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KTBS Podcasting and the Committee of 100 present Good to Know Shreveport-Bossier, a podcast series showcasing the good things happening in our area. We’ll go in-depth about economic development, community growth and other topics about initiatives that are having a positive impact in our community. We’ll have new episodes every other Wednesday. You can find the KTBS Good to Know podcast wherever you listen to podcasting. Or go to KTBS.com or KTBS Now on your streaming device to see the full interview.
Hey. Hello again everybody.
Welcome to Good to Know
Shreveport-Bossier.
This is a podcast
we showcase all the good, positive things
happening around our community.
My name is Jeff and for over here is Mr.
French Fry.
Paul Reiser, a member of the committee
of 100 used to own like 3 or 400.
but you own Sonic restaurant.
Sonic Drive?
Yeah.
It's hard to keep track of what
those are anyway, he's, here today.
He's our co-host.
And every podcast
we focus on topics and initiatives
that do have positive impacts
on the community.
We have new episodes available
every other Wednesday,
and you can find good to know
wherever you listen to your podcast.
So as always,
and I almost hesitate to do this,
but I will let you do the honors
to introduce our special guest.
You'll find out why he because
he controls
before he gets around to your name.
It's going to be 4 or 5 minutes from now.
well, that's because it is, my honor.
And it's a special of honor today, Jeff,
because we have an especially special
guest and especially special.
That's right. Wow.
I'm going to have to check that out in a
thesaurus. You to love it.
She ready?
Please do. Yeah. Spell check. Me too.
So she is the president
and CEO of something we have
that is rare in the world
and not that, like, what might that be?
It's the largest in the entire world.
Right here in the Shreveport area.
The entire world? That's right.
Are you excited to know?
I think that's especially special.
And I'm not talking about.
Yes. What are you talking about?
So our guest today is the president
and CEO of Chimp Haven,
which is the largest chimpanzee sanctuary,
you know, in the entire world.
Jeff, why is it here?
The world is why we're going to find out
today.
Seems like it would be like,
Florida or something.
We should know, right? Right. It's.
But it's in Keith ville.
It's in Keith, though.
That's near Sri Lanka.
That's where we're going to find out
why today.
And this person have a name
and that's curious.
She's president and CEO of Chimp Haven.
Miss Renee's Smith.
Yay, Renee. Welcome. Welcome.
Are we completely out of time?
That was about half the time
it normally takes to get to a name.
Well, this
because it's especially special.
I heard that,
but thank you for coming out today.
I know you're always busy
covering the country, and,
but you're here today,
so I appreciate you.
Yeah. Thanks so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
All right.
So let's get right to it.
Why is it here? And. Keith. Phil.
Oh my goodness.
Well, let me tell you a little bit.
You need a little bit of background.
You know why we're in
when why we're in Keith.
So I love background.
All right.
So Chimp Haven is the world's
largest chimpanzee sanctuary.
and to understand why we're here,
we have to go back in time a little bit.
So chimpanzees have been used
in biomedical research for decades.
So if you think about it,
like back in the 1950s, they were used in
polio studies, 60s
they were used by the Air Force
and NASA for the space program
and then got into infectious diseases.
And certainly remember the space program.
Pardon me.
There you go.
And then in the mid 80s,
the HIV and Aids epidemic hit.
Right.
And so scientists were clamoring
for a cure for HIV and Aids.
And because we're so genetically similar
to chimpanzees,
they wanted to use chimps
in their vaccine research.
But there weren't enough chimps
in research facilities.
So the federal government,
the National Institutes of Health,
they set up these breeding centers
and bred chimps, for studies.
And then if you fast forward ten years
later to the mid 90s,
the scientists discovered
that chimps were no longer a good model
for research
because you could infected with HIV,
but they wouldn't get full blown Aids
like they do in a human.
So it left what the government called
surplus chimpanzees
in labs that were simply housed
in research facilities.
There were too many of them
to use in experiments.
And so we had a woman
named Doctor Linda Brandt,
who was a behaviorist at one of the labs.
And she thought, you know,
we could do better by these chimpanzees
than you know, having them live
the rest of their lives in these labs.
So let's start a sanctuary.
