Members of the re-formed board of directors expressed concern for Oliver in court proceedings and in news articles about the ongoing dispute over management of the sanctuary. Oliver remained in the care of Primarily Primates while the facility went through major renovations. Wally Swett was required to leave the property and was prohibited from serving either on the board or as an employee in the future. The settlement also dismissed all charges against Primarily Primates. On April 27, 2007, the state of Texas entered into a settlement agreement which removed Lee Theisen-Watt as overseer of Primarily Primates and replaced her with a board of directors that was headed by Eric Turton and Priscilla Feral. In 2006, Oliver was placed in the temporary care of wildlife rehabilitator Lee Theisen-Watt, who had been court-appointed to oversee Primarily Primates while the state of Texas determined who would ultimately be in charge of the facility. Older, partially sighted and arthritic, Oliver ended up at a spacious, open-air cage at Primarily Primates in Bexar County, Texas. In 1998, Oliver was transferred to Primarily Primates, which was founded by Wallace Swett in 1978. In 1996, Sharon Hursh, president of the Buckshire Corporation, after being petitioned by animal sanctuary Primarily Primates, allowed his retirement to Buckshire's colony of 13 chimpanzees. He was never used in experiments, but for the next nine years, his home was a small cage, whose restricted size resulted in muscular atrophy to the point that Oliver's limbs trembled. His intake examination revealed some previous rough handling. Oliver was purchased in 1989 by the Buckshire Corporation, a Pennsylvania laboratory leasing out animals for scientific and cosmetic testing. Rivers reported problems with Oliver not getting along with other chimpanzees. The last trainer to own Oliver was Bill Rivers. Oliver was transferred to the Wild Animal Training Center in Riverside, California, owned by Ken Decroo, but he was reportedly sold by Decroo in 1985. The Los Angeles Times did an extensive article about Oliver as a possible missing link or a new subspecies of chimpanzee. When Enchanted Village closed later that year, Helfer continued exhibiting Oliver in a new venture, Gentle Jungle, which changed locations a few times before finally closing in 1982. In 1977, Oliver's owner, Michael Miller, gave Oliver to Ralph Helfer, partner in a small theme park called Enchanted Village in Buena Park, California, built on the site of the defunct Japanese Village and Deer Park attraction. She and her husband Frank Berger decided to sell Oliver to New York attorney Michael Miller.Įnchanted Village and other facilities (1977–1989) In a DecemDiscovery Channel special, Janet Berger stated that Oliver started to become attracted to her when he reached the age of 16. Oliver possessed a flatter face than his fellow chimpanzees was in the habit of walking bipedally, rather than on his knuckles much more often than his chimpanzee peers (until he was later struck with arthritis) and may have preferred human females over chimpanzee females. Some physical and behavioral evidence led the Bergers to believe Oliver was a creature other than a chimpanzee, perhaps a human-chimpanzee hybrid. Supposedly, the chimpanzee had been caught in the Congo. Oliver was acquired as a young animal in 1970 by trainers Frank and Janet Berger. 2 Enchanted Village and other facilities (1977–1989).

Oliver chimpanzee