Primate sanctuaries provide lifetime care for chimpanzees, orangutans, and other great apes rescued from research, entertainment, and the pet trade. High-quality sanctuary management is a complex welfare challenge.
Primate sanctuaries face welfare challenges that differ from zoos because their residents typically arrive with trauma histories from laboratory or entertainment settings. Chimpanzees from research facilities may have spent years in small cages with minimal social contact; reintegrating them into stable social groups is a years-long process requiring expert behavioral management. The welfare obligations of sanctuaries are lifetime commitments for animals that may live another 30-40 years upon arrival. Funding instability is a persistent threat to sanctuary welfare quality: underfunded sanctuaries cannot provide the space, enrichment, and veterinary care that resident great apes need. Public support for sanctuary funding is therefore a direct welfare intervention.