(4 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Perkinston, Mississippi – 25 July 2025
1. Spider monkey hangs from enclosure
2. Kinkajou yawns
3. April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder, puts coconut oil on squirrel monkey’s paws
4. SOUNDBITE (English) April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder:
"First of all, I’m a military veteran, and a military veteran with PTSD, and one of my coping mechanisms has always been animals."
5. April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder, opens gate to spider monkey enclosure
6. SOUNDBITE (English) April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder:
"And we turned our property into a monkey sanctuary."
7. Spider monkey climbs on April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder
8. SOUNDBITE (English) April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder:
"The sanctuary is helping me learn to trust people, just like John is a veteran, and we have other people who come here who have trust issues with people."
9. John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer, stands outside spider monkey enclosure
10. Spider monkey climbs on John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer
11. SOUNDBITE (English) April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder:
"By helping the primates learning to trust, we’re also re-teaching ourselves how to trust, and we’re giving ourselves grace with people."
12. John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer sits inside spider monkey enclosure
13. SOUNDBITE (English) John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer:
"I went through a few things like a lot of us in the service, and it kind of messed me up I guess more than I realized."
14. Spider monkey taps the head of April Stewart, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary founder
15. Spider monkey embraces John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer
16. SOUNDBITE (English) John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer:
"It kind of — it just shut me down, you know, and being out here has brought back a lot of faith to me."
17. Spider monkey swings on John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer
18. Spider monkey looks up
19. SOUNDBITE (English) John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer:
"It’s helped me more than over 20 years of the VA. It really has."
20. John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer holds spider monkey
21. Spider monkey follows John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer inside
22. SOUNDBITE (English) John Richard, Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary volunteer:
"I think about the animals walking around out here knowing that nobody’s going to hurt ’em. You know, and it just brings a peace over me. It truly does."
23. Spider monkey walks up to camera and sniffs it
STORYLINE:
In the embrace of a cheerfully chittering spider monkey, a military veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder finds peace.
“Being out here has brought a lot of faith back to me,” said John Richard. “There’s no feeling like it.”
Richard volunteers at the Gulf Coast Primate Sanctuary, located in Perkinston, Mississippi. The sanctuary, which claims to be the only primate sanctuary in the state licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was founded in October by fellow veteran April Stewart.
Stewart recruited Richard to help build an enclosure. In the process, he formed a special bond with a 2-year-old spider monkey named Louie.
“He’s making his little sounds in my ear, and you know, he’s always telling you: ‘Oh, I love you,’" Richard said. “’I know you’re okay. I know you’re not going to hurt me.’"
AP Video by Sophie Bates
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