Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / UnchainedTV: HELP! American Couple Needs Help Caring for 100+ Chimps

Transcript

UnchainedTV: HELP! American Couple Needs Help Caring for 100+ Chimps · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

0:00
Main TV free streaming network, Jane Valez Mitchell.
0:03
You're about to hear a secret solution to
0:06
the problems that plague our world.
0:08
If you want to revolutionise your health, get
0:10
truly joyful and jump to the next phase
0:13
of human evolution, all it takes is one
0:16
simple choice.
0:17
Now, here's your host, Jane Valez Mitchell.
0:21
Welcome, we have breaking news for you.
0:24
This is an extraordinary story.
0:27
We are going live to Africa, where we
0:30
are going to meet the Desmonds, who are
0:34
taking care of more than a hundred chimps.
0:37
These chimps are orphaned from the bushmeat trade,
0:41
from the illegal wildlife trade.
0:44
Now, they were asked back in 2015 to
0:47
go to Liberia, which is in Africa, to
0:52
save the lives of 66 chimpanzees abandoned after
0:56
biomedical research.
0:57
Well, they got there, they thought they'd be
0:59
there for about a month, and guess what
1:00
happened?
1:01
People started coming to them with chimps that
1:05
they had rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
1:08
Look at these innocent beings, these angels.
1:12
Those are actually the chimps that were used
1:14
in biomedical research.
1:15
Here are some of the orphaned chimps.
1:17
And so they stayed, and now 10 years
1:21
later, they have about 115 chimps in their
1:25
care, and dozens of employees in neighbouring villages.
1:30
They need help.
1:31
Now, they were on a fantastic three-part
1:34
BBC series about their conservation and rescue work.
1:38
That brought them some donations, but those donations
1:40
have run out, and they keep getting inundated
1:44
with these innocent angels, and they need help.
1:48
They have to raise many thousands of dollars
1:51
before the end of the year.
1:53
These are hungry mouths to feed.
1:55
So without further ado, we're gonna go straight
1:58
out to Africa Live and talk to the
2:02
one and only Dr. Jim Desmond and Jenny
2:07
Desmond, who are there with a baby chimp.
2:11
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
2:14
This is Grace.
2:15
Can you hold her up a little bit?
2:17
Seeing her from over the banner, thank you.
2:20
Look at little Grace, look at that.
2:23
Go ahead.
2:25
Gracie.
2:27
She's tired.
2:28
It's her bedtime.
2:29
Yeah, yeah.
2:30
It's actually dark over here, believe it or
2:32
not.
2:33
Let's cut right to the chase.
2:34
We're gonna get your fascinating backstory in a
2:36
second, but what help do you need?
2:39
How many chimps are you taking care of,
2:41
and how can we help?
2:45
Well, we have 115 chimpanzees, and that we've
2:50
rescued over the last almost 10 years.
2:54
And we're sort of bursting at the seams.
2:57
We're sort of desperate for cash.
2:58
We built an entire sanctuary, thanks to a
3:01
lot of amazing help from donors.
3:04
But we need to expand the sanctuary, and
3:07
we also need help with operations.
3:10
So it costs about $40,000 a month
3:13
to run the sanctuary, so almost half a
3:15
million dollars a year.
3:16
And then to expand the sanctuary, it's gonna
3:21
take another probably $750,000.
3:25
So about a million dollars is what we
3:26
need that will help us get through the
3:30
next year, get 250 to the end of
3:32
the year, but then another 750 to build
3:34
the infrastructure we need.
3:35
So that will give the chimps, a lot
3:39
of the young ones get to go to
3:40
the forest every day, but some of our
3:42
older ones don't have access until we build
3:45
this next phase of the sanctuary.
3:46
Of infrastructure.
3:48
And I wanna put up immediately where you
3:51
can donate.
3:52
You can go to LiberiaChimpanzeeRescue.org forward slash
3:56
donate.
3:57
We're gonna put this up throughout the hour.
4:00
Look at that angel.
4:01
These are babies.
4:02
Tell me about this little girl, Grace.
4:05
So Grace has a great story, actually.
4:08
She's our little miracle baby.
4:09
I mean, we actually have quite a few
4:11
miracles here because as you know, all of
4:13
the chimps who arrived here, their mothers were
4:14
killed.
4:15
So they're all orphans and they've all witnessed
4:17
great trauma.
4:18
So they're all miracles that they recover and
4:21
decide to live and are happy.
4:23
But Grace, in particular, she arrived and half
4:26
of her was really quickly realised she was
4:29
very weak, but as she was getting stronger
4:31
mentally and physically, we realised her left side
4:34
was completely paralysed.
4:36
So what we think happened is she got
4:38
an injury when her mom was shot because
4:39
a lot of times they get shrapnel and
4:41
pellets in their bodies.
4:42
And then we think since she couldn't move,
4:45
the people who had her just put her
4:47
in a box and left her there for
4:48
probably months or a year or however long
4:50
she was there.
4:52
Yeah, I know.
4:53
And so by the time she got to
4:55
us, she was not only paralysed, but it's
4:57
like she had forgotten she even had an
4:58
arm or a leg.
5:00
And we just didn't know if she was
5:02
gonna, we didn't know if she'd survive, but
5:04
we figured once she was strong enough to
5:06
survive, then we really got to work thinking
5:08
about whether we could figure out how to,
5:11
sorry, to rehabilitate her.
5:13
And we started doing physical therapy.
5:16
Our team did amazing physical therapy.
5:18
We've been doing this now for about four
5:20
months or five months.
5:21
And she just the other day climbed up
5:24
a rope and into a tree.
5:26
So- Yeah, which is amazing.
5:29
We were- Everyone was cheering.
5:31
Everyone was cheering.
5:32
Our caregivers were singing and dancing.
5:35
So it was very exciting for everybody.
5:37
Right, Christine?
5:38
And Jenny, your mommy, right?
5:40
I mean, in their hearts and minds, you've
5:43
become mom.
5:45
Yeah, yeah.
5:46
Tell us about that.
5:47
We are, we have an amazing caregiving team,
5:50
but yeah, you know, in the wild, they
5:51
would be with their mom full time.
5:55
I mean, she would still be with her
5:56
mom, sleeping with their mom.
5:57
She'd still be nursing for another, probably three
6:00
years or more.
6:02
So when they come, you know, they've not
6:04
only seen their moms die, but they have
6:07
also really just, I mean, they want to
6:11
cling to somebody, but by the time we
6:12
get them, they've usually been abused and neglected
6:15
also because they're being sold into the pet
6:17
trade.
6:18
And it's just, you know, they need somebody
6:21
to really bring them back to life.
6:23
And that's what our caregiving team does.
6:25
So we're a mom and they're a mom.
6:27
And yeah, we're all moms together.
6:29
Now, let me ask you a question.
6:31
What about the Liberian government?
6:33
I mean, shouldn't the Liberian government come in
6:36
and say they're apparently bringing you a lot
6:39
of these animals.
6:40
Shouldn't they come in and say, hey, and
6:44
people are saying, please put up the address
6:46
to donate.
