Lab chimps see sun for first time

The release of chimps being held in an Austrian lab for animal testing has become a viral hit across social media networks.

The chimps were reportedly held in the dark for almost 30 years before being released on the back of a 14-year campaign by animal rights groups.

The Daily Mail says testing ended on the apes in 1997, when the pharmaceutical company behind the research was sold and the chimpanzees were moved to a farm.

But the task of readjusting to the outside world has had to be carefully managed in order for the chimps to survive.

"The chimps are incredibly happy. This is amazing, I have been waiting for this moment for so long," Keeper Renate Foidl said.