1. Best in class care (veterinary, social, nutritional) for orangutans and chimpanzees who have no option for release into the wild, and who will require lifetime sanctuary care; 2. Educational opportunities for the public to learn about captive great apes and the threats to conservation of great apes in the wild; 3. Advocacy for the end of exploitation of great apes in captivity (entertainment, research, pet trade) through collaboration with other organizations. 4. Sustainability and Succession planning to ensure CGA has the resources (financial and human) to provide lifetime care for our great ape residents.

1. Best in class care will be achieved by continuing to actively participate in the Species Survival Plan conferences and meetings for orangutans and chimpanzees; continue to participate in the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) whose mission is to advance and advocate for the welfare of captive primates; continue to meet or exceed the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) standards (CGA was the first chimpanzee sanctuary to be accredited by GFAS, and remains the only orangutan sanctuary accredited)2. Our education program has been expanded in recent years to include monthly Ape-ology classes open to the public for a fee and covering such topics as nutrition, socialization and general great ape information; lecture tours to interested public and private schools; Skype sessions provided for students unable or unwilling to travel to CGA; continue our collaboration with Ape Ambassadors, a club for kids and teens which supports CGA; continue our active social media programs to disseminate information about great apes to an international audience (CGA currently has over 144,000 followers). 3. Continue to serve as an expert consultant to North American Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), Humane Society of U. S. (HSUS), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), government agencies seeking input (i. e. chimpanzee retirement from research) on issues affecting great apes directly while maintaining our independence in dealing directly with pet owners and entertainment trainers always putting the needs of the individual apes first. 4. Our current strategic plan identifies 5 critical issues: sustainability improvements to strengthen our organization; measured growth; ape healthcare improvements; education; and board development. We are working towards identifying and correcting any skills gap in our current staffing structure; the establishment of an ape acceptance policy including a pro forma for expected cost increases; innovative new training on healthcare procedures to reduce the need for anesthesia (ear flushes, blood draws, injections); enhancing our grant program to include education; providing seminars and coaching for board members while attracting new members with specifically identified skills.

With a budget of $1. 6 million, CGA is financially capable of providing the appropriate care (staffing, nutrition, veterinary) these intelligent great apes require and deserve. Our managers average 20 years of experience in nurturing great apes and our veterinarian has been with CGA for over 15 years creating a stable environment. In addition, our active involvement with other ape sanctuaries, animal rescue/rights organizations, and accrediting groups (GFAS, Charity Navigator, GuideStar) ensures we maintain the highest standards of care and operations for a sanctuary. We also host international rescue organizations from Borneo, Sumatra and Africa to exchange knowledge, practices, and ideas on great ape management. Our focus for the future is on expanding our major donor, legacy and foundation grant programs to provide sustainable revenue streams while attracting new donors and educating them on the issues surrounding captive great apes and our goals to eliminate the use of great apes as pets, for entertainment, and in research.

Our progress in health care will be measured by: outside recognition of our successes in ape management; happiness of our ape residents; introduction of new enrichment opportunities (social, physical and mental); and, continuous improvement in our techniques to combat obesity, diabetes and heart health as documented in our health care notes for each ape. The education program will be judged by increases in requests for Ape-ology, lecture tours, Skype sessions, social media and ultimately by the increase in memberships to CGA providing additional revenue. Advocacy will be measured by a reduction in the number of orangutans and chimpanzees remaining in need of rescue or retirement. Our sustainability and succession planning will be constantly measured against our budget performance and efficiencies achieved in staffing and board involvement.

Starting with just 6 young apes in 1993, CGA has provided sanctuary care for over 50 great apes. But, there remain approximately 36 orangutans and over 875 chimpanzees still being held as pets, for use in entertainment or for research so our work is not done. While we are happy with our success to date, we hope to expand to include more apes in need. Our education program has grown from 5 to 10 interested school groups annually, to over 20 last year, not including our Skypeing interactions. Also, we had started an adult education program, Ape-ology, which averages 30 participants each month, many of whom become volunteers and CGA. CGA provided input instrumental in having captive chimpanzees classified as endangered just like wild chimpanzees. In addition, through our efforts the number of trainers working apes in entertainment has been reduced from 24 to 3. Our development efforts have been expanded, but we have work still to do to reduce our reliance on a small number of foundations and donors. The board is actively working on cultivating major donors, building our legacy program and helping with grant opportunities.