World Monkey Day
World Monkey Day 2025
Jane Goodall died on 1 October 2025. In 1957, at the age of 23, she travelled to Kenya, where Jane Goodall met the palaeoanthropologist Louis Leakey. It was he who sparked her unstoppable passion for primates. In 1960, she began her long-term studies on chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her unconventional approach – spending a lot of time in the forest and naming the animals – initially met with criticism, but brought about a revolution in behavioural research.
The primates have lost an inspiring voice
Jane Goodall’s death must not mean the end of the global view of the threat to primates. Goodall’s philosophy of life was characterised by the conviction that every human being has the power to shape the world and that the basic idea of her decades of work for the survival of primates must therefore not be lost.
In the spirit of Jane Goodall’s decades of work, animal habitats must continue to be protected, and conservation initiatives and a changed perception of the interaction between humans and nature must continue to be cultivated.
Jane Goodall’s farewell has passed on to us this mandate to carry on in the interests of nature.
Threat factors - habitat loss, hunting and the climate crisis
The decline of many primate species has been dramatic and 25 species are now listed as endangered. Deforestation or infrastructure projects, climate crisis, political instability and illegal poaching are among the enormous threats to many primate species.
Conservation measures must be designed for the long term. Political decision-makers, the scientific community and local communities must be active and remain active, because every primate species that disappears leaves an ecological gap and also symbolises the global failure of species conservation.
Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care can we help. Only if we help can we save lives. – Jane Goodall
By: Gisela Pschenitschnig, Gut Aiderbichl
The least I can do is speak up for those who can't do it themselves.
– Jane Goodall
World Monkey Day 2024
We know films like “Gorilla in the Mist”, the rhesus monkeys Abrek and Bion, who flew into orbit from the Soviet Union for five days in 1983, or the film “Daktari” with Judy and Clarence. We find apes funny and entertaining, we know that they can copy human movements and we know that they are clever. Humans think they are superior to animals, but more and more we are being taught otherwise. Primates are the closest biological relatives of humans, because around seven million years ago, nature determined that primates should be the closest relatives of humans. It has been proven that the DNA of chimpanzees is 98.7% identical to that of humans. In Gänserndorf, one of Gut Aiderbichl’s special animal sanctuaries, several groups of chimpanzees, the so-called ex-lab apes of Immuno, an Austrian research laboratory, have been living for many years. It was a courageous and important project by Michael Aufhauser and Dieter Ehrengruber to give the chimpanzees the chance to live on after they had become unusable for research.
The ex-lab monkeys have a clear way of communicating with their environment
Chimpanzees communicate with each other in many different ways. It is a complex system of voice, sounds, gestures, body language and facial expressions. Our chimpanzees greet each other by “panting”, Martha shows her anger by “grunting”. They laugh like humans when playing and tickling. Nervousness is shown by hairs standing up all over the body. By observing our ex-lab monkeys, we can now recognise excitement, joy, anger or nervousness – the monkeys tell us unmistakably how they are feeling.
The long-term observation of the ex-lab monkeys also proves that the animals can think, that they observe and plan, that they fall in love and that they also need routine in their lives. For example, a quiet, enjoyable picnic is always part of the routine for Spätzle, Benjamin, Star and Denise. Having a picnic together is an important ritual and takes place in the houses or in the outdoor enclosure. Behind this idyll is a lot of sensitivity, setbacks, patience and trust between the chimpanzees and their people in the red T-shirt, the Aiderbichler animal keepers.
Ex-lab monkey Anton wants to impress and seeks physical contact
Each of the Immuno’s ex-lab monkeys has a special character and also displays special behaviour in their group. Anton is the “smart one” in the group. He always needs and seeks reassurance in the form of physical contact. The ladies are particularly fond of him. He is considered a “womaniser” and has now also learned to display typical male chimpanzee behaviour from time to time. For example, Anton wants to impress, although he sometimes lacks the skill to do so and only tries.
