Among all the complicated, sad stories in the Michael Jackson death saga is a kind of sweet one about the happy fate of his former buddy from the late 80s, the chimpanzee Bubbles. Bubbles was sent to live with his trainer in 2002 due to concerns that he was becoming aggressive and would harm Jackson’s children. In 2005 he went to live at a chimp and orangutan sanctuary in Florida called The Center for Great Apes, where he now happily resides. Bubbles, now 26, is a gentle and kind animal who even has a best friend, a 41 year-old show business veteran chimp named Sam.

Of course, as with many elements of Jackson’s life, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. The star reportedly rescued a young Bubbles from a cancer research center in Texas in 1985. The chimp eventually faded from public view, with few references made to him until Jackson’s famous television interview with British journalist Martin Bashir, “Living with Michael Jackson,” which aired in early 2003. In the interview, Jackson told Bashir that Bubbles had become aggressive as he aged, and had been sent away over fears that he would harm Jackson’s youngest child, Prince Michael II.

Bubbles had apparently been living with his longtime trainer, Bob Dunn, since at least as early as 2002, when Dunn spoke with People Magazine. “Bubbles is an adult chimp and a wild animal,” Dunn told the magazine. “We don’t let him out to play.”

The trainer did say, however, that Jackson and his children had been to his Sylmar ranch to visit the chimp. “The last time Michael visited, Bubbles definitely recognized and remembered him,” he told the Telegraph.

In late 2003, a report surfaced that Bubbles had attempted suicide but “was rushed to the hospital in time.” (No further details, or even confirmation that the attempt happened at all, were forthcoming.) And then, once again, the chimp returned to a life of relative obscurity.

In 2005, Dunn stopped working with great apes and sent the ones still living on his ranch, including Bubbles, to a the Center for Great Apes, a nonprofit sanctuary in southern-central Florida. The sanctuary’s website describes the chimp, now 26, as charismatic and “able to throw sand with amazing accuracy.” It sums up his character in three words: smart, distinctive and tender.

A representative for Jackson contacted the sanctuary after Bubbles arrived, suggesting that the star would like to visit his former pet. (The sanctuary is closed to the public, so special arrangements would have to be made for such a visit.) But, sanctuary director Patti Ragan told People in a recent interview, Jackson never made it to Florida. Bubbles doesn’t seem to mind, though — after all, chimps are ill-suited to life with humans, and his new home affords him the opportunity to interact with other chimps, notably his best friend, Sam.

Sanctuary staff haven’t attempted to tell Bubbles about his former owner’s death. “We haven’t said anything to him yet,” Ragan told People.

[From The LA Times]

People Magazine also covered this story, and they have a quote that made me go “awww.” The sanctuary director says that Bubbles is such a nice guy that he’ll let other chimps have a turn at the water fountain first: “I’ve seen him go to the drinking fountain, start to take a sip of water and then, when he hears one of the younger ones coming, he’ll step back and let them have a sip.”

As for the fate of the other exotic animals in Jackson’s menagerie, it’s hard to tell what happened to them all. Jackson’s two tigers are now being cared for at Tippi Hedren’s Shambala sanctuary north of LA and thirteen flamingos from his ranch are in a zoo in New Jersey. I’ve found reports that he had two elephants, two tigers, four giraffes, and two orangutans, among other animals. Jackson was accused by PETA of neglecting his animals while he was away in Bahrain in 2005, but he was cleared after an inspection by the US Department of Agriculture. His longterm veterinarian said he visited to check on the animals’ care and their health once a week and that none of the animals were neglected while Neverland went into foreclosure.

Here is Bubbles with Jackson in Japan in 1987. He even does the moonwalk. Thanks to The LA Times for linking this video:

Bubbles now: