In South Carolina there is a roadside zoo called "Alligator Adventure and Barefoot Landing's T.I.G.E.R.S. Preservation Station". This roadside zoo has at least one baby chimpanzee that is used for extensive interactions with humans for photos and entertainment. Chimpanzees are very intelligent primates who are very similar to humans, with only 1% difference between our DNA. That being said, people should understand that chimpanzees may be put under psychological distress, just as humans would, to an unchosen life of constant entertainment for others.

Chimpanzees come into the entertainment industry one of two ways, either they are brought through the illegal bushmeat trade or they are born into captivity. The illegal bushmeat trade is the poaching of chimpanzees in Africa and then capturing the orphaned babies and selling them into the entertainment industry. 

This entire process is very traumatic for a chimpanzee, often seeing their entire family killed in front of them, then being socially isolated from other chimpanzees, and finally being forced to entertain the species that killed their family. Many chimpanzees in these scenarios exhibit abnormal behaviors that show signs of psychological distress such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

While most of these chimpanzees have been raised in captivity and would not know how to live on their own in the wild we propose they should be sent to sanctuaries where they will be treated with care and have the chance to partially recover psychologically, unfortunately many never fully recover. I have been studying abnormal behaviors in chimpanzees as a result of the bushmeat trade, pet trade, and entertainment industry for three years and have visited/volunteered at two different sanctuaries, one in Kenya and one in Spain. This issue of using chimpanzees for entertainment is morally wrong. How can one admit that yes, chimpanzees are so similar to "us" humans, but that one percent is different enough to separate them from "us" and disregard the psychological harm we are inflicting upon them. 

We propose to have Trip Advisor remove the "certificate of excellence" from "Alligator Adventure and Barefoot Landing's T.I.G.E.R.S. Preservation Station" to decrease the advertising of holding and taking photos with baby chimpanzees and hopefully get people to stop going to these kinds of roadside zoos. Hopefully in the future all of the animals will be placed in sanctuaries.