Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives and face severe threats from bushmeat hunting, habitat destruction, and live capture. Welfare along this chain of harm involves individual trauma, sanctuary care, and long-term rehabilitation.
Individual chimpanzees caught in the bushmeat trade experience profound trauma: witnessing maternal death, confinement in small spaces, malnourishment, and complete social deprivation. The psychological recovery process in sanctuaries takes years and requires skilled primate caregivers and appropriate social grouping. Not all sanctuary chimpanzees can be reintroduced to wild populations — many are too habituated to humans or lack wild-appropriate survival skills. Lifetime sanctuary care for these individuals is a legitimate welfare outcome. Supporting sanctuary infrastructure addresses both the immediate welfare of hundreds of individual animals and broader conservation goals.