The retired research chimpanzees, which had previously been deemed too frail to move, will be relocated to a Louisiana sanctuary.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The National Institutes of Health decided to relocate nearly two dozen retired research chimpanzees from a facility in New Mexico to a sanctuary in Louisiana, a move celebrated Friday by animal advocates who have been fighting for years to get the animals moved.

About two dozen chimpanzees deemed too feeble to be moved a few years ago will be going to Chimp Haven after all. The NIH said originally they'd be kept in New Mexico for their own safety.

A decades-long battle to move chimps from a former research facility here in New Mexico to a sanctuary in Louisiana has finally come to an end. “We’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Gene Grant, Chief Program & Policy Officer for Animal Protection New Mexico (APNM).

Chimpanzees TJ and Nicole hang out Aug. 29 at a sanctuary near Keithville, La. The two were among a group of chimps previously relocated from the Alamogordo Private Facility at