Jackson's chimp living the good life in SWFL

GETTY IMAGES BY GAB ARCHIVE/REDFERNS Michael Jackson with Bubbles in 1984. Bubbles, the chimpanzee who was Michael Jackson's constant companion for years, has been living at the Center for Great Apes, a sanctuary for chimpanzees and orangutans in Wauchula, about 70 miles north of Fort Myers, since 2005.

"He's a wonderful chimpanzee," said Patti Ragan, founder and director of the ape center.

Ms. Ragan said the 26-year-old chimp spends his days playing with fellow chimpanzees, running around the center's tunnel system and, well, just being Bubbles.

"We have lots of celebrities here," Ragan said. "We treat them all the same. We try to keep their lives as rich as we can."

Bubbles was born at a biomedical research facility in Austin, Texas, in 1983. While still an infant, he was purchased for Mr. Jackson by animal trainer Bob Dunn, center officials said.

The chimp reportedly lived with the pop star at his Neverland compound, sat in on the recording of the "Bad" album and accompanied Mr. Jackson on the "Bad" world tour in 1988.

COURTESY PHOTO Knuckles, 11, arrived at the center nine years ago from an entertainment compound in California. However, the singer's relationship with Bubbles was mocked in the press and became the first in a series of bizarre, eccentric behaviors that followed the pop icon the rest of his career.

When Bubbles grew too large, he was removed to Mr. Dunn's California compound. In 2005, Mr. Dunn retired from the business of working chimpanzees and orangutans and sent all his apes, including Bubbles, to the Center for Great Apes.

Mr. Jackson never visited Bubbles in Florida, center officials said. There is also a question of whether Mr. Jackson's estate will provide funds for Bubbles' care.

The only funds the Center receives is through private donations, Ms. Ragan said. Anyone wishing to support Bubbles or any of the other chimpanzees or apes can contribute through its Web site www.greatapecenter.org.

"We're greatful for any support," she said.

The Center for Great Apes houses 42 chimpanzees and orangutans on 120 rural acres. They roam the grounds through an aboveground tunnel system that links roomy enclosures.

Most of the apes, primates without tails, came to the 15-year-old sanctuary with stories that are as rich as Bubbles'. There's Sammy, who played the title role in "Dunston Checks In," a 1996 film starring Jason Alexander and Faye Dunaway. The Career Builder chimps and Trunk Monkey stars also call the center home, along with apes from circus acts, roadside zoos and private homes.

There's even a chimp with disabilities. Knuckles, now 8 years old, was born with cerebral palsy and came to the Wauchula sanctuary after being deemed not useable in the entertainment business.

Most of the primates come to the Center for Great Apes with social problems caused by being too "humanized" or swiped too early from their mothers. Others are the product of misguided owners who thought it would be fun to have a pet chimp, not figuring they would eventually grow up.

Such is the plight of most of the primates at the Center For Great Apes. And at the center of these apes' lives is Ms. Ragan, the director and founder of the sanctuary.

Petite and soft-spoken, Ms. Ragan is as much a giant to her 42 primate charges as they are to her. With a wide grin, she 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 corps of volunteers, including Sue DuPre, who plays a recorder and blows bubbles for the apes, and her 80-yearold 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," Mr. Ekas told

Florida Weekly in November. "They all have a sense of humor."

Ms. Ragan has her life savings and her heart invested in helping apes that 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.

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

Though her main goal is to provide 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.

As young apes, they might look cute and funny in shows and movies and even in your living room, but they grow up to weigh more than 200 pounds.

Aside from the need for homes for displaced apes, many of the world's primates are being lost to corrupt governments and loss of habitats, Ms. Ragan says, adding, "We're all on this planet together."

Center for Great Apes