Chimpansee in berucht Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor (VS) valt vrijwilligster aan - Primatenopvang vaak in opspraak geweest

Deputies: Chimp attacks woman at Palm Harbor

primate sanctuary

12-02-2010 Times Staff Writer, TampaBay, USA


PALM HARBOR — A female volunteer at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary was attacked by a chimpanzee Friday morning, authorities said. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office was called to the chimp farm at 4612 Alt. U.S. 19 just after 11:30 a.m.

Few details were immediately available, but the Sheriff's Office said the woman, who was not identified, was taken to a local hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.

An investigation is ongoing.

The 12-1/2-acre park, which abuts the Pinellas Trail, houses dozens of animals, mostly primates.
The chimp farm, which was opened as a roadside attraction in 1971, was originally known as Noell's Ark Chimp Farm.

In the 1990s, the chimp farm was lambasted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which dubbed it one of the worst roadside zoos in the country.

Though the facility changed its name and received nonprofit status in the mid 1990s, problems persisted.

In 1999, the USDA stripped the sanctuary of its license for public exhibitions, citing small, rusty cages used to house the apes and improper record-keeping.

Two years later, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission declined to renew the facility's state license for keeping exotic animals, citing similar concerns.

After a major renovation was completed in 2003 that included the construction of a 19,000-square-foot Great Ape Habitat, that license was reinstated.

But the sanctuary still couldn't open to the public until it had a valid USDA license from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which regulates animal exhibitions.

It reopened to the public in 2008 after receiving that license.

(Bron: http://www.tampabay.com/)