So Chimp
Haven was actually, founded in Texas,
but they took off to find land
for the sanctuary.
Couldn't
find anything suitable in East Texas.
Imagine that. West Texas.
and so all of a sudden,
they got a call from Caddo Parish,
and Caddo
Parish was building their, Eddie Jones,
nature park.
And they wanted a sanctuary out there.
they thought it might be good
to attract visitors to the park,
and they had some land
that they were willing to donate.
So they ended up donating 200 acres
in the nature park for Chimp Haven.
And it was perfect.
I mean, it's a beautiful, piece of land,
tall trees for the chimps
and that's how the sanctuary was.
Kind of like by chance, right?
All, the ingredients came together.
I think the stars aligned on that.
that one sounds like it.
And it's great for an area
because I was thinking, well,
what does that mean to our area?
You know,
and I thought, you know,
we were talking yesterday
and you said that actually
there's there's 68 employees, researchers
that live there.
It's unique.
It brings a lot of people
and scientific research to the area.
And you were brought on board
specifically,
to double the size of this sanctuary
right about seven years ago.
Yeah. So I started about seven years ago.
My background is in marketing
and nonprofit management fundraising.
And at the time that I came
on, there were still well over 100,
you know, chimps
in research facilities in Texas
and New Mexico
that we wanted to bring to Chimp Haven.
So we needed to launch a $20 million
expansion campaign
to really kind of double
the size of the facility.
so we did that.
It was, crazy time during Covid.
It took a lot longer when we started it.
We started in 2018 and finished
like in 2022.
So right in the middle. Yeah.
but it's done.
It's beautiful expansion.
And we've,
you know, we've got lots of chimps there.
How many do you have right now?
We have about 300 chimpanzees. Yeah.
They, range in age from 7 to 64.
Really. And they live in.
They do. We've got some golden
oldies there.
How long do they normally live?
I mean, what what's an average.
Yeah.
usually around,
you know, mid 30s, 40 ish.
Goodness. Yeah.
But but they're loving the,
the Haven life.
So they're going 64.
They love it. Yeah.
We we are very different
from the early days.
We've had our first two
chimps arrived back in 2005.
now we've got almost 300
chimpanzees,
living in 30 different family groups.
and they've got trees to climb.
They have fresh, healthy diets, expert
veterinary care
and lots of chimps to, to hang out with,
which is super important.
So, are you still bringing,
I want to say, a new supply.
Are you still bringing new chimps
in all the time, or how does that work?
Yeah, we've,
we've taken a little bit of a break. We?
Our last chimps came in last year
from a research facility in San Antonio,
and now we're,
We were doing some facility
upgrades and repairs,
and now we're at the point where
we're ready
to welcome some new chimpanzees as well.
So we're hoping that
the National Institutes of Health
will send us some additional chimps.
but there's also a lot of chimpanzees
and, roadside
zoos or their pets
that just got too big to handle.
And those also need help. Will you?
You hear a lot frequently.
Pardon me, Mr. Centro.
about people that,
I don't want to say adopt,
but they buy chimps or whatever for pets,
and that that doesn't work, right.
That's not suitable.
That does not work out.
You know,
they're super cute when they're little.
when they get about six,
there's they're really hard to handle.
we do have one chimpanzee named Henry
that lives at the sanctuary.
And he was actually rescued
when he was 15 from a garage in Houston.
And, I think he was,
his owner worked
for, like, a plumbing company.
And so he when he was really little,
he was like,
he would ride around
on the plumbing pickup truck.
And it was sort of a gimmicky thing.
But then he got really big and,
you know, he lived in a garage and really,
you know, terrible conditions.
And when, they ended up,
the owner went on vacation,
a neighbor checked in on him,
and ultimately Henry was taken away
and made his way to Chimp Haven.
You know, he didn't even realize
that he was a chimp.
Really took a really long time
for him to socialize
with other chimps,
because he'd only been around humans,
and he had just some weird little quirks,
behaviors like he would you see a chimp,
like, flip their lip, that's like,
not cool in terms of chimp language.
So all of his little family members
would be like, you know, Henry, no,
you don't do that kind of behavior,
do you know?
