Press conference, film & video coverage in LA Times, CBS, FOX, and more

In August 2019, a Los Angeles animal refuge named Wildlife Waystation abruptly closed. Though it was never a member of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA, of which I serve as Program Director), our job is to help all captive primates reach sanctuary retirement whenever possible. NAPSA jumped into action by establishing a network of experts to guide the California Department of Fish & Wildlife as they took over operations at the Waystation and set to work figuring out how to rehome the many hundreds of exotic animals in residence. NAPSA oversaw the rehoming efforts for the 19 monkeys, and we were happy to see nine chimpanzees move to better homes at facilities experienced in chimpanzee care so far... But 32 chimps remain.

We established a fundraiser because though four sanctuaries have been identified who could take these 32 chimps (altogether), they need to build or expand enclosures to responsibly make room for new chimps, and they need time to do so. Full information on the campaign can be found here. It's been a lot of work, and feels overwhelming at times, but  NAPSA was identified as one of the few options for leading this effort, so I am proud to do so.

I helped found World Chimpanzee Day two years ago, and so as we were planning for a press conference to introduce the media to the fundraiser, it made perfect sense to hold the event on World Chimpanzee Day, July 14.

The event attracted nine TV and newspaper outlets, and additional interviews were conducted with radio stations afterwards. The resulting coverage is still trickling in, but I was very pleased to see a long article in the LA Times,

another good article in the LA Daily News, 

a segment on Fox LA,

and another segment on CBS Los Angeles.

Donations have started to come more quickly as a result, which is exciting to see! 

Guest on Prime Mates podcast - 5th time

Part B of my Q&A on Prime Mates podcast has been released. This is the last real episode of the show, before their finale live event and then a hiatus of indeterminate length.

Host Matt Stewart said that I was one of the most requested returning guests, which was a thrill to hear! He also asked that I appear on some of his other projects, such as other podcasts and a YouTube interview show. I would be happy to do any of them, and I hope I get the chance to try them out.

I'm sad that the podcast is taking a break - may this not be permanent!

Click here to listen.

Guest on Prime Mates podcast - 4th time

This week I returned as a guest on Prime Mates podcast. There was no theme this time, because it was a Q&A session with questions submitted by listeners.

There were so many questions, actually, that we didn't get through them all! I will be returning next week for part two of this episode.

I have so much fun doing these podcasts, so I am really pleased to return for more questions. I hope they go easy on me!

Click here to listen.