We are in their debt … The ex-lab monkeys need time to process the memories of their life in research
“We are in their debt. They were torn away from their family and their natural environment and locked up. Re-socialisation will never be complete because chimpanzees are intelligent and their brains work like humans: they may forgive, but they will not forget. For years, a human in a grey protective suit, with hair under a cap, mouth and nose hidden behind a protective mask, meant nothing good for the chimpanzees. The memories and pain suffered are deeply embedded in the animals’ brains and souls. Today, the chimpanzees know that the people in the red T-shirt only have good intentions for them.”
– Renate Foidl, head of the ape sanctuary in Gänserndorf.
The inner peace of the ex-lab monkeys has slowly been achieved through calm and routine in their daily routine. In the morning, the chimpanzees are called by name to collect their breakfast. Then they play, some go into the outdoor enclosures, some prefer to stay inside. In the evening, the bedtime ritual begins. The chimpanzees spend hours preparing their sleeping area before they enjoy dreaming peacefully. They sleep for a long time, up to 11 hours. Like humans, there are morning grouches.
How arrogant are we to believe that humans are superior in everything?
This is one of the fascinating statements made by behavioural scientist Jane Goodall (Jane Goodall in an interview, Phoenix in person, Theo Koll). She knows what she is talking about, having spent many years of her life with wild chimpanzees in Tanzania, observing and studying the behaviour of these wonderful animals.
Mother chimpanzees comfort their children, they can rejoice and mourn when one of their number dies. Apes can cry, they are loners or sociable like us humans. Humans believe that they are the inventors of tools, but chimpanzees also make tools that they use for all sorts of things. Chimpanzees have thousands of different sounds with which they communicate. Chimpanzees can paint, albeit a little differently than humans, but they can do it. A ball is not painted in a round shape, but is drawn in a zig-zag line on paper, i.e. the chimpanzee paints as it observes the ball bouncing. And so he draws the line and not the round ball.
The position of humans and apes in nature
Man thinks he is the master of the universe. They have the money, the power and the assertiveness to influence nature through modern technology – to the point of destroying the natural habitat. Apes mimic humans – but would they ever go so far as to destroy their natural environment? Animals never lose their reverence for nature, because they live in and with nature – a realisation that is increasingly being lost on humans.
World Monkey Day 2023
Wild-caught monkeys are still being brought to the many experimental laboratories to be used for drug research.
I can’t get one sentence out of my head: in order to capture young, healthy animals for the experiments, between 15 and 20 adult animals have to be killed each time in order to get to the protected young animals. Whole monkey families are destroyed as the young are taken away from their mothers and their familiar environment. The monkeys are then placed in small, cramped cages and transported to their destination.
Gut Aiderbichl and its ex-lab monkeys in Gänserndorf
Michael Aufhauser and Dieter Ehrengruber took a bold step over 10 years ago, that did not go uncriticised. The ex-Labao monkeysthe Immuno, an Austrian research laboratory, became Aiderbichler and were thus promised the chance to enjoy a life of “small freedom” in the monkey houses and the outdoor enclosures created for them until the end of their natural lives. Unfortunately, Michael Aufhauserwas unable to give the traumatised animals back.
Confinement in a confined space
The animals were kept in 90 x 90 centimetre cages in the basement without daylight. There was no socialisation, no bright daylight with sun, wind or rain. It smelled terrible, the monkeys rattled the bars of the cages, they screamed and wanted their freedom.After many years of research, the decision was made to “release” the animals from research. Baxter felt obliged to the ex-laboratory monkeys and brought them to the monkey houses of the large safari park in Gänserndorf.Since 2011, the animals, some of which are severely traumatised, have been able to enter the outdoor enclosures. For the chimpanzees, the outdoor enclosures are a small paradise with a wide, blue sky above. Before, they knew nothing but the small cages. Perhaps they sometimes believe that they are back home?
