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C H I M P A N Z E E S : A N U N N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y On  PBS November 5th at 8:00 pm (ET) (Check Local Listings)
Thirteen/WNET New York's NATURE launches it's landmark 25th season with Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, premiering November 5 on PBS. We enlisted them in the space race and the fight against AIDS; we trained them to entertain us in the circus, in Hollywood and on TV. With almost 99 percent of the same DNA as us, chimpanzees are genetically closer to humans than they are to gorillas. But their treatment in America over the last half-century has been surprisingly unkind for our next of kin in the animal world. These chimpanzees' stories, along with the remarkable efforts by individuals and organizations to give them a second chance at a life of freedom, are told when Thirteen/WNET New York's NATURE series kicks off its milestone 25th anniversary season with Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History, premiering Sunday, November 5 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). Award-winning filmmaker Allison Argo, producer, writer and director of the film, also narrates. In 1959, the United States Air Force captured dozens of baby chimpanzees in Africa, transporting them to Alamogordo, New Mexico where they and their offspring were to endure a grueling life as the ultimate human stand-ins. From experiments in space travel and high-velocity crash tests, to pharmaceutical testing and hepatitis and AIDS research, to roles on the silver and small screens, these original Air Force chimpanzees and others that followed gave their lives to benefit humankind - and now a few extraordinary people are working to give those lives back. Dr. Carole Noon, founder and director of the organization Save the Chimps, is one of those individuals. With her group, she is working to create a multi-island habitat in central Florida , the single largest effort on behalf of chimpanzees in North America. Through the story of Lou, a 42-year-old Air Force chimp, we learn how the government eventually leased its chimpanzees to the Coulston Foundation, which was repeatedly fined for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. In September 2002, battling bankruptcy, Coulston sold its land and buildings and donated more than 260 chimpanzees to Save the Chimps. "I find all of this heartbreaking," says Noon, surveying the former Coulston facilities in New Mexico , which she has been overhauling for several years. The program also witnesses the journey of two chimps, Ron (pictured above) and Thoto, from New Mexico to a new life of freedom in Florida , where on his first night Thoto refuses to come inside, choosing instead to spend it beneath the moon and stars. Click here to visit the PBS website and read more about Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History |
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