His history goes back to the African jungle. He was born somewhere near 1966. He was hunted and his parents were possibly killed. One he appeared, in May 1975, at the Holloman Air Force Base, in the State of New Mexico. He was immediately placed in medical torture programs.

In 22 years, he was anesthetized 225 times, his blood was collected and his liver was punctured by biopsies on countless occasions. He resisted. The geniuses of the Air Force, perhaps working for some private multinational, used him to test a contraceptive vaccine. They never managed to develop it and in fact Roman had 7 children.

In 1997, the Air Force was already being publicly questioned by its programs of torture of great apes and several deaths happened at Base Holloman. He was transferred to perhaps a worse place, the Coulston Foundation, near the Base.

In 2002 life changed for Roman, who was then 26 years old and a body full of sequelae of torture to which he had been subjected. Save the Chimps Sanctuary bought the facilities of Coulston Foundation, already broken, and along with 250 innocent gave him some future life.

Roman finished being transferred to Florida and was incorporated into Kiley family group, which was the oldest. Roman quickly won the respect and affection of chimpanzees, and human handlers. Torrie, one of his treaters, speaks of him: “Roman’s eyes were always filled with thoughts of love and he was the first chimpanzee who established a deep relationship of friendship. I loved Roman. Everyone who knew him ended up loving him. He was a special guy and will always have a place in my heart. ”

Roman and his group had a spacious island with a wooden building known as the “floor”. He loved his island, slept a few nights there, bathed in starlight.

Early this year, Roman stopped feeding, was walking slowly. He took no medications, as they had already tortured him for 22 years. It was hard to treat him. His heart was weak, nobody knew how many had endured years.

The direction of the Sanctuary and his handlers decided to put him at ease. What had to happen, happen naturally. Save him artificially was not possible, nor he wanted. He wanted to go to another world, along with their peers without trauma. Since his life was already full of pain and anguish. On June 17, he left this world with his classic look, wise and intelligent, without hatred for those who did cause him to have many unhappy years.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International

Images of Kiley, Ritt and Roman; Kay and Roman; Roman and his family enjoying the lounge