September 7, 2011. A group of chimpanzees recently saw daylight for the first time in their lives. Raised in cages for the purpose of medical testing, the chimps’ freedom was a long time coming. The older chimps range in age from 20 to 30 years old.
This moment is a tearjerker if ever there was one. Notice how they hug each other in amazement and delight.
The lab animals were freed following a 14-year-bid to introduce them to the outdoors.
The Sun reported that the chimps were taken from their mothers shortly after birth and relocated to a research facility in Austria. In captivity, they were exposed to HIV and hepatitis.
Then, in 1997, the pharmaceutical company conducting the research was sold and the chimps were moved to a farm where they would be exposed to the outdoors for the first time. The process took years. The animals were confused by greenery, throwing away the patches of grass the keepers brought them.