Chimp Who Spent 18 Years Alone Won't Let Go Of Brand-New Friend

Sometimes the best friends are those who know just what you've been through.

Terry and Jeannie are two chimpanzees who live at Save the Chimps, a Florida sanctuary. While the apes at Save the Chimps live in family groups, Terry and Jeannie had never had the chance to meet - until this spring.

And it was friendship at first sight. Terry and Jeannie quickly reached out to grab each other's hands, clinging to each other and playing with each other's fingers through a minute-long clip.

"They didn't want to let go of each other's hand," the sanctuary wrote on Facebook.

Sadly, the two chimps' lives haven't always been filled with this much happiness, as Save the Chimps rescues chimps from the entertainment and research industries. While not much is known about Jeannie, a Save the Chimps representative told The Dodo that she was born in the wild then captured and sold to a research laboratory, where she spent the next 40 years undergoing medical testing before coming to the sanctuary.

Terry started out life living with an Ice Capades trainer before being moved to the now-defunct Las Vegas Zoo. For the next 18 years the social animal lived completely alone at the questionable facility, devoid of family and friends and the social interactions chimps need to thrive - which may explain why he was so reluctant to release the hand of his brand-new friend.

Thanks to Save the Chimps, both Terry and Jeannie have bright futures ahead filled with family, friends and everything they need to be happy, healthy chimps.

If you'd like to help care for Terry and Jeannie, and the many other rescued chimps who call the sanctuary home, you can make a donation here.