They have been used as laboratory guinea pigs, but resisted the diseases and two civil wars

The documentary “The Island of the Apes” is the result of a production that went to Liberia to show a region occupied by chimpanzees only. The online magazine Motherboard team visited the country to show that peaceful interaction between man and nature remains far from realization.

The documentary shows an isolated area inhabited solely by chimpanzees, who, after being used in laboratory testing, survived to the diseases and to two civil wars, and now cause concern in neighboring communities.

The laboratory, which was maintained by the Blood Center of New York, was closed in the mid 2000s after the increasing pressure from activists protesting against the use of chimpanzees in research. Now, the lab chimps are in a series of small islands where they will for the rest of their lives.

The film crew interviewed the scientist Betsy Brotman, who has a professional life marked by drastic changes of opinion in relation to animal testing and by a troubled relationship with Liberia.

Besides the documentary, 20th Century Fox and Motherboard make another release this year: a series of short movies “Before the Dawn”, inspired in the period of ten years between the long “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and its sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”.

Watch “The Island of the Apes” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69LDbyl4Xjs