In February 2019, a devastating respiratory infection broke out at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary and affected all 39 chimpanzees living at the sanctuary. Jobo, a one-year old male chimpanzee, was left orphaned after the infection killed his mother. One other chimpanzee also died during the outbreak.
The sanctuary reached out for assistance to control the disease and the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund offered a $5,000 grant.
This money helped the sanctuary to contain the outbreak, buy antibiotics for the chimps and treat the infected animals as well as to begin laboratory investigations to find out what had caused the disease.
After containing the infection, Jobo and the remaining healthy population of 36 chimpanzees could continue to thrive at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
