ELLENSBURG — A nonprofit group plans to move the two remaining chimpanzees at Central Washington University in Ellensburg to a sanctuary in Canada.
The Friends of Washoe group owns the chimps at the university’s Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute.
Chairman Greg Beach told The Daily Record of Ellensburg for a story Wednesday that the decision was made due to the chimps’ age and the declining population there.
Thirty-five-year-old Loulis and 37-year-old Tatu are the last two chimps at the center. Beach says chimpanzees are highly social animals that should live in groups.
The chimps will be moved to the Fauna Foundation Sanctuary in Quebec, Canada as soon as possible. Beach says the move is permanent and that Friends of Washoe doesn’t plan to bring more chimpanzees to Ellensburg.