And they're kind of like,
yeah,
I had to teach him how to be a chimp,
but now he's thriving at Chimp Haven.
he lives in a social group
with family members who,
you know, accept him for who he is
and all of his little, you know, sort is.
Exactly.
Yeah. Interesting.
So, one, congratulations on
on fulfilling your job so quickly.
I mean, a $20 million expansion
in just a couple of years.
That's remarkable.
Thank you. Yeah,
that's a lot of French fries. Yeah.
That is a lot of French fries.
Corn dogs and double cheeseburgers.
Absolutely.
Absolutely. Yes.
Where do these funds come from? Yeah.
So we have a contract
with the National Institutes of Health.
So they own all of our chimpanzees,
you know, at the sanctuary.
Right.
And we're the only sanctuary,
by law, that can receive
and welcome chimpanzees
owned by the federal government.
so we've got that contract,
and they the NIH pays
for about 66% of our budget,
our budgets around 8.7 million a year.
And then we raise the rest
through private supporters.
So individuals, foundations
from all over the country
that have an interest in helping
these chimps have an amazing retirement.
How much does it cost to
run the facility on an annual basis?
Yeah,
our annual budget is about 8.7 million,
but it costs around 26,000 a year
per share.
Yeah. So that's what I really meant. Yeah.
To take care of them.
So yeah, that's a lot of bananas.
There we go.
Is that the main part of the diet?
I mean you hear that it's a cliche
I guess.
But yeah it's yeah they do.
They eat a lot of fresh fruit and and
produce chimpanzee like protein biscuits.
But the banana is, you know,
they're number one.
That's it. High value items.
Yeah. It's almost contractual for chimps.
You gotta have the daily banana.
Oh, they're not coming.
Yeah, they're not coming. Exactly.
It's interesting
you say that you get a lot of them
that are from people's homes that are,
that are brought as pets.
And there's a documentary about
called Chimp Crazy or something like that.
Is that coming out or about to come out?
Chimp crazy chimp crazy crazy.
You you want to get a chimp?
Yeah. There you go.
You remember that? What it's referring
to. You're crazy. If you want get a chimp.
You're crazy about chimps or I think
it refers to maybe a little bit of both.
Yeah, yeah.
The, they call them in the documentary
Monkey moms
that really have a deep love for chimps.
But what are you going to say, lion King?
A second ago, Tiger Tiger came out. Yeah.
Did you watch Tiger King?
I tried not to, like, a teeny bit of it,
but I really couldn't take it.
Yeah.
This is made by the same director of Tiger
King.
Was the movie.
Sorry.
Yeah, yeah, but,
the documentary is out on HBO Max.
it just debuted.
It's a four part, you know, series,
and it really does show
why it's important not to own,
you know, these, these primates.
So we're really hoping that it brings
kind of shed some light
on the American public and lets them know
these animals,
you know, really need to be in,
you know, accredited sanctuaries and
other facilities and not in private homes.
These, these chimps get really strong,
don't they?
They do. Yeah.
So I think they're about ten times
stronger than a human.
Human? Yeah.
I mean, they can hurt you without even
knowing what they're doing, right?
I mean, they just being a chimp, they can.
They can hurt you.
They're very unpredictable.
And that's why we at the sanctuary,
we have, like, a no touch policy.
Yeah.
but we can,
you know, interact with the chimpanzees.
Our animal care staff do an amazing job.
They can, you know, do
chimpanzee gestures and vocalizations.
They all have names. They all come to us.
Do they respond to the name?
Yeah. They all know their names.
They've had their names since,
you know, the research facility days.
so we talk to them with their names.
A lot of them are ticklish.
They love to be tickled with long handled
like wooden spoons.
You know, we can interact and play chase
with them and stomp our feet and run.
And, we even have chimps that come to us
from the labs that are pretty overweight.
And so we have a gym
pansy exercise program where, you know,
the humans and the chimps can get
a little exercise and do squats and run.
And, you know,
we have one chimp named Krystal
who is definitely our Biggest loser,
and she lost about 40 pounds.
So really, that's a good thing
you didn't forget your weight loss.
Yeah, I got that.
So, so we can introduce them back
to nature
because a lot of them
are born in captivity,
or they're used to living in the garage
or whatever. So.
So I guess this shows
the importance of having,
a haven instead of putting them back.
What are the dangers of taking them back
and what is their natural habitat?
Yeah.
So, they, you know, they were raised in
captivity primarily
in the research facilities.
And so they depend on humans
for all of their basic needs.
So, you know, releasing them
back into the wild just isn't an option.
And they're also endangered and have,
you know, all kinds of dangers
in, in the wild and habitat loss
and things like that.
That's why they're an endangered species.
So we do our best,
you know, to give back to them.
They've given so much to us.
And even though research is now,
you know, illegal,
there's no more research
that was going to go there next.
So yeah.
You brought that up. Yeah.
But we do our best
just to provide an amazing retirement
from them
in a really naturalistic setting.
So, you know, having the trees to climb
and the best enrichment for a chimp
is another chimp.
They're very social.
but we also spend a lot of time just,
you know,
giving them things
to keep them mentally stimulated.
They're incredibly intelligent.
So they need, you know,
novelty items, food puzzles, you know,
games, activities just to keep them,
you know, thriving, you know.
Well, you I said you.
So there's no research done anymore
on chimps, right?
No more invasive research
since 2015 is invasive.
The key is there other types of research?
There's we do, occasionally
we do what's called behavioral research,
where you observe the chimps behavior
and you can study things like,
how chimpanzees grieve
when they have a group mate pass away
or how they use their space
in their habitat.
All different kinds of studies like that,
that are all observational in nature.
And then we published manuscripts,
present them at national conferences,
share them with other sanctuaries
that don't have the kind of staff support
that we have at Chimp Haven.
And it's all in the spirit of helping to
improve their lives and their well-being.
But no more chimps
at, NIH labs or anything like that.
The chimps that are still in the research
facilities are simply housed there.
So there's no more invasive research,
hepatitis studies or HIV studies,
any of that going on.
that ended in 2015.
And so how do you
how many are still housed at NIH labs?
There's about 70 that,
and we're really hoping
that the National Institutes of Health
will send those chimps to us.
So there's been,
you know, a little bit of controversy.
They've wanted
to keep the chimps in the labs.
They feel like they're, you know,
maybe too fragile or old to move.
we've got, you know, great plan.
You have, Henry.
We've got Henry.
We've got a lot of other chimpanzees
that we've moved from research facilities,
and we'd love to see them
have their shot at sanctuary.
Why not?
I mean, if they're not using them,
they're truly not using them, right?
Why would I don't get why they wouldn't
want to release them. Do.
Yeah. Yeah.
So I hear there's an opportunity.
Every once in a while you hear they're
open to the public like twice a year.
Is that how does that work?
Yeah, we love to have visitors out, twice
a year on,
at events,
what we call chimpanzee discovery days.
And it's usually a Saturday
morning from nine until noon.
The next Discovery Day
is coming up on October 19th.
and it's a great opportunity
for families to come out.
they can see the chimpanzees
and have an opportunity to learn about
how our veterinary staff or behavior team
or husbandry
team,
you know, feed the chimps, care for them.
we I just do I do it twice a year.
or as in sanctuary.
We don't want to be open to a public.
We're not a zoo facility.
but we do think it's important
you know, to bring the public out
and to do education.
we also have a number of other
little events
a year that individuals
can go on our website and see.
But it's all in the spirit of learning
about the species and how they can help
support
chimpanzee conservation and well-being.
You know, across the country
and worldwide.
so yeah, we welcome people that
when they do come through, what,
what kind of reactions do you get?
Well, both ways.
How did the people react to the chimps and
and vice versa.
Yeah.
Chimpanzees love Chimp Discovery Day
because they come down in their habitats
and we usually have them baited
with all kinds of goodies
and bananas and trees
and things like that.
We want them
to kind of stay in the public view.
And they know that on those special days,
they're going to get lots
and lots of that routine of treats.
Right.
And then the general public, you know,
they find it fascinating.
we've just got all kinds of interactive
activities hay rides, little chimp talks.
it's just a great opportunity
to learn all about the species
and some of the incredible personalities
that we have in our chimpanzees as well.
Just a fun morning.
There's a small admission
because it's a fundraiser, I'm sure.
Yeah. So it's, $20 for adults.
I think $10 for for kids 4 to 12
and then under four is free.
So it's a pretty reasonable, price
for just a fun morning when you have,
I know we've done stories
on here on the news, but,
is there usually
a pretty good crowd
when you have one of these days, people
kind of clamoring to get in there
and see the chimps?
Yeah, we usually have maybe 800 people
really come out in the morning.
So it is a busy morning.
And this, October.
So is fun too,
because we'll theme that for Halloween.
So they dress up now
the chimps aren't going to dress up,
but the humans dress up in costumes
and everybody has a good time.
Yeah. And there's over 200 acres.
So I guess there's plenty of room
for 800 people to spread out.
And there is. Yeah, they spread out.
We've got three big, huge,
you know, multi acre
forested habitats
and they're surrounded by a water moat.
And that's the natural barrier
to keep the chimps on the habitat
because they don't swim.
So the so all the crowds
stand on one side of the the moat.
And they can look out at the chimps
and see them play.
And so if by chance, a human
came face to face with one of your chimps,
is the human in danger?
I would say the humans in danger. Yes.
We are ten times stronger than a person.
I mean, that's like a superhero.
But yeah, possibly could be bad.
Well, I'm a Green Lantern fan, and
he relies on willpower and a magic ring.
So strength is not his thing.
Yeah, we have lots of safety protocols
at Chimp Haven to keep both the chimps
and humans safe. For sure.
Well, I've been waiting for you
to do your thing, but you haven't done it,
so people want to find out
more about Chimp Haven.
And, how do they.
What's the key? What's your info? Yeah.
So the best thing to do is to go
to our website, which is Chimp haven.org.
We're also on all the social channels.
So great little bits
of educational information
and lots of really fun stories
about chimpanzees.
And they can learn all about us
and our upcoming events.
And it is a great website.
You have several videos on.
There is showing how the how the, you
know, chimpanzees are living out there.
There's one from you, greeting everybody.
And it really is very informational shows
when all the dates are
and how to come see everything.
It's a nice website, so but how are the
Facebook pages and the Instagram?
Can you kind of keep up with the chimps
from day to day?
Absolutely.
Yeah,
a lot of people like our social feeds too.
Yeah, lots of fun stories and videos
and TikTok videos and so forth.
So we welcome everybody
on our social channels.
Can you like Adopted Chimp and help
pay for their care or something like that?
You can,
because of the cost of care is so great.
You know, we always welcome contributions
and individuals can sort of,
you know, adopt a chimpanzee
and we'll send them photos and updates
of the chimps throughout the year
that they symbolically adopt.
And they love those relationships. Yeah.
There's hope for
you. Someone might adopt you.
Well, that's.
Yeah,
I've been hoping for you to adopt me.
Maybe you keep hope.
Hope is eternal.
well, how did you.
I guess we have a few minutes.
I should have started much, much earlier
asking this, but, like five minutes.
I know you live in Austin.
You go back and forth
and all over the country raising funds.
I'm assuming.
How in the world
did you become the president
and CEO of the largest chimp
haven in the world?
Yeah.
I mean, never did I ever think
in a million years that I would be the,
you know, running the world's
largest chimpanzee sanctuary.
It's just one of those fluky things.
but my background
is primarily in companion animals.
but when this position opened up
and I heard about it, I had never
heard of Chimp Haven, so I came out
and took a look and met the team.
we have an incredibly brilliant
animal care team.
I was a little nervous
since I had never been around chimps, but
I was just assured that the team has got
the chimpanzee experience.
We need somebody who can handle
the business side of things.
So, you know, I it was just a natural
fit, and, you know, certainly fell in love
with the chimps.
They work their way into your heart,
you know, very quickly as well.
So when you go to do the $20
million fundraiser, where do you start?
You say, hey,
we got a bunch of chimps here.
We need some some money.
Like, I mean, what's the pitch?
Yeah.
the pitch was, you know, please help us
get these chimps out of the research
facilities to this beautiful sanctuary.
And we started with a $10 million
lead gift from a couple in Chicago.
Really? And then, you know, from there.
That's helpful, right?
