A Florida chimpanzee sanctuary cut off by flooding; uses drone to deliver food to a stranded chimp

A stranded chimp in a flood has received what must have seemed like a gift from heaven, but it was actually a drone that delivered its food. At Save the Chimps, a sanctuary near Fort Pierce, Florida, heavy rain turned familiar paths into waterways and left one chimpanzee temporarily cut off from his caregivers.

Rather than let him go hungry, staff turned to a small aircraft with an unusual mission: delivering bananas, blankets, and reassurance from above.When the water roseSave the Chimps is home to more than 200 rescued and retired chimpanzees across a 150-acre property. Its animals live in elevated care houses and on island habitats, which kept them safe as rainstorms soaked southeast and central Florida from Sunday through Tuesday.

But while the chimps themselves were not in immediate danger, the flooding created a serious problem for the people responsible for feeding and caring for them.Canals on the property overflowed, submerging the internal roads normally used to deliver roughly 3,000 pounds of chimpanzee food each day by golf cart.