Leo

When Leo was only two, he and his groupmate Hercules were leased to a New York lab where they were forced to walk upright in a study of locomotion. After medical testing was finally banned on chimpanzees and much media attention about their plight, Leo and Hercules were sent back to the New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) and then retired to their forever home here at Project Chimps on March 21, 2018. 

Whether gazing out his favorite cubby window or lounging in his favorite hammock, Leo knows where to go to take a beat and chill. After breakfast he loves to curl up in a hammock and take a nap. He also will build blanket nests. Usually he lays a few blankets down and then will curl up with one on top of himself. 

Leo also loves to play with his caregivers. His favorite game is when he tricks us making us think is going to run in one direction and then changes course and runs in another. When we fall for it, he breathy laughs at us!

Leo loves boxes and often carries a piece of cardboard around with him or uses them in his nests. Summer is definitely Leo’s favorite time of year, earning him the title of “the solar powered chimp.” He loves to greet guests at the viewing windows while inside the habitat and watch the staff and volunteers at the kitchen window. And according to his caregivers, he’ll do anything for a tomato!