6:47
Yes, let me put that up right now
6:49
because that's the next step in doing this.
6:53
We need to get donations in.
6:55
And I don't want to say this to
6:57
say it, but to encourage others, I donated
6:59
$1,000 because- Yes, you did, thank
7:03
you.
7:03
The reason is I look at these faces
7:06
and, oh my God, if you weren't there
7:11
helping them, what would possibly happen to these
7:14
angels?
7:14
These are our closest relatives to Homo sapiens.
7:19
I mean, look at that face.
7:21
And you're taking care of 115.
7:24
It broke my heart, but also I was
7:27
like, I want to do everything I can
7:29
to help you.
7:30
So tell us again about what a donation
7:37
will do.
7:39
So, I mean, every donation helps, whether it's
7:44
$5 or $10 or $1,000.
7:48
Money goes a long way here in Liberia.
7:51
We employ a lot of people.
7:53
So it also, we work really closely with
7:54
the community.
7:55
We employ about 40 people, about almost 30
7:58
of them are caregivers.
8:00
And it really enriches their lives.
8:02
They're able to put their kids through school.
8:04
They're able to build houses.
8:06
And it rains a lot here in Liberia.
8:08
You know, Liberia is one of the poorest
8:09
countries in the world.
8:10
That's sort of why the government can't help
8:12
us.
8:13
I just, sorry to interrupt, but I wanted
8:14
you, I don't know if you'll be able
8:15
to see or hear this, but Gracie is
8:18
laughing a little bit here.
8:19
Yes, I see a question for about a
8:21
501c3.
8:22
And yes, we have a 501c3 in the
8:25
United States.
8:26
So if you donate through the website, we
8:29
are a tax exempt organisation.
8:31
So she's laughing.
8:33
She's laughing.
8:35
Oh my gosh.
8:37
This is like pre-bedtime tickles, just like
8:40
humans.
8:41
Oh my gosh.
8:43
Look at that angel.
8:44
Look at that angel.
8:45
And this couple is caring for 115 of
8:49
them in Liberia.
8:51
And it reminds me of that song, a
8:53
three hour tour.
8:55
You were there for 10 years taking care
9:04
of these babies and people bring you the
9:07
babies, right?
9:08
They, I mean.
9:09
Yes.
9:09
Including the government.
9:11
So we've progressed a lot here.
9:13
You mentioned the government.
9:14
So I wanted to address that, that Liberia
9:17
is one of the poorest countries.
9:18
It's an amazing country.
9:19
The people here are amazing, but you know,
9:21
the government just doesn't have money to spare,
9:23
but we do work really closely with the
9:25
government.
9:26
We've been able to change laws and policies.
9:29
We're protecting, we're establishing new protected areas for
9:33
Chimp Habitat.
9:34
We do a lot of community work and
9:36
engage with our communities.
9:37
And we employ a lot of people and
9:39
work with our team's amazing.
9:41
We do a tonne of awareness.
9:43
So we work really closely with the government,
9:45
but financially that burden is on us.
9:47
Like that will always be on us.
9:50
So we're looking at money that we need
9:52
to raise now.
9:53
Like Jimmy said, the 250,000 before the
9:55
end of the year, and then to finish
9:57
our next phase of infrastructure.
10:00
And then of course, eventually, you know, we
10:02
want to set up an endowment for these
10:04
guys.
10:04
So every dollar counts, whether it's to buy
10:07
some Seralac for little Gracie or some fruits
10:10
and vegetables or to pay a caregiver salary,
10:13
fuel to go get fruits and all our
10:16
supplies.
10:16
So everything, I mean, from a dollar to
10:19
a thousand dollars to $10,000, anything helps.
10:23
And just so to like lay out some
10:25
of the numbers so people understand, it costs
10:27
about $6,000 a month for fresh fruits
10:30
and vegetables.
10:32
Another $1,000 for, we give them like
10:34
a baby porridge.
10:35
Jenny just mentioned Seralac.
10:36
And we do that because there's not great,
10:40
it's not a wide variety of foods here
10:41
in Liberia.
10:42
There's really poor agricultural systems.
10:45
So we do that.
10:45
So they're getting, you know, fortified baby cereal
10:48
essentially.
10:49
So they're getting all their vitamins and minerals.
10:51
And then our salaries costs, it's about $15
10:54
,000 a month to employ everybody.
10:56
And then all the other things that go
10:57
along with it, such as keeping the vehicles
11:00
going and vehicle maintenance and keeping the site
11:03
going.
11:04
So site maintenance and things like that.
11:07
So we're just grateful for any donations that
11:11
people can give.
11:11
It really helps us take care of these
11:14
guys.
11:14
Our main goal is to, you know, our
11:16
main number one goal, our mission is to
11:18
get people, get people to stop hunting the
11:20
chimpanzees, stop wild chimpanzees from being killed.
11:24
So we stop receiving orphans.
11:26
But once you receive, once we get little
11:29
people like Grace, you know, then we have
11:32
to provide them a good life.
11:33
And what we try and do is give
11:36
them as close an approximation to their, what
11:40
life they would have in the wild.
11:42
So they're with other chimps, they're with surrogate
11:45
moms, human moms, and then they get to
11:47
spend their days in the forest.
11:49
I hate to cover up that baby to
11:51
say live from Africa and to say where
11:55
to donate, but that's, there we go.
12:02
Liberianchimpanzeerescue.org.
12:03
And I did it.
12:04
It takes a second.
12:05
They are a 501c3 in the United States.
12:09
So you do get the tax deduction and
12:12
everybody.
12:13
Okay, so we've got some pledges coming in.
12:17
Nilo Farr has pledged $250.
12:20
Thank you.
12:21
And Tiffany Baker, I believe said she's donating
12:25
now.
12:26
And Tiffany says, I'm donating now.
12:32
So I actually said that I was gonna
12:35
call Nilo Farr and let her weigh in
12:38
a little bit.
12:40
And so we're gonna see if she picks
12:42
up.
12:42
Nilo Farr has pledged to donate 250.
12:46
Nilo Farr, you are live.
12:48
First of all, thank you for your $250
12:51
pledge.
12:54
Go and go straight to Liberianchimpanzeerescue.org forward
12:58
slash donate and make that happen.
13:00
What are your thoughts and questions for the
13:02
Desmonds?
13:04
First, I wanna acknowledge Unchained TV and their
13:07
turn for shedding light on the story of
13:09
the rescued Liberian chimps.
13:12
These chimps are survivors of junk science and
13:16
it's shameful that decades of, after decades of
13:19
painful and invasive medical procedures, the New York
13:22
Blood Centre failed to honour its commitment.
13:25
Oh my God, wait a second.
13:27
I have to jump in.
13:29
We've got breaking news.
13:31
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
13:34
I'm gonna cry.
13:35
Oh my God.
13:37
Me too.
13:37
That is amazing.
13:37
My husband and I will be donating $10
13:40
,000 through our charitable donation.
13:44
Oh my gosh, I'm gonna cry.
13:46
I really am gonna cry.
13:47
I'm gonna cry now.
13:49
That's amazing.
13:49
This is just so beautiful.
13:51
Thank you, Mick.
