Florida Floods Cut Off a Chimp Named Kaleb, So His Sanctuary Sent Lunch by Drone

FORT PIERCE, Fla., Nov. 9, 2026 — Kaleb did not have to miss a meal. When floodwater cut off the 38-year-old chimpanzee at a Florida sanctuary last week, his lunch came by air.

Save the Chimps, a 150-acre sanctuary west of Fort Pierce that is home to about 200 apes, normally hauls 3,000 pounds of chimp food a day along its internal roads by golf cart. Then rain soaked southeast and central Florida from Sunday through Tuesday, canals overflowed and those roads went underwater, facilities director Mark Yohannan told the Associated Press. A high-clearance swamp buggy helped for a while, then broke down.

Kaleb was in an outdoor area that the water had cut off. Luckily, the sanctuary had bought a delivery drone some time ago for exactly this kind of emergency. Staff used it to drop him food and blankets until he decided, on his own schedule, to move somewhere easier to reach.

The sanctuary's video shows Kaleb pulling a banana out of a paper bag the drone had dropped. Later he picks his way across a rope stretched over the standing water. TCPalm reported that he crossed a land bridge over the water to another island in the sanctuary's 3-acre island home.

The rest of the apes got their meals the old-fashioned way, more or less. Staff used trucks, including one maintenance worker's personal vehicle, and a tractor to deliver food, medicine and supplies. The chimps' care houses sit on high ground and were never in danger.

"Chimps are getting all their food, bananas and oranges on time," Yohannan told the AP. "They're good. They haven't missed a beat."

The local alligators were also making the most of things. A small one turned up by the sanctuary's kitchen Friday, apparently riding the floodwater into ground where gators don't usually go, Yohannan said.

The storm was no small one. The National Weather Service measured 16.7 inches of rain in Port St. Lucie from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, TCPalm reported, and essential staff stayed overnight on Nov. 2 under the sanctuary's emergency weather plan. It was the first time that plan had been used for anything other than a hurricane or tropical storm.

By Saturday the water was dropping fast, and about 20% of the property's roads were clear again. The sanctuary is asking the public to help pay for damaged buildings and equipment, and one donor has agreed to match the gifts.

Save the Chimps was founded in 1997 and has cared for nearly 350 chimpanzees rescued from research labs, the pet trade and the entertainment industry.