NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Since 2010, Dr. Raven Jackson has been the attending veterinarian at Chimp Haven. 317 chimpanzees call Chimp Haven home. It’s the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world for captive-bred primates.
Jackson went to Tuskegee University, the only Historically Black College or University with a veterinary school. However, Jackson’s dream of working with animals has been around since her childhood.
“One day my mom came home with a book, and I learned about Jane Goodall and all the work she was doing with wild chimpanzees, and I thought back then, that it was possible for me to be a black Jane Goodall. The field of veterinary medicine has been known as being the whitest profession in the world, with approximately 90 percent and greater of the professionals being non-minorities. Three percent of veterinarians are Black, by comparison,” explains Jackson.
Most of the chimpanzees at Chimp Haven are HIV-positive. All animals on site were used in biomedical research.
In the 1800s, it’s believed that the first case of HIV in humans was documented. By the 1980s, the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the United States disproportionately hit African Americans, women and the queer communities the hardest. As the result of a dire need for a cure for HIV, breeding centers for chimpanzees were established across the country because chimpanzees share 98.8 of their DNA with human-beings.
By 2015, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) ends biomedical research that uses chimpanzees.
“I love the ability to give back to the chimpanzee species because they did sacrifice a great portion of their lives, which has helped to advance our health and well-being as humans,” explains Jackson.
Chimp Haven is one of the most unique workspaces in the world for the Jackson and the team. Those who work at Chimp Haven work with remarkable animals, provide care, respect, distance and occasionally get an up-close look at the complex social structure and behaviors of the chimpanzee residents. Every day is unpredictable and rewarding. Every day requires uncompromised attention to detail.
One day was truly exceptional for Jackson. All of her dreams as a little girl came full circle when she finally met Goodall.
Remembering her amazing moment, Jackson says, “I absolutely never thought, even though my dream was to become her, and she didn’t know I existed. It all came full circle. I was now working at the world’s largest chimpanzee captive population and meeting her.”
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