13:52
Thank you, Mick.
13:54
That is so beautiful.
13:56
Oh my God.
13:57
Honestly, it's so, so, I mean, thank you
14:02
for your generosity.
14:03
It means the world to us.
14:04
You've got everyone crying here.
14:06
And to all our babies that we take
14:10
care of.
14:11
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
14:13
Maybe we can get them on the phone,
14:16
but I have to say, thank you, thank
14:19
you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank
14:23
you.
14:23
What can we say, Dion?
14:25
Thank you, God bless you for doing this.
14:28
This is unbelievable.
14:30
Really.
14:31
I mean, I have seen so many horrible
14:34
things.
14:35
When I saw these baby chips and I
14:37
saw their faces, it's, they're children.
14:42
They are children.
14:44
They are.
14:45
The idea that you're doing this with 115
14:48
children on your own.
14:52
I mean, I just said to myself, and
14:54
Donny, thank God for Donny calling me.
14:57
And I said, Donny, anything we can do,
14:59
we have to move into action to help
15:01
these people.
15:02
I mean- Thank you so much, Jane.
15:04
And Donny, I mean, Donny's been a life
15:07
-changing friend for us.
15:09
He's been out here twice, and we're trying
15:11
to get him to get on a plane
15:12
again and get out here now, because he
15:14
hasn't even seen our new site.
15:17
But yeah, Donny's been absolutely amazing.
15:20
And people like you, Jane.
15:22
I mean, we just, like you said, we're
15:23
out, we're here.
15:25
I mean, those kinds of donations, that donation
15:27
that Mick just made is unbelievable.
15:30
And you sharing our story.
15:31
I mean, we're just in the middle of
15:33
nowhere out here and getting us to be,
15:37
getting this kind of exposure is just invaluable
15:40
for us.
15:40
So we're so grateful.
15:41
Oh my gosh, wow.
15:43
Wow, wow.
15:43
And you know, what you just said about,
15:46
you know, that they're- Their children.
15:48
That they're children is, you know, the thing
15:50
about the chimps, and everyone knows that they're,
15:53
you know, genetically, you know, the most similar
15:56
species to humans.
15:59
But I think that when you spend time
16:02
with these guys is what you realise the
16:04
way they're most similar to us is emotionally.
16:08
And, you know, when you think of your
16:10
own self or your own internal self, you
16:13
know, we're really just all about our emotions.
16:16
It's how we feel all the time.
16:18
And the chimpanzees, you know, you think about
16:20
these little babies and they, you know, their
16:23
life has been torn apart.
16:25
I mean, they've seen their mother killed and
16:26
maybe other family members, and they've been injured.
16:28
And put in a terrible situation in captivity,
16:32
and they're scared and, you know, and then
16:36
they get here, and we do our best
16:39
to give them a good life, you know?
16:43
And the number one thing for chimps is
16:45
that being with other chimps.
16:47
So that once they do reach us, whatever
16:50
situation they've been in before, we give them
16:52
love and care, get them healthy.
16:54
But then they get to be with their
16:55
little, you know, their other chimpanzees.
16:59
And so that's gonna be the rest of
17:00
their life.
17:01
And that's the thing that's so great for
17:03
them.
17:04
But it's just, it's every time we get
17:07
a new chimpanzee, a new orphan, it's a
17:10
tragedy, you know?
17:11
And we're happy we rescued them, but it's
17:14
always, we always feel so angry and sad,
17:18
all mixed up.
17:19
And we just, I don't even know what
17:22
I'm saying.
17:23
I'm just talking.
17:24
I'm just so grateful that you have put
17:27
us, you know, give us this exposure.
17:29
And that donation, I missed the last name,
17:33
but Mick is- Mick Davoudian.
17:35
Mick Davoudian, who is a philanthropist who supports
17:39
Unchained TV.
17:41
And, you know, he and his husband, Joe
17:45
Kaufman, are two of the most generous people
17:49
I've ever met.
17:51
And so breaking news, if you're just joining
17:53
us, we're doing this story about this incredible
17:58
sanctuary in Liberia where these two individuals, husband
18:01
and wife team, Dr. Desmond is a veterinarian.
18:05
They have 115 chimps.
18:07
I got word from Donnie Moss, who we're
18:09
gonna talk to in a second, that they
18:11
were running out of money and they need
18:14
money.
18:14
They have 115 hungry mouths to feed and
18:18
that they were in a crisis and that
18:21
there's an emergency.
18:22
So we are talking to him.
18:25
And the breaking news is that Mick Davoudian
18:28
and his husband, Jeff Hoffman, just donated $10
18:33
,000.
18:36
Wow.
18:37
Thank you, Jeff.
18:38
Thank you.
18:39
Thank you.
18:39
Oh my God.
18:39
We are so grateful.
18:41
Thank you.
18:41
I wanna show the miracles.
18:43
Can you put the camera right up here?
18:45
I want you to see the miracles that
18:47
your donations are giving.
18:49
This is little Grace.
18:50
And I think, I don't know if you
18:52
heard before, but she came to us paralysed
18:54
and I'm gonna be quiet for a second
18:55
so you can hear her laugh.
19:01
That's her laughing from tickling.
19:04
Can you guys hear that?
19:05
I don't know if you can hear that.
19:07
Yes, we can.
19:09
It's adorable.
19:10
It's absolutely adorable.
19:15
So this is, I mean, your donations literally
19:19
work miracles.
19:20
This little girl watched her mom be killed
19:22
and was paralysed.
19:23
And she's now here with other chimps and
19:25
being loved and tickled and laughing.
19:28
And I mean, it's, you know, they're transformations
19:31
that we can't do without everybody's help.
19:33
So- Now, I just wanna go back
19:36
to Nilo Farr, who is from Texas, who
19:39
donated $250 and every donation- Bless the
19:42
new Nilo Farr.
19:43
Nilo Farr, continue.
19:45
We had some breaking news, we interrupted you,
19:47
but continue on your thoughts and your questions
19:49
for the Desmonds.
19:51
Well, because of my fellow countrymen's extremely generous
19:57
donation, I'm going to increase my pledge from
20:01
250 to 1,000.
20:05
Oh my God!
20:07
And I pledge to get it matched by
20:10
somebody else.
20:11
So thank you so much, Mick Davoudian, you're
20:16
amazing.
20:17
I mean, I just had chills running down
20:21
my spine when I heard that news.
20:23
Thank you.
20:24
Oh, everybody is saying Mick and Jeff, true
20:26
heroes.
20:27
And you too, Nilo Farr, true hero.
20:30
Please post your incredible donation on Facebook.
20:34
Wow, this is unbelievable.
20:36
So you just heard it here that Nilo
20:40
Farr is donating $1,000 and she says
20:44
she's going to match, she wants it matched.
20:48
So we've got, and of course you would
20:51
allow people to match it like 500 and
20:54
500, right?
20:55
I mean, yeah, so let's get this matched
21:01
because this is just super exciting and this
21:05
is what I live for.
21:06
Honestly, I live for this because we cover
21:09
so much depressing stuff, you know, what's happening
21:13
to animals.
