Joe, the 29-yar-old chimpanzee who has called Mobile Zoo home since 1999, is headed to a sanctuary in Florida.
According to a news release issued Wednesday by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal, Joe "is on his way" to the accredited Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Fla. The move comes after PETA filed a federal lawsuit challenging Joe's living conditions inside a cage at the Wilmer-based Mobile Zoo.
"This chimpanzee's 17 years of loneliness and an empty life have a happy ending at last," said PETA Foundation Deputy Director of Captive Animal Law enforcement Brittany Peet. "PETA is celebrating Joe's long-overdue move to a sanctuary where he'll have the care he needs in his old age and will have the company of other chimpanzees."
Joe's release means PETA plans to drop its federal lawsuit against The Mobile Zoo. The zoo, according to the PETA news release, still faces a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for numerous alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act that include, among other things, failure to adequately clean Joe's enclosure and failing to address his social and psychological needs.
John Hightower, the zoo's longtime owner, did not return a call for comment. His attorney, Lawrence Wettermark, also could not be reached for comment.
PETA filed the federal lawsuit in January shortly after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service eliminated a loophole excluding captive chimpanzees from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
Joe's living conditions were considered inhumane by PETA. A double chain link fence, without any other barrier, separated him from the outside world. He had a few toys, an old tire and a few hoses for entertainment. And in some instances, according to the federal lawsuit, visitors tossed peanuts at him.
Peet said at the time that chimpanzees living in solitary confinement were extremely distressed.
Others claim that chimpanzees should typically live in communities of up to 150 individuals and that their home range be four to 12 miles.
Hightower, in January, argued that Joe was being taken care of adequately. He also said that Joe was one of the top attractions at the small roadside zoo.
PETA claims that Joe is the sixth formerly solitary chimpanzee to be retired to Save the Chimps. According to the most recent publicly available information, only five other chimpanzees remain in solitary confinement in roadside zoos in the U.S.
Among those is Candy, a 50-year-old chimpanzee held inside a roadside zoo in Louisiana. The Animal Legal Defense Fund is pursuing legal action to move Candy - who reportedly smokes cigarettes and drinks Coca-Cola while living in inhuman confines - to the accredited Chimp Haven in Louisiana.