbreaking to see the devastation of our once beautiful tropical wooded sanctuary. Many of our largest oak trees are toppled... some with root systems sticking up in the air 15' high. While many trees are lost, there are more trees looking like they're going over soon. And, we've lost most of our shade-cover for the ape habitats and the chute system running through the woods.
While we were told our power would be out for more than 2 weeks, we were so happy to have it back again within one week! During that time, many wonderful friends brought us water, food for the apes, gas, and generators so we could hook up our water pump and our walk-in cooler. We have months and months of work ahead to clear the property of trees and debris.... especially to limit the fire hazard in the dry season. Volunteers from all over Florida have been coming daily to our aid to help with this back-breaking and sweltering work. We are so grateful for this help and such wonderful kindness!
Volunteers have made a huge dent in less than a week.... The first days after the hurricane, we couldn't even find the paths or reach all the apes without climbing over trees. Today, most of the paths are cleared and all the apes are finally able to go outside into their habitats. (However, until we assess the damage to the chute system, they cannot walk out in the chutes yet.) We still must remove hundreds of dying trees...& thousands of dead limbs. Much of this volunteers can do, but most of the heavy tree-removal will have to be done by a professional tree removal service. Some of the repairs will be covered by property insurance, but funds are needed to pay for other repairs, clean up, and major tree removal that insurance will not cover. A special Hurricane Recovery fund started to help with this expensive clean-up.
We are very thankful for so many wonderful caring friends and members. This experience has been a bit overwhelming, but it's been helpful to remember that the real beauty of the sanctuary is the apes, the staff, and the supporters who help the apes. We may have lost the lovely landscape (for awhile)... but the apes are safe, and our friends are wonderful.