21:14
And when we're able to be a force
21:17
for good, not just report the terrible things
21:19
that are happening, but help change something, when
21:23
you've saved these chimps, you've saved the world
21:26
for those chimps.
21:28
And people are saying, Nilo Farr, thank you.
21:31
The chimps, thank you.
21:32
So this is absolutely amazing.
21:36
Wow, I'm just super, super excited.
21:39
Me too.
21:40
Jane, I wanted to just say thank you.
21:42
I mean, the thing you said about we
21:43
hear so much bad news.
21:44
I mean, we're obviously animal rights people.
21:47
I've been an animal rights activist since I
21:49
was a kid, I think before my kids
21:50
barely speak and drove my family nuts.
21:54
But, you know, I get bombarded, not just
21:57
with chimp things all day, about everything all
21:59
the time, as you guys do as well.
22:01
And it's really just like getting these kinds
22:03
of you guys supporting us and these kinds
22:06
of donations.
22:06
I mean, it really makes us cry because
22:08
it's like you said, it's not only just
22:11
this, but just all the bad things that
22:13
are happening to our non-human relatives all
22:16
around the world.
22:17
And then you can see all this good
22:19
and you need that.
22:20
You need that inspiration.
22:22
And it's so, this gives us so much
22:24
hope here in the middle of nowhere that
22:26
we can make it out here.
22:28
Tom wants to know, did they mention chimps
22:31
involved in the pet trade?
22:32
Yes, Tom, those are all chimps.
22:35
Those are all chimps.
22:37
Why are they being killed?
22:38
So they're being killed for some people for
22:41
meat.
22:42
Sometimes it's just like people out hunting and
22:45
doing, you know, bushmeat hunting and they happen
22:47
to find chimps and kill them and sell
22:49
the meat.
22:49
But there is a demand for chimp meat,
22:51
sadly.
22:53
It's like an elitist kind of thing.
22:54
And then there's a pet trade.
22:56
Then these are all really large scale issues.
22:58
So we're not talking about subsistence eating.
23:01
You and I might not eat any animals,
23:04
but, you know, people in Liberia, I mean,
23:05
they eat animals, but they don't necessarily want
23:08
to eat chimps.
23:10
And subsistence farming, that's just, you know, in
23:13
the village, somebody going and killing some, you
23:16
know, some type of, say an antelope or
23:18
something, you know, well, I would prefer they
23:19
didn't at all.
23:22
They're killing one antelope and they're feeding the
23:24
village.
23:25
We're talking about these guys are in something
23:27
we would call, you know, international wildlife crime.
23:30
And we do a lot of work on
23:32
that as well.
23:33
So- Is this like rich people who
23:35
want a chimpanzee?
23:36
Yes, and there's a commercial bush meat trade.
23:40
There's a commercial pet trade.
23:41
So we're talking about a commercial trade that
23:43
is driving this.
23:44
We wouldn't have 115 chimps from this trade
23:47
if it were just a few people in
23:49
the, you know, local people hunting for food.
23:52
That's not what this is.
23:53
So we think, we know from other studies
23:55
that have been done.
23:56
I mean, what we think is happening in
23:58
Liberia is a lot of the, if someone
24:00
is out hunting, they're usually part of a,
24:03
they're part of, you know, an organised crime
24:05
network.
24:06
The hunters themselves are like, you know, the
24:07
little guy.
24:08
But if they happen to kill a chimpanzee
24:11
and it's a mom that has a baby,
24:13
then they'll try and get the baby out
24:16
across the border to Cote d'Ivoire.
24:18
And then from there, they might go-
24:20
They can go anywhere, Middle East to China.
24:22
I mean, I get stuff all the time.
24:24
People sending me pictures of someone, you know,
24:27
in a castle or a big wealthy mansion
24:30
with a baby tiger and a baby chimp.
24:32
And I've even seen recently a picture of
24:34
a guy with three baby chimps.
24:36
I could tell because I know chimps.
24:38
They were from three different regions.
24:40
There were three different subspecies.
24:41
And they were little babies, which means they
24:43
killed families in three different regions and took
24:47
those babies and got them all the way
24:48
to him so he can have a pet.
24:50
And this is why I hate it when
24:53
there are movies or commercials that feature chimps
24:56
or really any other animals.
24:58
There is always cruelty at the heart of
25:02
it.
25:02
Tiffany Brunelli, who did donate, says, please keep
25:05
the donations going.
25:06
Let's get the match.
25:08
So I want to go out now to
25:10
Donnie Moss.
25:11
You've waited patiently.
25:13
You were instrumental in bringing the Desmonds to
25:17
Africa initially.
25:19
Tell us the backstory about this.
25:22
The backstory is absolutely fascinating.
25:24
So in 2015, the New York Times reported
25:27
that the New York Blood Centre abandoned 66
25:31
chimps who they had been using in biomedical
25:33
research on islands in Liberia with no food
25:36
or water.
25:37
And on an emergency basis, the Desmonds picked
25:41
up their lives and dropped what they were
25:43
doing and moved to Liberia for what was
25:46
supposed to be four or five weeks to
25:48
put systems in place with locals to take
25:51
care of the chimps on these islands.
25:53
And then they were going to leave.
25:55
And as you mentioned early on, Jane, the
25:58
government, the forestry authorities began dropping off orphans
26:04
unrelated to the chimpanzees on the islands.
26:07
These were victims of the exotic pet trade
26:09
and the bushmeat trade, began bringing them to
26:12
their front door.
26:14
And, you know, one turned into 10 probably
26:17
in the matter of first, you know, several
26:19
months or a year or so.
26:22
I, the Desmonds were, and so the footage
26:24
that you've been showing, Jane, is of the
26:27
Desmonds with about the first 10 or 12
26:29
chimps in their backyard.
26:31
This is not a sanctuary, this footage that
26:34
you're showing right now, this is sort of
26:35
a makeshift enclosure that the Desmonds had in
26:38
their own backyard to take care of these
26:40
chimps who were coming in.
26:42
But this could not withstand the number of
26:47
chimps that kept coming in.
26:48
The Desmonds had to build a proper chimpanzee
26:52
sanctuary outside of a village, populated village area,
26:56
sort of in a remote area, and build
26:58
an infrastructure.
26:59
And keep in mind these chimps who are
27:02
all we're seeing right now are sort of
27:04
the babies and the juveniles.
27:06
They grow up and they become big, strong,
27:08
and dangerous.
27:09
And so they need to, and you haven't
27:11
really shown those.
27:12
And the ones you're showing on the screen
27:13
right now were the ones on the islands
27:14
who were used in research.
27:15
But all of the chimps that you're looking
27:18
at now are adults, and they're in these
27:22
large enclosures, but they're unable to leave the
27:25
enclosures until the Desmonds are able to embark
27:29
on phase two of the sanctuary in which
27:32
they could create moats and build walls, so
27:35
that when they let the larger chimpanzees out
27:38
of their enclosures, they won't be able to
27:42
sort of escape into the local village.
27:43
And local villagers won't be able to sort
27:45
of come into this area.
27:47
And that will keep everyone safe.
