Orangutan Granted 'Personhood' Turns 34, Makes New Friend

WAUCHULA, Fla. (AP) — A orangutan named Sandra, who was granted legal personhood by a judge in Argentina and later found a new home in Florida, celebrated her 34th birthday on Valentine's Day with a special new primate friend.

Patti Ragan, director of the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, says Sandra “has adjusted beautifully to her life at the sanctuary” and has befriended Jethro, a 31-year-old male orangutan.

Prior to coming to Florida, Sandra had lived alone in a Buenos Aires zoo. Sandra was a bit shy when she arrived at the Florida center, which is home to 22 orangutans.

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Animal Sanctuaries…A Safe Haven for Animals? Not Always the Case

While you would think a place named an “animal sanctuary” operates as a safe haven for animals, this is not always the case. There are many amazing animal sanctuaries for formerly abused farm, exotic and domestic animals, but sadly there are too facilities that operate under the “sanctuary” guise that exist with the sole purpose of exploiting animals. These false sanctuaries display wild animals and often charge visitors to interact with them. On the surface, they may seem like “fun” but more often than not the animals are starved, abused or drugged in order to render them docile enough to interact with paying customers.

Unlike these abusive establishments, Big Cat Rescue and the Center for Great Apes are real sanctuaries for animals. All of the big cats and chimps who live at these sanctuaries have been rescued from deplorable former lives and are now allowed to live free from any type of exploitation.

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