Due to its stringent standards, the AZA has accredited only 215 out of the more than 2,000 USDA-licensed facilities in the United States. However, ZWF is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a voluntary system of accreditation that’s widely seen as the gold standard of animal welfare in the United States. ZWF is licensed by the US Department of Agriculture, which licenses all facilities that exhibit animals to the public, whether it’s a world class zoo or exotic animal park. Studies show that “ chimpanzee cultures” are distinctive, require a community of chimps, and are passed down from one generation to another.Īnd though the use of the word “foundation” may suggest something philanthropic, it doesn’t necessarily mean the ZWF has been certified as a respected animal sanctuary or zoo. That indicates that Limbani is being raised in an environment that might not be optimal for a highly social species. A USDA inspection report (pdf) from October 2018 shows he is the only chimpanzee in residence at the facility. His bio says his account is intended to educate followers “to conserve chimpanzees.” And the Zoological Wildlife Foundation (ZWF), where he lives, maintains a top-ten ranking on TripAdvisor’s list of things to do in Miami.īut there are a few facts that should give a Limbani fan pause: For one, he appears to live in a place without any other chimps. The place he lives is described as a “foundation.” His posts telegraph the hashtagged awareness that wild animals shouldn’t be kept as pets. And there’s a moral glow that comes with liking a Limbani post, because most of them bear a righteous-sounding hashtag: #notapet.įor the casual scroller, it’s easy to get the sense that liking and following an account like Limbani’s is a sort of lowkey online activism. He is, after all, objectively adorable, and his followers have no reason to think Limbani has anything other than a nice life. The comments below Limbani’s photos are almost universally positive.
He has more than half a million Instagram followers, ever eager for more pictures of him skateboarding, hanging out with other exotic species, or eating popsicles. Limbani is a 2.5-year-old chimpanzee who lives in Miami.