27:49
So there's a sense of urgency around phase
27:52
two, so that these large chimps can get
27:55
outside into a forest, which mimics their natural
27:58
habitat.
27:59
I'll say one more thing, and that is
28:01
in 2016, when I was working on the
28:05
campaign to compel the New York Blood Centre
28:08
to pay for the care of the chimps
28:10
who they abandoned on the islands, again, unrelated
28:12
to the chimps we're talking about now, the
28:14
Desmonds who were there taking care of the
28:17
chimps on the islands at that time encouraged
28:19
me to come over and visit them and
28:21
see the chimps for whom I was fighting.
28:24
They didn't know me.
28:25
They didn't know, you know, for all they
28:27
knew, I could have been the crazy, radical,
28:29
extreme animal, right?
28:30
They didn't know what they were getting into,
28:32
and they were kind enough to invite me
28:33
over and take that risk.
28:35
And I was able to go there and
28:37
document not only the chimps on the islands,
28:39
but the chimps who came into their care,
28:42
the ones you've been showing, those chimps are
28:44
now adults, and now they've got 115, and
28:48
miraculously, they built a sanctuary from the ground
28:52
up in a remote forest, again, in Liberia,
28:57
in a place with no electricity, no plumbing,
29:01
no roads, no infrastructure, at a time when
29:05
there was a shortage of materials due to
29:07
supply chain, when they didn't really have money
29:11
coming in.
29:11
So the obstacles that they faced during COVID
29:15
to build a sanctuary from the ground up,
29:17
I am mesmerised by the work that they
29:19
do.
29:20
And because they're so remote, because they're so
29:22
isolated, they just can't, they don't have the
29:24
reach that a lot of the other sanctuaries
29:26
that are more established have.
29:28
And so that's why they've had trouble raising
29:30
money.
29:30
People don't know they exist.
29:32
Well, we're gonna do everything we can, and
29:35
we have breaking news.
29:37
You are watching video and speaking with the
29:40
Desmonds live from Liberia.
29:43
We have been trying to raise money because
29:46
they need money.
29:48
This is an emergency appeal.
29:50
They are taking care of 150 orphan chimps,
29:55
and these are just like babies.
29:56
Remember, these are our closest cousins.
29:58
They share so much of our DNA.
30:01
I mean, these are children.
30:03
And thanks to their organisation, the Liberiachimpanzeerescue.org,
30:10
you can see that these animals are happy
30:14
and they're living their best lives, even though
30:15
their mothers were gunned down in front of
30:18
them or shot in front of them, hit
30:22
in front of them, killed in front of
30:24
them.
30:24
They've been rescued and they are living their
30:27
best lives.
30:28
They're some of the adults and they're the
30:30
babies.
30:31
So we have breaking news.
30:32
We went on the air seeking donations and
30:36
we got donations.
30:38
We have gotten so far today, absolutely amazing
30:44
donation from Mick Davoudian and Jeff Hoffman, who
30:49
announced that they are donating $10,000.
30:56
And then we also got a donation of
31:00
$1,000 from Nilofar, and I don't wanna
31:05
mess up your last name, but Asgharian, I
31:09
think it is pronounced, but apologies if I
31:12
messed it up, but thank you for your
31:14
generosity.
31:15
And then she said, hey, we're gonna do
31:17
a match.
31:19
Now I personally, so moved by these images
31:23
of these babies, have donated $1,000 myself.
31:26
So we're up to $12,000.
31:29
Let's see.
31:30
Now, also we got a donation.
31:32
Smaller donations are great.
31:34
So we've gotten smaller donations from Lindsay Baker.
31:38
We've gotten smaller donations from Tiffany Brunelli.
31:42
And we are gonna really ask people, please,
31:48
$10, $5, it's going to make all the
31:53
difference and it's very easy to donate.
31:56
So you can donate, and I'll show you
31:59
the link to donate right now.
32:01
And if you're listening, I will read it
32:03
out to you.
32:05
It is, getting there right this second, boom,
32:12
LiberiaChimpanzeeRescue.org forward slash donate.
32:16
So I wanna call one of the folks
32:19
who has donated, and she may not have
32:22
donated a huge amount.
32:24
She said, oh, it's nothing compared.
32:25
No, everything is something.
32:28
Any donation, it's also not just the physical
32:34
amount, it's the support and the sense of
32:38
community that Jenny and Jim Desmond in a
32:43
Liberia feel because they're there by themselves.
32:46
I mean, imagine that, 115 chimpanzees, and people
32:51
are saying, thank you for taking care of
32:54
these sweet babies.
32:55
Let us know if you're donating.
32:59
Do we have Lindsay Baker on the line?
33:02
This is Lindsay Baker.
33:04
Okay, so tell us, Lindsay, thank you for
33:07
your donation.
33:08
You're urging other people to donate as well.
33:10
What are your thoughts and feelings and questions?
33:14
Well, I mean, this is such a critical
33:18
situation here.
33:20
These poor chimpanzees, they need the care that
33:25
only these people apparently are able to give
33:28
them right now.
33:29
And I know this is a tough time
33:31
for people.
33:32
You know, a lot of people are having
33:33
a little tougher time, but, and I know
33:36
like it's wonderful to see these wonderful, huge
33:39
donations.
33:39
It can be intimidating.
33:42
Please, just anything you can donate.
33:44
I made a small donation.
33:46
What was your donation?
33:47
Tell us what your donation was so that
33:49
we can, you know.
33:50
It was $25.
33:52
Great.
33:53
And now I feel really guilty.
33:53
Yes, you do.
33:54
Uh-uh, don't, do not feel that way.
33:57
If everybody donated $25, they would have their
34:01
problem solved.
34:02
Yep.
34:03
Continue on.
34:05
No, I think so, those of us, maybe
34:07
we can go back and deep, maybe I
34:09
can go back and reach in a little
34:11
deeper, even though this is a tough time
34:13
of the year for everyone.
34:14
But the situation is incredible.
34:18
The more attention we can bring to it,
34:21
I don't think people know what's going on.
34:23
I don't think they know the slaughter that
34:26
is going on.
34:27
And the reason is not helping, you know,
34:31
they say, oh, it's for animal testing, it's
34:33
for humans to help humans.
34:35
No one is benefiting from this.
34:37
This is causing trouble for everyone.
34:41
It's causing problems with disease, it's causing all
34:45
this awful torture for these animals.
34:48
And it just touches me to see them.
34:50
And when this poor little creature is laughing,
34:54
you know, when he gets tickled after being
34:56
paralysed, after seeing his parents die, obviously they
35:00
have a superior intelligence, which does not mean
35:03
that we treat them any differently because of
35:05
their level of intelligence, but we do know
35:07
that they are even more aware.
35:10
So it just touches your heart.
35:12
Thank you so much, Lindsay.
35:14
Thank you.
35:15
And you do incredible work.
35:17
Thank you, my dear.
35:19
And so there you have...
35:20
Yes, go ahead.
35:21
Sorry, I was gonna address what Lindsay said
35:23
about just the word slaughter.
35:26
It's true.
35:26
And like we said before, I wanna make
35:28
it clear.
