Jenny Desmond: Chimpanzees Forever

"We didn't want to start a Chimp sanctuary. I mean, it's the most extreme really… they're the most, at least in my mind, they're just so socially complex and their needs are so complex and they don't really go back to the wild - ever. And they live, to 50 or 60 years old and they have very complicated social groups. It's a lot. It's a lifetime… So, we were like, that's not what we want to do. So here we are. That's what we did."

Jenny Desmond

Jenny's interest in wildlife rescue and protection was sparked during a trip around the world at an orangutan sanctuary in Indonesia. Since then, she and Jimmy have lived in many countries throughout Africa and Asia and have worked with monkeys, gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees. And, until they lost her this past year, their dog, Princess worked right alongside them.

In 2015, the Desmonds got a call from the Humane Society of the US, that 66 former laboratory research chimps had been abandoned on some islands in Liberia — could they help? Soon after they arrived (and helped), it became very clear to them that there was a much bigger chimpanzee problem happening throughout Liberia.

Currently the Liberia Chimp Rescue and Protection is home to 73 orphaned chimps and not only are the Desmonds and their incredible team mothering and caring for 73 babies, they are also working to end the bushmeat and pet trades that are creating so many orphans in the first place.

Western Chimpanzees are on the critically endangered list. Their population has declined by 80 percent is the past 24 years. At this rate, they will soon be gone. And, it's not just the bushmeat and pet trades pushing the chimps toward the extinction list – it's the fact that their habitat is getting smaller by the day.

With much grace and humor, Jenny shares what it means to ensure that the chimpanzees in her care thrive, and what we need to do to get behind her so that these animals don't disappear.