Bubbles -- the latest as of June 28

June 29, 10:12 AMShowbiz Pets ExaminerLorraine Goodman

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Bubbles dressed like the King of Pop

Bubbles, the ape of the moment, who travelled via private jet to Japan and mastered his master's Moonwalk dance, was reportedely moved from Neverland to the Center for Great Apes in Florida, in 2005, after Michael Jackson’s famous sexual absue trial, the head of the sanctuary, Patti Ragan, told Shaun Tandon of the American Free Press.

Jackson did not provide financial support for Bubbles and, despite his stated desire, never visited him there, according to Ragan. The website, which did not directly mention Bubbles' famous former guardian until recently, describes the chimp as having a "broad, handsome face and a lot of charisma."

Bob Dunn, the Hollywood animal trainer who originally bought Bubbles from the Texas medical laboratory where he was born, was quoted as telling Britain's News of the World tabloid that Jackson thought of Bubbles as "his first child" and regularly visited while Bubbles was in Dunn's California preserve (Neverland).

Dunn is now apparently in negotiations to work out a deal to speak publicly about Bubbles.

One question remains, though: the Center for Great Apes biography of Bubbles, while now updated to mention Bubbles' famous former owner, still lists Bubbles' birthdate as 1986. Jackson, however, adopted his chimp in 1985.

As for the other animals once housed in Neverland, nearly all of them have been moved to new homes since 2005.  Animal rights activists claim that some have become roadside attractions in uncertain conditions, with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) adding that it has been difficult to track down most of Jackson's former pets.

Lisa Wathne, PETA's specialist in captive exotic animals, voiced particular concern about two of Jackson's orangutans sent to a private owner in Connecticut and reptiles at a roadside zoo in Oklahoma.

"All too often even people who start with good intentions, as Michael Jackson certainly did, don't have the ability to properly care for these animals," she said.

"And unfortunately in Michael Jackson's case he did apparently run into financial problems that ultimately led to his animals being disbursed to places all over the world. We don't know, frankly, where most of them ended up."