From a Basement Cage to a Lush Sanctuary: 10 Years Later, Lisa Marie the Chimpanzee Thrives
Full of life and curiosity, chimpanzee Lisa Marie spends her days perched in the oak trees, soaking in the view of her lush, expansive sanctuary grounds. On her family’s three-acre island, she joyfully climbs, explores, and plays with her loved ones—including her best friends, Jaybee and Ariel—savoring every moment of her freedom to socialize and roam as she pleases. Now 18 years old, Lisa Marie is blossoming into a beloved and respected figure within her community.
Lisa Marie was given a new life the moment she arrived at the accredited Save the Chimps’ sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida. You’ve seen her incredible rescue story—but you ain’t seen nothing yet until you see how far she’s come since then.
Her life wasn’t always peaceful and carefree. Lisa Marie was born at the now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation, a dismal chimpanzee breeding facility (which has since closed after a PETA lawsuit.)
In nature, female chimpanzees live by their mother’s side until about 13 years old—but breeders snatched Lisa Marie from her shortly after she was born.
The breeder sold her to an Elvis impersonator in Chicago who hauled her around on a leash and forced her to perform in traveling shows. When they weren’t parading her around like a prop, they often confined her to a tiny cage in a cramped basement and made her wear a collar with a padlock on it.
Lisa Marie’s suffering didn’t go unnoticed—especially not by PETA. In 2009, we enlisted the real Lisa Marie Presley to call for the chimpanzee’s retirement to an accredited sanctuary. Then, in September 2015, thanks to a generous PETA supporter, rescuers transferred Lisa Marie to Save the Chimps. When she arrived, she was gaunt, pale, and weak—but after a few weeks of recuperation in quarantine, she was able to meet the other chimpanzees.
Now, a decade later, Lisa Marie has put the trauma of her childhood—a life of exploitation and forced performances—behind her. With close friends and family, an environment that supports her natural instincts, and a supportive network of expert caretakers, Lisa Marie is living her best life, wowing others with her two-fisted corn-eating technique.
She’s living proof that the animals who are lonely, distressed, and neglected at roadside zoos and other cruel attractions can truly thrive when given the chance. Every animal is someone, and everyone deserves the same chance to live in peace and dignity.
So, in honor of Lisa Marie’s incredible rescue and decade of freedom from exploitation, take action to rescue other animals from the grim bondage of animal shows. Give them a chance to live beautiful lives, too.
End the Exploitation: Take Action for Animals Like Lisa Marie
While Lisa Marie flourishes at her sanctuary home, countless animals are not so lucky. Roadside zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, and other seedy tourist traps confine animals to cages where they pace endlessly and even harm themselves out of distress—all so that humans can gawk at them.
Take action to help free them from miserable exploitation:
