World Chimpanzee Day
July 2019
Together We Can Wish for a Hopeful Future for Chimpanzees
On July 14, Kumamoto Sanctuary, the first and only sanctuary for chimpanzees in Japan, will hold a themed celebration to celebrate World Chimpanzee Day.
"Tanabata", also known as the star festival, is a Japanese festival held each year on the seventh day of the seventh month, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. Japanese people traditionally celebrate "Tanabata" by writing wishes on long strips of colorful paper (tanzaku) and hanging them on bamboo trees. We don't want to miss this perfect opportunity to share our foremost wishes.
Ever since Dr. Jane Goodall first began to study wild chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania on July 14th, 1960, she has been an incredible source of inspiration to us and people all around the world. Her pioneering breakthroughs showed that chimpanzees and humans are much more similar than what had been previously thought. Researchers who follow in Dr. Jane's footsteps continue to add to this growing body of evidence, and we are grateful that our studies can also contribute to this. The more closely we study chimpanzees, the more we are able to realize that humans are not as special or unique as once believed. We now have the responsibility to protect our closest cousins in the animal kingdom.
We are incredibly grateful to have an opportunity to promote the care of chimpanzees in captivity and will continue to support and encourage the protection and conservation of chimpanzees in both the wild and captivity. Our wish is that you will also celebrate World Chimpanzee Day by taking part in this beautiful movement to ensure a secure and hopeful future for all chimpanzees living throughout the world. That's the kind of world we want to live in, the world we want our children to live in, and so it's our responsibility to make a positive difference.
In honor of humankind’s closest living relative, World Chimpanzee Day is a celebration of chimpanzees and an opportunity to raise awareness about the vital need for worldwide participation in their care, protection, and conservation in the wild and in captivity.To learn more about World Chimpanzee Day and get involved, please visit worldchimpanzeeday.org.
