Editing Nim Chimpsky (section)

==Life after Project Nim==
[[File:Nim+Ingersoll.jpg|thumb|Nim Chimpsky in 1980 with Bob Ingersoll at the Institute for Primate Studies. Ingersoll became Nim's advocate after the language research ended.]] Nim's return to the Institute of Primate Studies (IPS) in Oklahoma was by all accounts traumatic. By contemporary standards, IPS was a dreary facility. The apes spent most of their time in relatively small cages with concrete floors. But IPS founder William Lemmon recognized the critical importance of apes' social interactions and connected the cages so that chimps had access to each other. He also provided a better, healthier diet than the standard monkey chow. Compared to many zoos and other research facilities at the time, the IPS chimps fared relatively well.<ref name=":1" />

Nim's celebrity was unique, but many of the IPS chimps had similarly been raised by humans. Like Nim, they were returned to IPS when they started growing up and exhibiting wild behaviors. Also like Nim, they had never met members of their own species before. The switch from a human environment to concrete cages with alien beasts caused intense stress and, in some cases, self-mutilation.

But Nim's depression turned out to be relatively short-lived compared to other new arrivals at IPS.<ref>Hess, E. (2008) p. 212</ref> Though terrified of the other chimps at first, Nim made new friends. Also, several students in [[Roger Fouts]]' sign language program enjoyed working with Nim and took him out for walks on the grounds. Nim continued to use signs, including STONE SMOKE TIME NOW to request [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]].<ref>{{cite web |date=July 20, 2011 |title='Project Nim': A Chimp's Very Human, Very Sad Life |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138467156/project-nim-a-chimps-very-human-very-sad-life |work=NPR.org |publisher=NPR}}</ref> One IPS student, Bob Ingersoll, took a particular interest in Nim and advocated for him in the turmoil that was to follow.

In the early 1980s, [[University of Oklahoma]] withdrew its support of the IPS. Faced with the loss of funding, William Lemmon arranged to gradually sell off chimps to a [[New York University]] (NYU) biomedical lab, [[Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates|LEMSIP]]. ([[Roger Fouts]], who had been working with several IPS chimps, had suddenly left for a new position in Washington, taking [[Washoe (chimpanzee)|Washoe]] and [[Loulis]] with him.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Linden |first=Eugene |date=December 19, 1982 |title=Endangered chimps in the lab |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/19/magazine/endangered-chimps-in-the-lab.html |access-date=October 7, 2024 |work=The New York Times Magazine}}</ref>) Beginning in December 1981, IPS started sending chimps to LEMSIP, including many, like Nim, who had been used in sign language research. Staff at LEMSIP began noticing the chimps using [[American Sign Language|ASL]] to communicate with them, so vet James Mahoney posted signs around the facility to help the staff understand the chimps' gestures.<ref name=":1" />

When Bob Ingersoll found out about the LEMSIP plan, he called his Nim contacts to launch a protest and press campaign. He also contacted [[Jane Goodall]], who wrote a letter to the University of Oklahoma on the chimps' behalf.<ref>Linden, E. (1986) p. 157 and Hess, E. (2008) p. 246</ref> Henry Herrman, a lawyer who had caught wind of the story in the Boston Globe<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blake |first=Andrew |date=May 27, 1982 |title=Hard Times for bright chimp |work=The Boston Globe | pp = [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-hard-times-for-bright-c/170422327/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/170422370/ 33]}}</ref> reached out to Terrace, who had been quoted, to offer his services. His call to Terrace proved to be fortuitous. Other IPS personnel made a few calls that ultimately led to a CBS news story. When CBS News interviewed Terrace, Terrace said he was shocked to hear about the move and, referring to his contact with Herrman, announced that he would be filing a lawsuit to stop it. (According to James Mahoney of LEMSIP, Terrace had known about the move for several months and only acted outraged when the press attention hit.<ref>Linden, E. (1986) pp. 141, 155-156</ref>)

Though NYU initially ignored the press, the mounting legal threats and negative attention made holding on to the celebrity chimp — Nim — no longer worth it for the university. NYU arranged to send Nim and fellow chimp Ally back to IPS. Nim had been at LEMSIP for less than a month. The other sign language-trained chimps remained at LEMSIP. The press by then had moved on.

In 1983, philanthropist [[Cleveland Amory]] stepped in to buy Nim, by now a celebrity, and brought him to his equine [[Animal sanctuary|sanctuary]], Black Beauty Ranch, in [[Texas]]. As the only chimpanzee at the Ranch, Nim sank into a deep depression. Nim would gesture to staff but they did not sign back. When Ingersoll came to visit, Nim signed BOB, OUT, KEY.<ref>Hess, E. (2008) p. 290</ref> Ingersoll urged Amory to get a companion for Nim but was ignored. Meanwhile, Nim studied the locks on his cage and would periodically escape and run into the manager's house, raid the refrigerator, and sometimes turn on the TV. Once, in the process, he threw the ranch's pet poodle against a wall, killing it.<ref name=":1" />

A year after Nim's arrival, Amory arranged to adopt another chimp, Sally. In her biography of Nim, Hess writes that the chimps became inseparable. Nim taught Sally how to sign DRINK, BANANA and GUM, three of the words he used most frequently at the ranch.<ref>Hess, E. (2008) p. 300</ref> He was frequently seen signing SORRY to Sally after they had a squabble.<ref>Hess, E. (2008) p. 331</ref> Nim still escaped, but a new manager handled those escapes differently. When Nim and Sally showed up at his house, he would act happy to see them and let them stay until they got bored. By keeping tensions low, he found, the chimps did not need to be darted.<ref>Hess, E. (2008) p. 307</ref>

After almost ten years with Nim, Sally died, sending Nim once again into severe distress. After hearing about Sally's death, Ingersoll arranged to help get three new chimp companions for Nim: Kitty, Midge, and Lulu. The chimps thrived as a small group until March 10, 2000, when Nim died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 26 years old, about half his average life expectancy.<ref name=":1" />