Primarily Primates
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United States
| Primarily Primates | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of Primarily Primates | |
| 29°41′21.15″N 98°40′59.02″W / 29.6892083°N 98.6830611°W | |
| Date opened | 1978 |
| Location | Bexar County, Texas United States |
| Land area | 30 hectares (74 acres) |
| No. of animals | 347 |
| Website | primarilyprimates.org |
Primarily Primates (PPI) is a nonprofit organization in Bexar County, Texas, that operates an animal sanctuary, housing 347 non-human primates and a variety of other birds and animals released from use in entertainment, research, or as rescues from the exotic pet trade.[1] The organization was founded by Wallace (Wally) Swett in 1978, who ran the facility until 2006, when the Texas attorney general took control of it after allegations of substandard animal care. It has since been passed to new management, and operates in 2018, with a $1.1 million dollar budget. Primarily Primates employs 16 people for management and care staff, and a full-time veterinarian to assure high standards of animal care, enrichment, and nutrition.
Primarily Primates is accredited as a "true" sanctuary by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
Animals at the shelter include primates formerly used in animal research, chimpanzees retired from the United States Air Force (mostly Holloman Air Force Base) and the NASA space program, and Oliver, a chimpanzee exhibited around the world for many years and often referred to as the "humanzee," because of speculation in the past that he might be part human. One former tenant was Britches the monkey who was removed from a laboratory as an infant in a raid perpetuated by the Animal Liberation Front.[2] Other notable chimpanzees now living there include Willie and Harry[3] who appeared in the film, Project X. Willie played Virgil, a chimpanzee who was taught to pilot planes.
The Texas attorney general took control of the sanctuary in October 2006 after allegations that the facility was "unfit," and that public donations had been misspent while the animals lived in substandard accommodation.[4] An Austin probate court put the sanctuary into temporary receivership and appointed a primate expert, Lee Theisen-Watt, to evaluate the animals' condition and supervise their care. The attorney general asked the court permanently to remove Wally Swett and his associates, and require them to repay some of the funds that were allegedly misspent.[4] In April 2007, a settlement was reached appointing a new board of directors, which placed Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, a Connecticut-based animal-rights group that funded Primarily Primates as its president of the board. At the conclusion of the Receivership, spokesman Kelly for the attorney-general's office said in a statement that "[t]he troubling conditions at Primarily Primates have been remedied."[5]