A Life Taken Away, then Restored
July 23, 2022 by Diana -
Negra is one of only two or three chimpanzees at the sanctuary captured in the wild and brought to the United States for biomedical research.
Thankfully, the practice of capturing chimpanzees for use in biomedical testing in the U.S. ended in 1976 when they were listed as threatened per the 1973 Endangered Species Act of the United States.
As explained on the website Animal Welfare Law
Cited problems included human destruction of natural habitat, capture and export for research laboratories and zoos, the spread of disease from people to chimpanzees, and ineffectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms. Simultaneously, the Service issued a special regulation providing that the prohibitions that generally cover all threatened species would not apply to live P. troglodytes and P. paniscus held in captivity in the United States on the effective date of the rule, or to the progeny of such animals, or to the progeny of chimpanzees legally imported into the United States after the effective date of the rule. This exemption was intended to facilitate legitimate activities of U.S. research institutions, zoos, and entertainment operations, without affecting wild chimpanzee populations.
This exemption allowed for Negra, who was captured in 1973, to grow up, from infancy to adulthood, without her own family, within a laboratory as a research animal.
The records we have for her are limited, but we do know that she, along with the rest of her group at the sanctuary, was used in hepatitis vaccine testing. Like Annie, Missy, Jody, and Foxie, she was also used to breed more chimpanzees for research. Negra had a total of four babies, according the records we have, and she did not have the opportunity to be with them because they were taken to be used in experiments themselves.
How did Negra’s past impact the Negra we know today? It’s impossible to know.
What we do know is that today, 14 years and 39 days after her sanctuary life began, Negra sat in the tall green grass of Young’s Hill and ate her corn at peace.
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Sunshine, breezes, and corn on Neggie’s belly.
That’s summer
This is really sad story on how animals have been abused. How can people take part in these experiments? They must be heartless. Thank God Negra is safe now and possibly happy.!:heart::heart:
Actually, a friend’s son quit a lucrative lab job because it required testing on mice and rats, and he couldn’t bring himself to. Focused on theatre instead. Less money, but his conscience is clear
That’s exactly the reason I refused to take biology in school and university. I refuse to dissect an animal.
And I learned of Jane Goodall’s work, changed my major as an undergrad in 1967 from psychology to social psych because I refused to work in the lab doing experiments on chimps & the other creatures they had captive there. Have been an animal rights advocate ever since.
I didn’t have a choice about taking biology. When we had to dissect I let my partner do everything. It was sickening. Luckily I was able to pass on advanced biology.
They worked on cats. I’ll never forget the smell of
formalde-
hyde in the science hallway.
How brave Negra is to survive . The loss never goes,but lessens over time. Glad she has you all to make her new memories .
When I saw your headline in my email, followed by “The Negra we know and love today and the past that we should never forget.”….and then that photo of beautiful Negra, picnicing in the green summer grass, a rush of emotions ran through me. All I can say is that I love Negra beyond words and it is deeply disturbing and painful to imagine the deliberate pain inflicted upon her.
“Negra sat in the tall green grass of Young’s Hill and ate her corn at peace.” Just beautiful. (sigh) Enough said.
I concur with you totally, Kathleen! I’m so thankful she has the peace and tranquility to eat her corn, feel the breezes and sit in the tall grass enjoying the moment. My own “rush of emotions” included tears of gratitude as well as tears about her painful past. I’m so glad she has daily moments of support, love, food, breezes and companionship that she can count on being the foundation of her life now.
How far beautiful Negra has come in your care, you’ve given her so much and you can see how much she appreciates every day of her sanctuary life. ?
I, too, love and adore Negra beyond verbal expression. She is a strong woman, a survivor, even as so much was cruelly denied to her. As with comments posted by J.B. in yesterday’s blog, I am once again haunted and aggrieved by the knowledge that human primates have imperiled the very existence of our primate cousins to exist in their natural state.
Looking at Negra, I can never deny the grief which is etched upon her body. It is always a sign of a little victory when one sees photographs of her such as those posted today.
What a heartbreaking, yet beautiful story. It is sad that they should be free and in the wild, but since that isnt possible, they could not have found a better home than CSNW! it’s obvious that you all treat them like family because they are all so happy and their own individual self.
I can’t begin to imagine the confusion and loneliness they must have felt. I’m so happy they can live out their lives among friends
Yes, I agree with you Laurie. And you mentioned something that I have not been able to articulate — the confusion! Yes! Being intelligent and emotional, what did it feel like to be shuffled about, from holding facilities to labs, arriving in new inadequate surroundings with new people, sounds, and smells? Places where you existed within an environment that offered little to no compassion and instead filled your days with mistrust, worry, fear, and pain. How confused were they when they awoke (feeling pain) from being knocked out or having their babies pulled from them soon after giving birth? The constant uncertainty in their lives must have been overwhelming. And confusion clearly went hand in hand with it all.
I am so glad Negra is happily eating her corn on youngs hiill. It brings a warm smile to my face that they all have CSNW to call home.
Very moving and reflective story about Negra’s past. I thank you for the meaningful, positive, and dramatic ending to her, sad past.
The blurb that showed on my mail list scared me terribly. Just enough words that it made me fear Negra had died. It will have to happen soon, but I’m not ready and I presume none of us are.
This story breaks my heart all over again, each time I read of it. No, we should never, ever forget. Beautiful, beautiful Negra…
Negra is so strong. I feel like she has come into her self in sanctuary and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. She is my inspiration.
Just writing that, just now, I thought to myself, What are you doing? There’s so much life to live out there. Go live it!
The Blues Travelers have a song that realy catches the essents of the chimps pain. Very old song called Whoops
Just a few words tell Negra’s story so beautifully. I hope she knows how loved and safe she is now for the rest of her life.