Gregoire was, up until his death, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

's oldest known chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...

. For the last eleven years of his life, he was a resident of the Tchimpounga Sanctuary (part of the Jane Goodall Institute

Jane Goodall Institute

The Jane Goodall Institute is an international wildlife and environment conservation organization with branches in many countries. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Dr...

) in the Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

. His special friend was the chimpanzee Clara. Previously he had lived in solitary confinement

Solitary confinement

Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...

 for more than 40 years in a cage at the Brazzaville

Brazzaville

-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...

 Zoo before being rescued by staff of the Jane Goodall Institute and airlifted to the Sanctuary during a time of war. He died peacefully in his sleep in his bed of eucalyptus leaves at the Sanctuary's rehabilitation centre on December 17, 2008 aged 66. Gregoire was known around the world appearing on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1995, in a BBC special, and in an Animal Planet

Animal Planet

Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...

 film, Jane Goodall's Return to Gombe.

External links

• Biography and a video tribute at the Jane Goodall Institute
  Jane Goodall Institute
  The Jane Goodall Institute is an international wildlife and environment conservation organization with branches in many countries. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Dr...
  
  website.