35:28
We're not talking about subsistence hunting for people
35:32
to eat.
35:33
This is a commercial trade.
35:35
For every chimpanzee, I think really important to
35:37
understand that at least her mother was killed,
35:40
but the estimate is, you know, somewhere between
35:44
five and 10 for every baby who finally
35:46
makes their way to us.
35:48
So if you think about the 115, you
35:50
know, that's over a thousand chimpanzees taken from
35:53
the wild, which is just devastating for the
35:55
whole species and the population and biodiversity and
35:58
all the things we all care about on
36:00
top of animal welfare and these guys, you
36:03
know, getting a good life.
36:06
And we have the second largest population of
36:08
Western chimpanzees in Liberia.
36:10
They're critically endangered.
36:12
And, you know, when you think about a
36:14
thousand, subtracted out of 7,000, that's a
36:18
huge percentage of the population just wiped out.
36:21
And these guys don't go back to the
36:23
wild.
36:23
That's another thing that I think people don't
36:25
realise.
36:26
So they will live for about 60 years
36:29
and they will live at the sanctuary for
36:31
their lifetimes.
36:32
And we've got more breaking news in.
36:35
We've got a very generous offer coming in.
36:39
I want to go to Karen LaCava, who
36:44
has, she is a real estate broker.
36:46
She says, I will donate a portion of
36:48
my next real estate commission as soon as
36:51
it closes.
36:53
Wow.
36:53
Exactly, Karen LaCava.
36:56
That is wonderful.
36:58
That's amazing.
36:59
Yay.
37:00
Thank you, Karen LaCava.
37:01
Absolutely wonderful.
37:03
And I saw another donation come in just
37:05
now from Michelle Celestino.
37:09
They'll post it on Facebook so people can
37:12
see, but Michelle donated $25.
37:15
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
37:16
Thank you, Michelle.
37:17
And to Lindsay, I didn't get a chance
37:19
to thank you.
37:19
$25 is amazing.
37:22
Every, I mean, it all adds up.
37:24
You know, we couldn't have done any of
37:25
this without all the small donations adding up.
37:28
So, you know, we had a, there was
37:29
a, back in 2020, that, you know, the
37:31
BBC filmed a show about us trying to
37:33
build the sanctuary and we never even got
37:35
to building the sanctuary.
37:37
But when it aired in the UK, we
37:39
were able to raise, I think in the
37:41
first three weeks, it aired over three weeks,
37:43
about a quarter million dollars.
37:45
And it was almost primarily from small donations.
37:50
Just small ones that added up.
37:51
Like $5, $10, $25, 50.
37:55
So every, I mean, we really mean it.
37:58
I mean, every amount, every donation counts.
38:02
Every dollar helps us take care of these
38:04
guys.
38:04
And so we're just so grateful for anyone
38:07
who cares enough.
38:10
Again, Jane, you mentioned, you know, that we're
38:12
over here on our own and it's hard
38:16
for us to reach out.
38:17
So this exposure is great, but it's more
38:19
than the money too.
38:21
It's, you mentioned the community.
38:22
It makes us feel like we're connecting with
38:25
people that we're not alone over here.
38:27
Of course, we have our amazing, we have
38:29
a lot of Liberian friends and our amazing
38:31
team here.
38:31
We're not alone in that sense.
38:32
But in the sense of trying to raise
38:35
the money and trying to build this place
38:38
and to save the species, you know, these
38:40
guys are rapidly going extinct.
38:43
So it's these individuals, but it's also all
38:47
the other chimps out there that we're trying
38:49
to protect as well.
38:50
So we can't- And that's what raises
38:51
a question.
38:52
Tom says, I believe chimps are endangered.
38:55
Aren't they given government protection?
38:57
Yes.
38:58
So in Liberia, they have some of the
39:00
stronger protections here than they have in the
39:03
U.S., by the way.
39:05
No one here is allowed to kill a
39:07
chimp.
39:07
No one is allowed to have a chimp
39:09
as a pet.
39:10
So it's been a matter of, you know,
39:12
it's just like anything, right?
39:13
Drugs or anything else.
39:14
We, it's about, we made the laws stricter.
39:17
We had to build enforcement.
39:18
No one really even was aware of what
39:21
was going on and the extent to what
39:22
was happening.
39:24
And there are the good guys and the
39:25
bad guys, just like everything, right?
39:27
There are the commercial traders who are just
39:29
making money, just like a drug dealer.
39:32
The people buying pets over in the Middle
39:34
East or China or in the U.S.
39:35
or wherever it is for entertainment to use
39:38
as pets, to put in circuses.
39:40
So yeah, it's illegal here, but just with
39:43
everything that's illegal, it's really hard work to
39:47
get the laws to be enforced.
39:49
And in addition to that, we don't really
39:50
wanna do law enforcement.
39:51
We wanna work with communities and work with
39:54
our neighbours to really want to also protect
39:56
these chimpanzees because most Liberians don't wanna kill
39:59
chimpanzees either.
40:01
So.
40:02
This is fantastic.
40:05
I have to say, people have all sorts
40:07
of questions.
40:07
Do you work with Jane Goodall?
40:09
Yes, we do.
40:10
We know her very well.
40:12
Yes.
40:13
So the Jane Goodall Institute has helped us
40:17
with a bunch of different projects.
40:20
We've known the Jane Goodall Institute for years
40:23
and worked with them.
40:24
But I just wanna make the point, they
40:25
have two of their own sanctuaries.
40:27
So they really aren't in a position to
40:29
help us financially with our sanctuary because they're
40:31
keeping two going on, so.
40:33
Exactly.
40:34
Absolutely.
40:35
You know, you are doing such extraordinary work.
40:38
And tell me about your backstory.
40:40
Where are you from in the United States?
40:42
I know you're a veterinarian, Dr. Desmond.
40:44
Tell us about how you, prior to getting
40:48
the calls, hey, come to Africa for a
40:50
month to help these chimps that were abandoned
40:53
after being used in biomedical research and thought
40:56
you were going there for a month.
40:58
And you ended up being there for 10
41:01
years and now you have 115 children, essentially
41:05
chimpanzee children.
41:07
But what is your backstory?
41:09
Tell us about yourselves.
41:12
So I grew up in Maine.
41:14
Jenny grew up in California.
41:17
And we met in Boston and it was
41:20
kind of- We weren't doing this work
41:21
at all when we met.
41:22
It was pretty much love at first sight.
41:25
We got married pretty quickly and we went
41:27
on this round-the-world trip.
41:29
It was like an extended honeymoon.
41:31
You know, we saved money and we'll do
41:34
a backpack around the world and we'll settle
41:37
down.
41:37
And on that trip, by chance, we ended
41:40
up volunteering at this orangutan rehabilitation centre in
41:44
Borneo.
41:45
And that was a life-changing event.
41:47
Jenny found a way.
41:48
She'd always wanted to work with animals but
41:50
didn't find a way that she felt comfortable
41:52
with.
41:52
But a sanctuary was something that she did.
41:55
And for me, there was a veterinarian there
41:58
doing research on zoonotic diseases, so disease transfer
42:02
between humans and animals.
