Baboon Sanctuary Opens In Indiana

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A former keeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo is now operating a baboon sanctuary in Winamac, Indiana.

"This was my calling," said Scott Kubish, the founder and director of the Peaceable Primates Sanctuary.

It's a retirement community of sorts for baboons.

"So that they can just live out their lives in a nice place and that is what I am able to do," said Kubish.

It's the only such facility in the United States for baboons.

He has 16 now and expects to take in more on his 80 acres with indoor and outdoor spaces for the primates.

"They all have their own little quirks and little things that they do. That is what makes them special," says Kubish who used to work as a keeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

He told WSBT the baboons were from the entertainment industry, research labs and from homes.

Kubish said the baboons were born in captivity and couldn't survive if released.

The sanctuary is expect to be open at some point to the public.