Tourists visiting Abkhazia, definitely make a trip to Sukhumi monkey nursery, known throughout the former Soviet Union, especially with the advent of space travel. Sukhumi monkey nursery will soon be celebrating the centenary of its founding. It was created in the 20-ies of XX century, especially for medical research experiments on monkeys, and in areas far away from their natural habitats. In connection with the expansion problems of scientific research in 1957, medical-biological station was transformed into a Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. Sukhumi was chosen because of its humid subtropical climate, suitable for the maintenance of the outdoors most of the species composition of the primates, the possibility of growing is their preferred plant food.

The initiator of the nursery was the People's Commissar of Health, NA Semashko. For the organization of the nursery was originally chosen a former summer residence of Professor Ostroumova on the mountain line, which in 1927 were delivered the first four monkeys from the other party in a dozen animals were killed on the road from Guinea. In subsequent years, there could settle down different types of monkeys, such as gamadrily, baboons, Anubis, a rhesus monkey, monkey, Japanese and Javanese. Some of them from 1974 to the present day live free population in the valley Gumista. Here, scientists first tested the vaccine, tested the effect of antibiotics and medicines. Twelve pupils visited Sukhumi nursery space.

Today the nursery has more than three hundred monkeys, they still bring an invaluable contribution to the development of science and medicine.