The Chimpanzee Chronicles: Spellbinding Stories from Behind the Bars
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Robert Kennedy
The Chimpanzee Chronicles is not just an ordinary book, it’s an invitation, a declaration, and a call to action on behalf of all captive chimpanzees.
![Bruno Hands Photo courtesy of Dr. Mark Bodamer]( "Bruno Hands")
Bruno: Photo courtesy of Dr. Mark Bodamer
The Chimpanzee Chronicles takes you behind the bars for a glimpse into the hidden worlds and real lives of captive chimpanzees. This collection of stories from around the globe exposes the veiled worlds of biomedical lab research, the entertainment industry, and exotic pet trade. While the narratives bear witness to the injustice, exploitation and heartless treatment of captive chimpanzees, the book isn’t only about suffering; it’s also about strength, hope, and compassion.
All is revealed through the eyes, ears, and hearts of the chimpanzees and their human caregivers.
A New Book
The Chimpanzee Chronicles: Spellbinding Stories from Behind the Bars
My name is Debra Rosenman and I am a writer and animal advocate. With an unyielding passion for captive chimpanzees, I have been speaking out on their behalf for over a decade. Awakening to the grave issues facing captive chimpanzees today, I conceived the idea of sharing these truths in one book. After many years of collecting stories, The Chimpanzee Chronicles is ready to be birthed into the world!
Tapping into the collective power of twenty-six global voices, The Chimpanzee Chronicles will take you on an emotional journey, revealing the truth of what it’s like for chimpanzees to be raised as babies in human families, used as performers in the entertainment industry and exploited as science projects in medical research.
This unique anthology of original stories, written by primatologists, sanctuary founders/directors, veterinarians, care givers, and filmmakers, has the power to effect change for captive chimpanzees. Some stories will shock you, some will amuse you, but all will open your heart to reconsider our relationship with these highly intelligent and sensitive beings.
![Debbie and Dalton Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps]( "Debbie and Dalton")
Debbie and Dalton: Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps
My hope is that The Chimpanzee Chronicles will inspire deep reflection about the humane and ethical responsibilities we have as human beings to care for captive chimpanzees in need and the compassionate actions we can take today to effect lasting change for them.
We owe chimpanzees the dignity and freedom that is their birthright. In the powerful documentary, The Journey of Forgiveness, in which indigenous Americans share their boarding school experiences, Native American professor Raymond Reyes articulated, “Truth is the precondition to justice, justice a precondition to reconciliation and healing.” Every being, including chimpanzees, has the inalienable right to be safe, free and live in peace. The Chimpanzee Chronicles reveals an irrefutable truth. I believe that healing and reconciliation for captive chimpanzees is within our reach.
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A percentage of book sale profits will be donated to Project R & R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories, a campaign of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) to end the use of chimpanzees in all research in the United States.
Captive Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees have been forced to live in our world with little, if any, consideration for who they are as individuals and a culture. We have broken their bodies and spirits by using them as substitute human children, actors and science projects. Chimpanzees are sentient beings capable of feeling and expressing the same emotions as we do— sadness, grief, excitement, anger, depression, joy and love. Intelligent and emotionally complex, they share the same capacity for self-recognition, perceptive awareness, and sympathetic understanding.
![Linda Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps]( "Linda")
Linda: Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps
There are approximately 1200 chimpanzees in labs today, along with countless others still being forced to perform in the entertainment world, being kept as pets and surviving in substandard zoos. If every chimpanzee were to be retired today, the big question would be: Where would they go and who would pay for their lifetime care? There is a lot of work ahead.
We are beginning to recognize the exploitation of chimpanzees in our country, and the suffering they have endured. It’s time for us, as individuals and a nation, to stand together and say, “No more. What can we do for them?”
Why self-publish?
When you sign with an established publisher it usually takes 12 to 18 months for a book to be produced. I feel it’s important to get The Chimpanzee Chronicles into the public domain straight away because of the extraordinary momentum building to support chimpanzee retirement, and rights, in the US and abroad.
The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (GAPCSA) will hopefully be reintroduced into the 113th Congress this year. This significant bill, when passed, will permanently retire all chimpanzees in federally funded biomedical research labs. This will set an important precedent for chimpanzees being used in privately owned research labs as well. My plan is to get a copy of The Chimpanzee Chronicles into the hands of every senator and congress person who has any say in the political system about this issue.
www.chimpanzeechronicles.com debra@chimpanzeechronicles.com
Imagine how life would be for all captive chimpanzees if we recognized them for who they really are. Imagine we have the ability to end all suffering for captive chimpanzees.
We do!
![Cheetah and His Flower - courtesy of Save the Chimps]( "Cheetah and His Flower")
Cheetah and His Flower: Photo courtesy of Save the Chimps
THE MONEY PICTURE:
I need to raise $21,650 in order to finish publishing The Chimpanzee Chronicles by September.
WHERE YOUR MONEY IS GOING:
THE BOOK: The Chimpanzee Chronicles includes a beautiful collection of captive chimpanzee photographs. Self-publishing has steep production costs, including complete editorial (developmental edit, copyediting, proofreading, printer proof reviews, etc.), photo editing, cover and interior design & production, printing, binding, shipping.
IF I HIT MY GOAL
Any money raised over $21,650 will go towards marketing The Chimpanzee Chronicles in the United States, Canada, Africa, Australia and Europe. While I am concentrating on getting the book published in 4 months, I have begun mapping out a rough draft marketing plan that might be a totally new campaign! I can tell you that traveling costs for my book tours and speaking engagements will add up. I can also tell you that this is my life’s work. I hope to be on the road for years to come with The Chimpanzee Chronicles to help effect change for captive chimpanzees.
If you can’t contribute with a donation at this time, YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE by sharing this campaign with everyone you know! This book will take a community of caring individuals to get it published in the next four months.
Thank you for caring! Thank you for sharing!
![Jude & JB by Jo-Anne McArthur courtesy of Save the Chimps]( "Jude & JB by Jo-Anne McArthur")
Jude & JB by Jo-Anne McArthur courtesy of Save the Chimps
Your donation is part of the solution to help captive chimpanzees!
Thank you for your compassionate heart!
An abundance of gratitude to the primate sanctuaries who have kindly donated one-of-a-kind perks and extraordinary photographs in support of The Chimpanzee Chronicles:
Heartfelt gratitude also goes to:
- Adriana Martin, M.S., for the cool perks she generously donated, and her abiding support.
- Nancy Megna for her passion and dedication to affect change for captive chimpanzees.
- John Debenham for donating photographs of captive chimpanzees from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Rosa M. Garriga, wildlife veterinarian and conservation researcher, for her photographs from Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Sierra Leone.
- Dr. Mark Bodamer, for his donation of photographs and continued work with the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia.
~ A vast number of animals today are living on the edge, their species either threatened or facing extinction as a consequence of human greed, power, and unconscious action. While The Chimpanzee Chronicles speaks about captive chimpanzees, there are so many other innocent animals forced to endure pain, suffering and death in biomedical research labs, at the hands of poachers and by individuals who are insensitive to the sanctity of life— orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, monkeys, elephants, rhinos, white lions, dolphins, mice, seals, rabbits, dogs, cats and horses to name but a few. ~
debra@chimpanzeechronicles.com www.chimpanzeechronicles.com
