Original Chimp Art by Ricky

Original art by Ricky on a 9×12″ flat-panel canvas

Art is an enrichment activity offered to our residents. They are never trained or forced to paint.

About the Artist

I was most likely born in captivity in the early 1980s. My past is uncertain but it is believed that I was a circus chimp for the first decade or so of my life. I was castrated and had my teeth removed, perhaps in a vain attempt to make it “safe” for humans to work with me even as I grew in size and strength. Like many performing chimps, my career ended by the time I was ten years old.

There is no retirement system for former chimpanzee “actors”, so like so many chimps in entertainment, I fell through the cracks. At some point, I ended up living alone in someone’s garage as a pet. An animal lover who specializes in rescuing dogs took pity on me and rescued me from the garage, moving me to his sanctuary in Alabama.

However, I needed the company of other chimpanzees, so my rescuer contacted Save the Chimps for assistance. In 2007, I became part of the Save the Chimps family. I may have gone as many as 15 years without seeing another chimpanzee, but to everyone’s surprise, I adjusted to life with other chimpanzees much more quickly than is typical of former entertainment and pet chimps.