It's it's very helpful, very helpful.
And from there, you know,
it was visiting all of our supporters
on both coasts, coast to coast and here
in the Shreveport community as well.
And, you know, people really care
about these animals and want to see them,
you know, have a nice retirement after
everything that they've done for humans.
So it resonates for a lot of people.
I'm just saying their retirement
sounds a lot better than mine.
And this is your retirement.
This is it? Yeah. It's never going to end.
It's never going to end. You.
You generate interest coast
to coast by your social media presence.
And yeah, online presence.
We do and we're very fortunate to, to
have some just nice media coverage.
you know that storm
that we had that summer storm?
Not this summer, but the. Yes, for summer.
Yeah.
We, we had a lot of damage out at Chimp
Haven, and we had the New York
Times come out and do a story
about how we train the chimps.
I think I remember that, yeah,
I do, yeah, yeah.
And we have to train the chimps for
the severe weather in the Shreveport area,
both in the summer with tornadoes
and when storms,
and then also in the winter
with unexpected snow and ice.
Those water motes will freeze.
And we don't want chimps to escape, right.
So we have to train them how to come in.
It's called a recall training.
And the New York Times came out
and they were pretty fascinated
with how we do that. Well,
you know, interesting.
If chimps are out in the habitats,
we'll use an audio cue, like a bike horn
or, you know, a cowbell,
and we'll call the chimps in
and do it within just a few minutes.
But that's one way we keep them safe.
Oh, that's.
Yeah. That's interesting.
I mean, I wouldn't even think that
things like that
were a necessity, right, for a chimp that
I guess there's all kinds of stuff that.
Yeah, you got to think through
a lot of a lot of contingencies.
Yes, we certainly I guess if the ice froze
and they took off across,
I usually just when I want to call Paul.
You need more cowbell.
Yeah, you need more cowbell.
So we even have a deaf chimp named Sheena,
and she can't hear the cowbell, right?
So we have to hold up a pink frisbee
and when she sees the pink Frisbee,
she tells it in, really knows
that she's going to get lots of rewards
and treats and and all kinds of goodies
when she comes in.
But it's just one
way to keep the chimps safe.
well, it's really exciting
that we have something like that here.
And, I definitely going to make it.
Every year we say
we're going to Discovery Day.
Well,
this year we're going to just go every day
because I want to come check this out.
Do you have people like requesting like,
hey, can can we come see all the time
other than just your
to this discovery days
or we do we do off for private tour.
Oh you do as well. Yeah.
and those are really great
behind the scenes tours
where, you know, you're
not in a group of 800 people, right?
so that's an awesome way just to see
behind the scenes and be able to interact
with staff and really learn what it takes
to run a sanctuary for 300 chimpanzees.
When you have,
private requests like that, like,
what's the most people that you'll take?
we usually like to keep the group size
to around eight or less.
but, yeah,
we take them on golf carts, you know?
Yeah. All right.
Well, well.
And that information is on your website
also was that is that like, businesses
or different people?
What what would cause a person
to take eight of their closest friends
to come for a private tour?
I mean, they just love chimps
and have heard about Chimp Haven and,
and want to see the sanctuary
and how it operates.
And then we also have occasional volunteer
opportunities.
Companies can come out, especially
at Christmas time because all the chimps
received
like wrapped presents and enrichment.
And we need volunteer help
to wrap presents for 300 chimpanzees.
So there's some great little one time
opportunities here
and there to help make enrichment
and do something fun for the chimps.
this all sounds like a really.
We're just about very interesting to it
here.
So, give you your information
or your website again,
however, folks can get in touch with you.
Yep. Chimp haven at Chimp Haven, dawg.
Chimp haven.org. Yes. Pretty simple.
Very cool.
You could even figure that out.
That's right, I found it. I googled it.
If I've found it, anyone can, I promise.
All right. That's going to Marina.
Yes. I forgot your last name. Smith.
Marina Smith. Well, pretty tough
Ray Smith from Chimp Haven.
One of the hidden gems,
I guess, around the US. Right.
Something good?
All right, just remember,
this has been good to know
you can catch it
wherever you check out your podcasts.
Have a good one.
Everybody. Hey.