Michael Jackson’s chimpanzee Bubbles in secure space at Florida sanctuary as Ian approaches 

Bubbles, a chimpanzee formerly owned by Michael Jackson, has been imprisoned in a Florida monkey sanctuary before Hurricane Ian.

The Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, has boarded up sandbags and placed them in and around the buildings of its facility, where Bubbles has been housed since 2005.

Additional accommodations for Bubbles, 39, and the estimated 70 other monkeys at the facility include hammocks and ready meals stored in the now-barricaded buildings.

‘With the most recent track, it looks like the storm is coming for a visit to the shelter!!!’ Patti Ragan, the center’s director, wrote in a Facebook post.

“All the monkeys and their keepers will be safe in the night houses tonight until tomorrow with all their food and supplies.

“The maintenance team has boarded up all the offices and houses, placed sandbags in the flood-prone areas, purchased supplies and our caretakers prepared the monkeys’ night houses, diets and special enrichment during the storm.

‘They are heated in winter and strong enough to withstand Florida hurricanes’

The Center for Great Apes, which has housed Bubbles since 2005, has been preparing for Hurricane Ian by boarding all the buildings in its facility.

All buildings are equipped with hammocks and ready-made food

“We’ve been through this six times before and we know we’ll get through this,” said Patti Ragan, the center’s director.

The center houses Bubbles and other monkeys, such as Oopsie, Murray, Mowgli, and Bo, in a 100-acre space where the monkeys can roam freely.

Ragan assured the public that the center would be okay in anticipation of the now-Category 4 storm.

“We’ve been through this six times before and we know we’ll get through this,” she said. “We’ll update you with more details as soon as possible.”

Other Florida-based animal rescue organizations are also gearing up for the storm, including Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue in Tampa.

“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Big Cat Rescue who filled sandbags, picked up sticks and sawed branches and covered the windows,” Baskin said.

Bubbles is joined by an estimated 70 other monkeys at the Wauchula, Florida facility

‘Bubbles enjoy quiet moments and painting’, according to the website of the center

‘Michael Jackson and Bubbles,’ by Jeff Koons at the Whitney in 2014

Bubbles was born in 1983 and was given to Jackson by a Hollywood trainer in 1986.

He is immortalized by a 1988 Jeff Koons sculpture, which depicts Bubbles on Jackson’s lap in porcelain and gold leaf.

In 2005, Bubbles made his way to the Florida facility after being deemed “too aggressive” to live in Jackson’s home.

The center lists Bubbles as a “physically imposing adult male of 185 pounds, 4 and a half feet” who “is now treated as the dominant male in his group of chimpanzees, which includes his best friends, Ripley and Oopsie.”

“Bubbles enjoys quiet moments and painting,” according to the website.

The website adds that “Bubbles will occasionally spew water or throw sand (with astonishing accuracy) at strangers to see how they react.”

Despite Jackson’s death, his legacy continues to support Bubbles’ annual health care costs at the shelter.

Pictured: Michael Jackson drinks tea as he and Bubbles meet the mayor of Osaka, Japan