MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Just in time for World Chimp Day on July 14, seven ‘retired’ chimpanzees are now living a life of relaxation in Florida after Memphis-based FedEx helped to fly them out of the path of wildfires in California.
Dubbed the ‘Sunrise Seven’ – Vanilla, Shake, Cayleb, Ernesta, Jake, Jeff, and Magic – were among 400 animals evacuated from the Wildlife Waystation, a defunct refuge in Sylmar, California, which went out of business in 2019.
FedEx said the chimps were flown from L.A. to Memphis, then on to Orlando, where they took a climate-controlled ride, thanks to Pero Family Farms, to Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida – a 150-acre island sanctuary. Fort Pierce is known as ‘Sunrise City,’ hence the nickname for the chimps.
The chimps are in a standard two-month quarantine on the island. After that, they will join the more than 200 chimpanzees already living there.
“The chimps are adjusting very well to their new home and have already made new friends,” says Save the Chimps CEO Ana Paula Tavares. “We salute FedEx and Pero Family Farms for their help in this emergency rescue.”
FedEx provided the flights for the chimps as part of the company’s ‘Delivering for Good’ initiative.
From FedEx: The urgent transfer was orchestrated by the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) in conjunction with the California Fish & Wildlife Department, which assumed control of the shuttered wildlife facility three years ago. NAPSA’s emergency “Chimps In Need” fundraising campaign made possible the transfer of the Sunrise Seven and dozens of other chimps from the closed compound.