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When Bow the chimpanzee was only 1 month old, he was taken from his mother and forced to live with Aya Katz in Missouri. Katz has kept Bow in her home and in an attached outdoor pen all alone for his entire life. He’s never known what it means to be a male chimpanzee—one who bonds with his mother for life, moves up the ranks in a complex political hierarchy, and protects a group with dozens of members alongside his brothers, uncles, and cousins.
This is a screen capture from a YouTube video posted by Aya Katz.
Chimpanzees are extremely social and can suffer from severe loneliness and psychological distress when they’re kept isolated from other chimpanzees. They’re also extremely resilient, though, and despite coming from deprived conditions similar to Bow’s environment, previously privately owned and isolated chimpanzees have flourished in accredited sanctuaries, where they have opportunities to choose their friends.
Not only does Katz force Bow to live in a barren cage with no other chimpanzee companionship, she also knowingly flouts federal law. Even though the Animal Welfare Act requires that online exhibitors maintain a federal license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture so that routine inspections can help ensure the well-being of animals exhibited to the public, Katz has refused to obtain a license or allow federal authorities to inspect Bow and the conditions she keeps him in.
Please urge Katz to do what’s best for Bow and work with the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance to find an accredited sanctuary that could give him the opportunity to socialize with other chimpanzees, run and play in naturalistic habitats, and have the freedom to simply be a chimpanzee—not a money-making prop for Katz to exploit online.