Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives and have complex psychological and social needs that make their welfare management in captivity particularly demanding.
Chimpanzee welfare in zoos requires acknowledging the cognitive and social complexity of the species. A chimpanzee in a well-designed exhibit with appropriate social companions, cognitive enrichment, and positive reinforcement training can have meaningful quality of life. A chimpanzee in isolation, barren environments, or incompatible social groups suffers chronic psychological distress. The standards required for high chimpanzee welfare are demanding and expensive - zoos that cannot meet them should consider whether they should house chimpanzees at all, rather than maintaining them in suboptimal conditions.