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The primates were all from Liberia. "There many people kept chimpanzees as pets. But when they grew up, they were no longer good companions," says Brotman. "We could have such animals and didn't need any wild chimpanzees anymore. First infected apes were released into the woods. But then the Vilab people stopped the reintroduction, because the animals could infect other wild species.

Instead, disused laboratory animals were released on some river islands. Chimpanzees cannot swim and therefore cannot escape from this refuge. One problem, however, was that there was hardly any food and water for the animals on the islands. So they had to be supplied by boat from the beginning in order to survive.

The situation became really difficult in the 80s and 90s, when two civil wars shook Liberia. Rebels shot Brotmann's husband, but the researcher stayed and maintained the monkey colony. Later in the USA, animal protection organizations mobilized against the experimental program. Peta, for example, published videos from laboratories that showed how the intelligent primates vegetate there. As a result, public opinion tilted against the experiments.

In addition, at the end of the 1990s it turned out that chimpanzees were unsuitable for HIV and AIDS research. Now the US health authority NIH ordered a stop to the research programmes, because they were "far more cruel than effective". Government grants fell, and in 2005 the Vilab program was finally terminated - the animal rights activists had won.

"That was right," admits Brotmann. The trials did contribute to the development of life-saving vaccines against hepatitis B and a diagnostic procedure for hepatitis C. "The trials were successful," said Brotmann. Both diseases affect millions of people worldwide. Actually, chimpanzees should not be used for experiments."