Maria Center resident Diana Anderson visited Peaceable Primates Sanctuary near Winamac, Indiana with fellow residents and former Activities Manager Jennifer Weinert in 2019, shortly after she moved to Maria Center. What began as a field trip turned into three years of dedicated volunteer service to the rescued primates who’s lives would otherwise end after their stints as research subject or zoo attractions. “I fell in love and asked if they needed volunteers,” Diana said. “I started volunteering the next spring.”
Diana wanted a volunteer experience that was total departure from her career as a journalist. To that end, she prepares meals for the 70 baboons and macaques and educates the community to gain a greater understanding of these beautiful creatures. “One of my most emotional moments was watching the arrival of four macaques and seeing each of their little faces looking out at us,” Diana recalled. “They had no clue what was going on. I burst into tears.”
Peaceable Primate Sanctuary originally encompassed 40 acres of land in Winamac, Indiana, which founder and director Scott Kubisch purchased in 2002. In the ensuing years, he built housing, raised funds, added gorgeous landscaping, created enrichment opportunities and food prep areas, and built office space. In 2016, his dream became a reality when three baboons moved into the newly constructed facility. Peaceable Primates acquired another 40 acres of space that year and has continued to grow to its current group of 70 baboons and macaques. The animals come from a variety of backgrounds, including pharmaceutical and university research, pets that obtuse owners can’t handle past infancy, and roadside zoos.
Previously, Scott worked at both Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos in Chicago caring for primates, big cats, and birds to name a few. He maintains his family home in Chicago, where he spends weekends while living and working at Peaceable Primates during the week. Now he runs Peaceable Primates full time with a staff of 14, plus a cadre of dedicated volunteers.
Last month Maria Center residents visited Peaceable Primates to see the operation they’ve learned so much about from Diana. While seated on benches in front of the enclosures, residents observed as assistant keeper Brynna Connolly fed the baboons and macaques a mixture of dried pasta, peas, fruit, and cereal. She scattered it on the ground and the animals foraged for it, which is an enriching experience for them, she explained. While foraging, the animals also find bugs and lizards, which they eat as well.
As Brynna fed them, Scott explained the often dismal backgrounds of the animals before they come to Peaceable Primates. He told residents about Dudley, a macaque whose former owner pulled out all his teeth when the animal grew too big and the owner could no longer handle him. Dudley now gets a soft, cooked diet, prepared daily by volunteers like Diana, so he can thrive despite his lack of teeth. Scott also introduced residents to four Hamadryas baboons, whose natural habitat is Yemen and Saudia Arabia, and who Peaceable Primates acquired from the National Zoo of Puerto Rico when it closed due to lack of resources and questions about animal welfare.
Another recent addition to Peaceable Primates is the Yale Princeton Housing Unit, built by the two universities when they asked Scott to take over care of their retiring research primates, the most common of which are Rhesus macaques. Scott’s gotten to be a prodigious fundraiser throughout this venture, so he has the universities and pharmaceutical companies ante up for primates they want placed at Peaceable Primates. Soon, there will be another housing unit built by an Ivy League university that wants their former research animals housed and cared for. On the morning of Maria Center’s visit, Scott fielded emails from three additional facilities looking to place primates with him. He’s also garnered the respect and philanthropy of animal rights heavy weights such as former Price is Right host Bob Barker.
As residents toured the food preparation area, Diana explained her duties, including chopping fruits and vegetables and mixing dinner bowls for individual primates and large bins for those that eat as a community. She and Scott showed residents what a typical dinner bowl looks like, with the chopped produce and monkey chow pellets, which add protein to primates’ diets. Scott had the group laughing when he told them how carefully Diana cut and seeded bell peppers for the animals the first time she prepared their meals. He assured her that they don’t care about seeds, stems, or fancy cuts.
As Scott concluded the visit, someone asked what would happen to these noble primates if not for a sanctuary like his. “Most would be euthanized,” he explained. “God bless you,” said Activities Manager Rhonda Overmyer, echoing the sentiments of everyone present on this enlightening excursion. Peaceable Primates’ mission allows these beautiful creatures to live out the remainder of their lives, which can be 30-35 years, in community with other primates and caring humans, and with the dignity and respect they deserve.
