A chimpanzee is melting hearts the world over after a video showing her reaction to seeing the sun for the first time went viral.
Vanilla, a 29-year-old chimpanzee, spent first two years of her life at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), were she lived in a 5-foot-square cage. After the LEMSIP was closed in 1997, Vanilla was transferred to an indoor enclosure at a wildlife refuge in California. While she had more space there, she still never set foot outside. The refuge went out of business in 2019.
Now, Vanilla has been transferred to the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida, a 150-acre sanctuary where she will have more freedom than she has ever known.
In the video, which was shared at the American Society of Primatologists symposium in Reno by Save the Chimps’ primatologist Dr. Andrew Halloran, Vanilla stepped outside into her new home and immediately received a hug from a fellow chimpanzee, the alpha male Dwight.
Vanilla then had her first glimpse of the blue sky, a sight which left her with an expression of wonder.
Halloran told the New York Post that Vanilla has made friends with the other chimps at the sanctuary and enjoys exploring the great outdoors.