When one dies, they are all sad
Resocialisation will never be complete, the ex-lab monkeys have had to experience too much in the many years of research. Some are full of fear and insecurity, certain noises and bright lights remind them of their time in the cage.As highly socialised animals, they are created almost 98% like us humans. They can be happy, they are master craftsmen, they have wonderful instincts and can grieve and cry just like us humans.A few weeks ago, Carmen passed away. She had been infected with hepatitis C for 13 years. She had loved her little jungle, the outdoor enclosure, more than anything. Dorli and Pumuckl, her group friends, are still mourning the loss of their Carmen.When will animal testing finally be able to stop? When will people finally stop keeping monkeys in their living rooms? The questions are endless – there is only one answer: it has to stop.Sincerely, Your Gisela
The least I can do is speak up for those who can't do it themselves.
~ Jane Goodall
World Monkey Day 2021
Every year on the same date, the international day of honour for gorillas, chimpanzees and all other ape species takes place. Primates are the closest biological relatives of humans and include chimpanzees. They are fantastic animals that belong to the mammals and whose DNA is 98% identical to that of humans. Apes are found in the tropical and subtropical forests of Africa and Asia. Their favourite habitat is trees, which are ideal for building sleeping places.
Our ancestors are
threatened with extinction ...
The human success story began in Africa almost seven million years ago. With many, many intermediate stages, it evolved into today’s humans, who soon conquered the entire globe.
Wild-caught animals are still being brought to laboratories in America and China to research drugs. When young, healthy animals are captured for the experiments, between 15 and 20 adult monkeys are killed each time in order to reach the protected young animals. The animals are separated from their mothers, torn from their familiar environment and placed in cages that are far too small. They are then used for research until the animals are in poor health and have to be euthanised. Unfortunately, there are still chimpanzees that have to “perform” in circuses.
What is the difference
between apes and humans?
In intelligence – says man. Only humans are clever enough to build and use tools. Science agreed on this for a long time. But then an orangutan on the south-east Asian island of Borneo was observed lurking motionless on the shore with a spear-like wooden stick. Suddenly he thrust it. He was hunting fish – and knew what he was doing. The orangutan had thus signalled that it could think, plan and execute an action.
The ex-lab chimpanzees of Gut Aiderbichl
31 ex-lab monkeys live protected and peacefully at Gut Aiderbichl Gänserndorf, Lower Austria. Michael Aufhauser took a huge step over ten years ago: “… I don’t really know how it will go yet. But you must not die…. You should be allowed to live!” – In many conversations and presentations, Michael Aufhauser repeatedly recounted his feelings and impressions when he was able to look the ex-lab monkeys in the eye for the first time. Outdoor enclosures were planned and built so that the ex-lab monkeys could also move around outside. One person who accompanied him on this journey was Jane Goodall, the wonderful and great behavioural scientist and friend of the monkeys.
Our rescued laboratory chimpanzees had been living in isolation in the laboratory for decades and we adopted them severely traumatised. Those that had been captured as babies in the jungle suffered the most. They had witnessed their mothers and family members die in the hail of bullets from the poachers.
Can animals feel, can apes think? These are questions that have no meaning when you observe and get to know our ex-lab monkeys, for example.
They “ape” us humans, they can be happy, they can look angry, they can plan and destroy or build. Monkeys fall in love – with another monkey or with the animal keepers who have lovingly and respectfully cared for them for many years.
When someone dies, everyone is sad
A few weeks ago, Holophernes lay peacefully asleep in his hammock. First there was excitement in his group, then came weeks of deep sadness, because Holophernes had been their boss and the leader of the group. Holophernes knew every monkey in his group inside out. He donated comfort, was a mate and a friend. He had spent 11 years in the cage and had been used for experiments. Holophernes will remain unforgotten in the hearts of the animals and the people who knew him.
“If the chimpanzees had words, they could probably talk about the feeling of awe and wonder.” (Jane Goodall)
Perhaps it’s about the awe of nature and everything that goes with it. What could monkeys wonder about?
Yours sincerely, Gisela
