Born 1975, possibly in the wild. Celebrated birthday: Mother’s Day
Jody was used primarily for breeding during her years of use by the biomedical research industry, and had a total of nine babies during this time plus two miscarriages. Three of her surviving children, Andrea, Bart, and Clay, live at Save the Chimps (STC) sanctuary in Florida. Clay, who is also Burrito‘s half brother, is in the special needs area at STC because, although he is very friendly with humans, he has been unable to integrate with a larger group of chimpanzees. Jody’s son Levi was one of fourteen chimpanzees involved in a dispute in 2011 because they were moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) laboratory to the Texas Biomed laboratory instead of going to Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana. Fortunately, Levi and the others in that group did eventually go to Chimp Haven, all because people spoke up on their behalf. Jody’s daughter April never made it to sanctuary; she died in 2012 at APF of a respiratory virus. Jody’s children Opy and Adam also died before making it to sanctuary and we don’t have information about her other two children, Cliff and Taylor.
In between her pregnancies, the industry managed to also use Jody in hepatitis vaccine research. Jody enthusiastically greets her sanctuary caregivers in the morning and likes to be gently groomed by them. She is thought to be the second in command next to Jamie, occasionally vying for the top position. Jody likes to make nests out of the blankets, sheets, clothes, and magazines that are provided to her at the sanctuary. In fact, she gathers as many of these as she can find and makes huge nests — sometimes with fifteen or more blankets at a time.
Become Jody’s Pal today!
Jody’s current 21 Pals: Sharlene Anderson; Phoebe Brunzell; The Delachicas in memory of Macel Denison; Carole Galuska; Lisa & Crystal Grillo; Shari Harris; Nancy Hedlund; Chris Gossard & Lee Ann Johnson; Tobin Kerry; Jill Kinyon; Elizabeth Kuykendall; Meg Lunnum; Donna Mensching; Marcie Milam; Sandy Nelson; Debra Redwine; Jacque Russo in memory of Joe Russo; Barbara Stone; Wanda Trotta.
Including current Pals of The Whole Family (all sixteen chimpanzees!): Monica Best; and Vicki Fagerlee.
