Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary

A Story Of Resilience: Giving Day For Apes 2026

For humans, resilience is often framed as overcoming personal hardship. For wildlife, resilience is pure adaptation and a fight to survive in a  changing world. As the only sanctuary for chimpanzees in Kenya, Sweetwaters demonstrates this every day.

Meet Judy.

Born in 1983, Judy might have been from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). At the age of 10, while on transit, she was rescued together with two other chimpanzees from an arrangement that had already uprooted her from her native forest environment. She had withered legs from a childhood ailment, probably polio, by the time she arrived at the sanctuary. Her legs appear relatively smaller than her body and she is unable to walk on her hind legs like other chimpanzees.

Unable to walk on her rear limbs, she uses her front limbs to drag herself and shift from one position to the next. She loves to eat and bananas, paw paws and mangoes are her favourite fruits. She lived in a social group that has grown to be her entire world over time. In 1997, she became a mother to a new chimpanzee named Oscar.

 Currently, she spends the day with her best friends Alley and Poco – separate from the larger group. When Judy faced a recent health scare, our dedicated care team worked around the clock to monitor and nurse her back to full health. To our caregivers, Judy isn't just an animal in our care—she is family.

Your support during Giving Day For Apes ensures our team has the resources needed to keep Judy and her sanctuary family safe, healthy, and thriving.

Here’s how your gift makes an impact today:

• $6,000 covers full care for one chimpanzee for an entire year.

• $300 maintains fencing to keep our chimpanzees safe.

• $125 provides a chimpanzee with nutritious food for a full month.

• $55 supplies critical cleaning and sanitizing equipment for a week.

• $17 buys a bag of fresh oranges for a delicious, healthy treat.