occupation carole c. noon
Save the Chimps , Inc is a publicly financed 501 ( c )( 3 ) nonprofit American sanctuary specializing in the care of chimpanzees . The organization was founded by the late Carole C . Noon in 1997 . Save the Chimps is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and a founding ___MASK20___ of the North American ___MASK52___ Sanctuary Alliance . The mission of Save the Chimps is to provide and build support for permanent sanctuary for the lifetime care of chimpanzees rescued from research , entertainment , and the ___MASK83___ trade . Carole Cooney Noon ( July 13 , 1949  May 2 , 2009 ) was an American ___MASK76___ and primatologist best known for founding ( in 1997 ) Save the Chimps , a Florida non - profit chimpanzee sanctuary that is the largest such sanctuary in the world as of 2009 . Early life . Noon was born in Portland , Oregon on July 13 , 1949 to William and Dorothy Cooney . She grew up on an island in the South Pacific where her father ran a ship salvage operation . She then moved with her mother and two sisters to Honolulu , Hawaii . After a divorce , Noon , her mother , and two sisters moved to Cleveland , Ohio , where she went to school . Carole Cooney Noon ( July 14 , 1949 -- May 2 , 2009 ) was a ___MASK17___ best known for founding ( in 1997 ) Save the Chimps , a Florida non - profit chimpanzee sanctuary that is the largest such sanctuary in the world as of 2009 . Chimpanzees ( sometimes called chimps ) are one of the two species of the genus " Pan ", the other being the bonobo . Together with gorillas , they are the only exclusively African species of great ape that are currently extant . Native to sub - Saharan Africa , both chimpanzees and bonobos are currently found in the Congo jungle . Africa is the world ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface area and 20 . 4 % of its total land area . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the world ' s human population . The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north , both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the Indian Ocean to the southeast , and the Atlantic Ocean to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized ___MASK38___ states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition .