Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing approximately 98.7% of our DNA. Their extraordinary social intelligence and long lifespans create profound welfare responsibilities for zoos that choose to keep them.
Chimpanzee welfare in captivity demands extraordinary resources and expertise given their cognitive complexity and longevity. Inadequate social groupings, insufficient space, and lack of behavioral complexity cause severe psychological distress in animals with the cognitive depth of human children. Research chimps retired from laboratories often carry lasting behavioral and psychological impacts from their experiences. The best zoo and sanctuary programs provide large, complex social groups, extensive environmental enrichment, positive reinforcement training that gives animals agency, and decades of committed care. The welfare case for keeping chimpanzees requires demonstrating genuine benefit to conservation alongside genuine achievement of individual wellbeing.