Now that the news has broken, I can shout it from the rooftops that WE DID IT : All 40 of the Wildlife Waystation chimps have been rescued!
Do you even know how long I waited to type that? (The answer is: over three years.)
All are now living at accredited sanctuaries, except for three who were sent to accredited zoos.
The Chimpanzees In Need emergency rescue fundraiser that I developed and ran with colleagues has already raised over $4M, and has less than $500,000 left to raise before it can end. We will get there... because if we can move 40 chimpanzees across the country, we can do anything.
It was important for me to document this because one day some of these memories may get muddy over time.
One day this won't be so fresh in my memory. I may not remember the days of worry and panic as we wondered if we would be able to keep these chimps alive, way before we could even think of building their new homes.
I may forget the dust and decay of the closed Waystation, and how every time I went there I'd learn something knew - how peppercorns grow, what a wild tarantula looks like.
I may even forget the thrill of seeing huge, helpless exotic beings loaded up and wheeled past in a metal cage, surreally moved onto a truck like so much furniture.... though I doubt it.
That's the kind of thing that never leaves you.
The final ten chimpanzees were rescued in two groups, over two transport days two weeks apart.
The first day was bright and sunny. Smiles were big and the air was redolent of oranges as we chopped up food for the chimps to snack on during their trip.
We recorded some interviews and spoke with a journalist.
Nerves were high as they always are on transport days, but then as the chimps began to be wheeled over to the truck, we could relax a little bit more, and say our goodbyes to the chimps.
The second, and final transport day was very different from all the others we'd had so far. It was raining (in Southern California!), and chilly, and as there were only two chimps to load, it went so fast that it was over way before we had even hoped it would be.
Then all there was to do was say goodbye.
The rescue of the final Wildlife Waystation chimpanzees was bittersweet.
It marked the end of so much - good and bad - and the relief of knowing that the chimpanzees are all safe, finally (somehow!) was overwhelming. It still is. Those of who worked on this project will be forever changed.
I've learned so much about resiliency, and forging ahead despite so many uncertainties, and leading even when I don't know how.
We never had the option to give up, because the chimps were waiting...
and we saved them.
