Chimp change: area sanctuary is retirement haven for many

COURTESY PHOTO Sammy starred in "Dunston Checks In." Shawn McKelvy logs about 350 extra miles on her vehicle every week. She's also quit her regular profession.

All for the love of apes.

No monkeying around.

Ms. McKelvy, a slender blonde aesthetician from Fort Myers, made some big lifestyle changes in order to help make a difference in the lives of about 40 great apes, many former movie and TV stars, living in a sanctuary in remote Wauchula, about 60 miles east of Sarasota.

She is one of a devoted group of volunteers who donate their time and resources to serving the Center for Great Apes.

"I always wanted to work with apes," she said. "It was one of the things on my bucket list."

Ms. McKelvy, a diehard animal lover who is married to area veterinarian Dr. Milt McKelvy, said she scanned Web sites looking for a place to work with apes before she found the Center for Great Apes.

Ever since she started volunteering in October she's been getting more and more excited about the work. She volunteers in the center's kitchen as well as helping with cleaning the enclosures. She hopes to some day be able to read to the apes as well as raise awareness for the center's residents.

FLORIDA WEEKLY Volunteer Shawn McKelvy prepares fruit and vegetables for the 42 orangutans and chimps at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula. There, among the tree laden 120 acres of rural land, chimpanzees and orangutans roam through an above ground tunnel system and roomy enclosures.

Most of the apes. primates without tails, came to the 15-year-old sanctuary with stories that are as rich as their personalities.

Some of the hairy residents are former television stars and celebrities, such as Sammy who played the lead role in "Dunston Checks In," a 1996 film starring Jason Alexander and Faye Dunaway, or the famous Career Builder chimps and Trunk Monkey stars.

Others come from circus acts, roadside zoos and private homes.

There's even a handicapped chimp called Knuckles. The 8-year-old was born with cerebral palsy. He found his way to the sanctuary after being deemed not useable in the entertainment business in California where he lived.

COURTESY PHOTO Knuckles gets therapy. Most of the primates come to the sanctuary with social problems caused by being too "humanized" or swiped too early from their mothers. Many were also forced to play parlor tricks and were crammed in cages many sizes too small.

Others are the product of misguided folks who thought it would be great to have a cute pet chimp at their home, not figuring they would eventually grow up and have physical and emotional needs they couldn't meet.

Such is the plight of most of the primates at The Center For Great Apes.

And at the center of these apes lives is Patti Ragan, the director and founder of the sanctuary.

Ms. Ragan, whose petite body and soft voice seem a contrast to her more than 40 primate charges, is as much a giant to them as they are to her. The apes lumber and run down the tunnels following Ms. Ragan as she checks the grounds. Ape grunts echo through the sanctuary as their fearless human leader makes sure all of them are safe. Some, like Grub, a 17-year-old chimp, can't let Ragan go by without making a mask for her. The chimp — considered by Ms. Ragan to be one of the smartest at the center — learned to make paper masks years ago when he was a tyke. Now he snatches up any scrap of paper he can find and uses his large fingers to deftly create a mask — which he demonstrates on his own hairy face.

With a big grin, Ms. Ragan rattles off the names and personalities of each of the apes.

Ms. Ragan has the blessing and continual support of world renowned primatologist Jane Goodall. And she has a dedicated staff of about 16 and a devoted bunch of volunteers, including Sue DuPre, who plays a recorder and blows bubbles for the apes, and her 80-year-old father, Miller Ekas. The North Fort Myers man is a gentle soul who coos to the apes as he fixes things around the sanctuary.

"I just love the animals," he said. "They all have a sense of humor."

And there's the kitchen staff that prepares yummy fruit and veggie meals for the residents. Shamrock bread and monkey pizza made with monkey chow and fruit and veggies are treats the apes go bananas over.

And then there is Ms. Ragan.

She has her life savings and heart into helping apes who would have no other place to go but biomedical labs, where they would be subjected to research, or roadside shows. She gives them what she calls dignified retirement and lives.

But why?

Ms. Ragan has worked in Borneo where orangutans come from, and has been employed at a metropolitan zoo. She received licenses to care for primates during her life's travels. After saving a baby orangutan named Pongo from the entertainment business, she started the sanctuary.

Since apes cannot live on stage forever, maybe eight years tops, Ragan decided the need to help apes had to be filled.

Despite the fact that it costs $600,000 a year — $15,000 per ape — Ragan pushes on, working to secure money for the sanctuary.

Though the sanctuary's goal is to give a permanent home to ape rescues and retirees, she also hopes to make society aware of the need to not support apes in the entertainment business or as pets.

They might look cute and funny in shows and movies and even in your living room. But those young apes grow up to weigh more than 200 pounds.

Aside from the need for homes for displaced apes, many of the globe's primates are being lost to corrupt governments and loss of habitats, Ms. Ragan said.

"Were all in this planet together," Ms. Ragan said.

Center for Great Apes

>>The center is located on 120 acres in Wauchula, near Arcadia.

>>The sanctuary cares for 14 orangutans and 28 chimpanzees.

>>The outside habitats are three stories tall (about 35 feet) and all 12 enclosures are connected to each other, as well as to the vet clinic, by a tunnel/ chute system that is more than 4,000 feet long.

>>Famous residents; Sammy, who starred in "Dunston Checks In;" and the chimps from the Career Builder and Trunk Monkey TV ads.

>>For more information or to make a donation, go to www.centerforgreatapes.org