Animal welfare success: transfer of „Baxter chimpanzees“ from Gänserndorf to Hungary stopped!
 Minister Stöger confirms that all apes will remain in Gänserndorf, and that a new outside enclosure will be built.
Dear supporters,
Many thanks for your impressive support! More than 16,500 people joined our appeal to Baxter. With your assistance it was possible to stop the transfer of the long-suffering former laboratory apes to a zoo in Hungary.
Our efforts paid off. All of the “Baxter chimpanzees” will remain in Austria, and the groups will not be torn apart. The necessary financing for the care of the apes is in place, and the necessary outside enclosures will finally be built.
As was reported, 41 former lab apes have spent more than ten years living a pitiful life in the provisional “ape house” in the former Austrian safari park Gänserndorf. As a result of various medical tests several of the apes were infected with HIV or Hepatitis.
Baxter and the liquidator of the bankrupt safari park attempted to place the “healthier” animals in a zoo in Hungary. The fate of the infected chimps was unclear. FOUR PAWS repeatedly asked Baxter to stop this plan and find a sustainable solution for all the animals.
The Hungarian plan is finally off the table:
Government Minister Stöger responded to a parliamentary question as follows:
“Following long and difficult negotiations I am now able to tell you that we have achieved an agreement between the federal and state governments and Baxter concerning the financing of the current keeping of the apes in Gänserndorf for the next ten years. Additionally, an agreement was reached concerning the construction of outside enclosures. For potential costs arising after the ten-year period a fundamental agreement has been reached. It is therefore safe to assume that, based on current information, the housing of the apes is ensured for the next twenty years.”
We welcome this solution and would like to express our thanks to all those who worked constructively on making it reality.
Many thanks for your help – and please continue to support our campaigns!
Helmut Dungler, President of FOUR PAWS
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