FOXSYLVANIA

– – We’ve referred here before to Bubbles the Chimp, pet of the late Michael Jackson who in the 1980’s tripped the light fantastic, going to parties at Elizabeth Taylor’s house, having tea with the mayor of Osaka, Japan, and even sharing matching outfits with Michael.  Then Bubbles got too big to be kept as a pet, and he went to the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida.

Now age 26 and currently weighing in at around 180 lbs., Bubbles is part of a group of seven chimps that spend their time climbing, playing, grooming and tickling one another, and sharing food.  His best bud is a 19-year-old male chimp.  As it costs $15,000 a year to maintain Bubbles,  the animal sanctuary where he resides is asking people to adopt Bubbles for $150 a year.   Although chimps live to be about 60 years of age, they usually only work in animal entertainment until the age of six, after which time they become too large and strong to be safely maintained in human company.   Zoos characteristically don’t take animals like Bubbles, who was raised by humans and doesn’t know chimpanzee rules…

–-Michael Jackson is survived by a furry friend as well as his three children. Bubbles the chimp was part of Michael Jackson’s entourage in the 1980’s, and he and Michael often wore matching outfits (–does this surprise you?).  Jackson adopted Bubbles at age 3 from a cancer research clinic in Texas. — Well, when Bubbles got too big and too hard to control (anger issues), he was kept by an animal trainer until 2005, at which time he was sent to an animal sanctuary, the Centre for Great Apes, in Florida.  Bubbles currently resides there with 41 other chimpanzees and orangutans.

Shown in the picture during better times in 1987, Bubbles is now described as “huge and ugly,” but hey, who looks like they did 22 years ago?    He likes painting and listening to flute and guitar music, and also spends much time sitting quietly in trees with his best friend Sam, a 40-year-old chimp.  Bubbles will not be attending Jackson’s funeral, and could live to be 60 years of age.  It is not known whether Jackson provided for Bubbles in his will…