42:04
And I was so fascinated with it that
42:06
human diseases could impact the great apes.
42:10
And so that set us on this odyssey,
42:12
you know, to where we are now, where
42:14
I went to vet school and we volunteered
42:16
in all these places around the world and
42:18
eventually ended up here, where, you know, I
42:22
still do the disease work, but we built
42:24
this whole sanctuary.
42:25
And yeah, here we are.
42:27
That's the quick CliffsNotes version.
42:30
Okay, we have two donations that just came
42:32
in.
42:33
Michelle Celestino, I just donated.
42:35
And she also said she donated $25 in
42:37
another text.
42:39
And Annie Abram has donated.
42:42
And again, yes, let's keep those pledges and
42:46
donations coming in.
42:48
And to recap, boy, there are so many
42:52
donations.
42:53
This broadcast has so far raised over $11
42:58
,000.
42:59
That's amazing.
43:00
There is a match.
43:01
There is a match.
43:03
Niloufar has said she would match $1,000.
43:06
So let's get that match in.
43:08
We can do 500 and 500.
43:11
Let's go back to Donnie Moss for a
43:13
second, because Donnie, full disclosure, I was living
43:17
in New York when you decided to take
43:21
on the New York Blood Centre for abandoning
43:25
these chintz after using them for biomedical research.
43:30
And everybody said, you know, you're not gonna
43:33
be able to make a difference.
43:36
And you did.
43:37
But you did some very intense demonstrations, buy
43:42
-ins at the New York Blood Centre, which
43:44
I was there.
43:47
I don't know if I actually went on
43:48
the ground.
43:48
I think I was reporting it for my
43:51
fledgling, a nonprofit news network.
43:54
But you did the impossible.
43:57
Tell us how you got, tell us what
44:00
you did and how you did it.
44:02
So when we learned that the Blood Centre
44:05
abandoned these chintz and that the Blood Centre
44:07
was this extraordinarily wealthy organisation that we believe
44:12
earned about a billion dollars in royalties off
44:16
the research that they conducted on these chintz,
44:20
it was just an outrage.
44:21
And so when we, and you were there,
44:23
Jane, for one of the first protests where
44:25
we staged a disruption in the lobby of
44:27
the New York Blood Centre, after that was
44:29
an escalation.
44:30
We were polite first and that didn't work.
44:33
And then when we got nowhere with the
44:34
New York Blood Centre, we started to go
44:35
after their corporate donors, of course, starting out
44:38
politely.
44:38
And then after being ignored, escalating and escalating
44:42
to the point that we got IBM, MetLife
44:46
and Citigroup to, as far as I know,
44:49
this never happens, make public statements sort of
44:53
condemning the Blood Centre for abandoning the chintz.
44:57
And Citigroup went so far as to donate
44:59
$50,000 toward the care of these chintz.
45:02
I just wanna clarify, again, these are not
45:04
the chintz that the Desmonds are taking care
45:06
of now.
45:06
These are the chintz that were abandoned on
45:08
islands on a nearby river in Liberia.
45:12
So that campaign was two years.
45:14
It was very stressful and it ended with
45:18
a $6 million grant from the New York
45:21
Blood Centre for the lifelong care of those
45:24
chintz.
45:25
The Desmonds didn't see a penny of that
45:27
money for the chintz who are now in
45:29
their care.
45:30
And the campaign that I ran, while difficult,
45:33
pales in comparison to the work that I've
45:36
seen the Desmonds doing on the ground in
45:38
Liberia.
45:38
You know, one of the things that amazes
45:40
me was that in 2015, when they answered
45:43
the call to go there in this crisis
45:45
situation to, you know, get food and water
45:47
and systems in place to care for the
45:49
chintz abandoned on the islands, they went there
45:52
during an Ebola outbreak.
45:53
I mean, it was a scary time.
45:56
Liberia throughout the decades has been riddled with
45:59
civil unrest.
46:00
And here they sort of dropped what they
46:02
were doing, moved to Liberia, again, with a
46:05
plan to stay for five weeks.
46:07
They are not supposed to be there now,
46:09
almost 10 years later, but they've stayed and
46:12
now they're stuck.
46:15
And truth be told, until they have an
46:16
endowment, which will ensure that the chintz have
46:21
enough money to cover the cost of living
46:25
and the salaries of all their employees for
46:27
60 years, which is how long these chintz
46:28
can live, the Desmonds are stuck there.
46:31
And so sort of, I feel an obligation
46:33
and a desire being somebody on the ground
46:35
in the US to try and spread the
46:37
word here as much as I can, because
46:40
they just don't have the networks that so
46:43
many of the other sanctuaries like the Jane
46:45
Goodall sanctuaries have.
46:48
And so, and as I mentioned earlier, it
46:50
just, it bears repeating that phase one of
46:53
their sanctuary, night houses, you know, basic infrastructure,
46:58
nursery have been built, but they desperately need
47:02
to embark on phase two, which will allow
47:05
the adult chintz to get out into the
47:08
forest, climb trees and do what they are
47:12
designed to do.
47:13
All of these chintz, all 115 chintz and
47:15
the chintz who will invariably come in in
47:18
the coming days, months and years, they're gonna
47:21
spend their lives at this sanctuary.
47:23
And the Desmonds wanna be sure that their
47:25
sanctuary mimics to whatever extent possible their natural
47:29
habitat, which is the forest.
47:31
And until the adults can get out into
47:35
the forest, into climb trees and express their
47:40
natural behaviours, they're stuck.
47:42
And so, there's a sense of urgency, not
47:44
only to cover their operating expenses, to feed
47:46
their chintz and pay the salaries, but also
47:49
expand the sanctuary with phase two and build
47:52
an endowment.
47:53
It's a lot.
47:54
And so if whoever can help, we just
47:57
need their help.
47:59
Wow.
48:00
This is extraordinary.
48:01
I wanna ask a couple of questions.
48:04
Are you still in contact with the BBC?
48:07
Because I see this as a great follow
48:10
-up story.
48:10
As a journalist myself, wow.
48:12
I would jump on this as a follow
48:16
-up.
48:18
What can you do to convince them?
48:19
Because that could go a long way.
48:21
We are talking to them.
48:22
Yes.
48:23
We want to see if they can re
48:26
-air the first episodes, like back on their
48:28
iPlayer and distributed out.
48:31
And we are talking to them about doing
48:32
a follow-up.
48:33
They were going to do a part two,
48:37
but that was when COVID hit and all
48:39
their production stopped.
48:41
So it was really bad timing on that.
48:44
So we are talking to them, Jane, and
48:46
we would love to do another show.
48:49
It just brought so much, not only donations,
48:51
but mostly exposure and awareness as well about
48:54
what's going on here.
48:55
So yes, of course, we would love to
48:57
do another one.
48:58
And we are talking to them.
49:00
But I think whether it's BBC or someone
49:02
else, we'd love to do a follow-up.
49:04
Absolutely.
49:06
And let's see Grace again.
49:09
She's hiding behind her blanket.
49:11
She's getting sleepy.
49:13
I'm sure.
49:14
I'm sure.
49:15
Because it's dark now.
49:17
Now, what's the rehabilitation process?
49:21
You said she was literally paralysed.
49:24
Look how she clings to you.
49:26
It's so moving.
49:29
How did you enable her to become well
49:33
-adjusted and happy and giggle despite the trauma
49:36
that she witnessed of her mother being killed
49:38
in front of her?
49:40
Well, I'll have to give her some credit
49:42
because these chimpanzees, they're so inspiring.
49:45
They're so resilient.
49:46
They really teach us about how we can
49:48
survive pretty much anything because they do.
49:51
But we have a really intensive care programme.
49:54
Our caregivers are amazing.
49:56
They're just like what you see here.
49:58
We give them 24-hour intensive care.
50:00
They come in and they get moms.
50:02
Sometimes they have to share a mom or
50:04
two, but they get moms, they get love,
50:07
and they're with other chimpanzees.
50:09
And we just, you know, that's what turns
50:11
them around.
50:11
I mean, with Grace, we needed to do
50:13
some more physical stuff.
50:14
Of course, Jimmy's a vet.
50:15
He gets them kind of healthy again.
50:17
They often come in, they're dehydrated.
50:19
Some of them have broken legs.
50:21
We've had many come in with broken bones,
50:23
broken arms, broken legs from shrapnel, or they've
50:26
fallen out of the tree with their moms
50:28
and broken bones.
50:30
We've had them where they've had cuts on
50:32
their heads from falling.
50:34
So lots of different injuries.
50:35
So it's kind of hearing that physical piece,
50:38
but the most important piece for chimps, just
50:40
like I think it would be just the
50:41
same for us, right, with human orphans, is
50:44
that just that TLC, just that constant love
50:46
and care.
50:47
They sleep with their caregivers.
50:49
They are with them all day.
50:50
If you get up, you carry them with
50:53
you, just like their moms would.
50:54
So we really try and replicate what they'd
50:56
have with their moms as much as possible,
50:58
you know.
50:59
We're getting questions as people join.
51:01
I know you told this story, but Gail
51:03
Thornberry wants to know, where did you get
51:05
her from?
51:06
Can you tell the backstory of this particular
51:10
Grace, this chimpanzee?
51:13
So Grace came from near the border with
51:17
Cote d'Ivoire.
51:18
So she was probably on her way to
51:19
be sold out to someone else.
51:21
The far Eastern part of Liberia, which is
51:23
very forested area and a town called Fishtown,
51:26
actually.
51:28
And one of the rangers who was in
51:31
that area heard a rumour that there was
51:36
a chimpanzee and they went and confiscated her
51:39
from the people who were keeping her as
51:41
a pet or who were keeping her to
51:44
sell.
51:45
Maybe they were trying to get her across
51:46
the border.
51:48
And so once we heard about it-
51:49
And what about her mother?
51:50
What about Grace's mother?
51:52
Grace's mother was killed.
51:54
And if you, I mean, you can't see,
51:55
but Grace has, there's several scars where you
52:00
can see where the pellets went into her
52:01
body and you can even still feel-
52:03
You can feel them.
52:03
You can feel multiple pellets, shotgun pellets that
52:06
are embedded under her skin.
52:08
In her muscle.
52:11
So, and Grace's, you know, they all come,
52:17
they all come at least traumatised, you know,
52:21
psychologically traumatised because of what they've been through.
52:26
And often they have physical damage or they're
52:30
sick.
52:31
Grace is one of the worst cases because
52:33
she was actually paralysed.
52:35
And it's amazing that she's been able to
52:38
recover as much as she has.
52:40
And we hope she'll continue to gain strength
52:43
and function in her arm and her left
52:46
arm and leg.
52:48
And the thing is, Jenny was mentioning, you
52:50
know, how we provide 24-hour care.
52:53
You know, Grace, you know, chimpanzees, the physical
52:58
contact.
52:59
So you have to imagine, this is why
53:00
we try and simulate what their life is
53:02
like in the wild.
53:03
You have to imagine that a baby chimpanzee
53:06
is in 24-7 physically connected to the
53:10
mom, like constantly touching the mom's body.
53:13
Because if they get left behind in the
53:16
forest by their group, they're gonna die.
53:18
They're not gonna make it.
53:20
And so for the first like really three
53:22
years of their life, they barely move more
53:26
than a few metres away from their mom
53:29
or their aunties.
53:30
They're always very close by because- Yeah,
53:32
if I get up right now, which I
53:34
wouldn't do it, but if I got up
53:36
right now, she would scream and she would
53:39
absolutely go crazy.
53:41
I would never do it.
53:42
But I mean, if I just stood up
53:44
quickly for some reason to go walk away,
53:47
she doesn't sit here.
53:48
It's not like a human baby where they
53:50
might sit on the couch and watch you
53:51
while you do things.
53:53
Their instinct and their whole emotional attachment with
53:56
their moms is to hold on to mom.
53:59
To hold on for dear life, basically.
54:01
We just got another donation.
54:03
Kim Delgado just donated.
54:05
Thank you, Kim.
54:06
Thank you.
54:07
Keep these donations coming in.
54:10
We're just about at the end of our
54:12
show.
54:12
I could go on for hours.
54:14
I am so moved by the work you
54:19
do, by the generosity of our viewers.
54:22
Wow.
54:23
Please keep these donations coming.
54:26
$25, $10, it all counts.
54:30
And I wanna thank Donnie Moss for making
54:34
this happen, really reaching out to me and
54:38
saying, hey, these folks need help.
54:41
Thank you, Donnie, for that.
54:43
Thank you for doing this.
54:44
Yeah, I mean, thank you for all the
54:45
work you're doing.
54:46
It's absolutely amazing.
54:51
115 chimps.
54:52
I'm just gonna say it one more time.
54:55
Please, guys, I've donated.
54:58
We've gotten a bunch of people to donate,
55:00
but they need more donations.
55:02
$5, $10, $15, $20, $25.
55:05
Please, LiberiaChimpanzeeRescue.org forward slash donate.
55:12
And I'm just absolutely touched by the work
55:16
you do.
55:17
God bless you.
55:19
Keep it up.
55:20
We, I hope the BBC does the video
55:24
and we will stay on top of your
55:27
story.
55:28
So come back soon.
55:30
Thank you so much.
55:30
Because- Thank you, Donnie.
55:32
Thank you to all the donors and everyone
55:34
who watched.
55:35
And just, yeah, we're filled with gratitude tonight.
55:38
Thank you.
55:39
I am absolutely just so touched and moved.
55:43
So of course, as we wrap up, we
55:45
tell everybody, please download Unchained TV.
55:49
We are the world's only vegan animal rights
55:51
streaming television network.
55:54
And it's a lot of fun.
55:56
It's totally free.
55:57
Check it out.
55:58
This episode is brought to you by Unchained
56:01
TV.
56:02
Unchained TV is a nonprofit organisation producing plant
56:05
-based content filled with tips and tricks to
56:08
spice up those healthy veggies, grains, and legumes.
56:12
For more information on Unchained TV productions, just
56:15
visit unchainedtv.com.
56:18
That's unchained.