Chimpanzees are indigenous to Sierra Leone, but have been endangered due to extensive hunting for bushmeat. Most of the chimps at Tacugama were captured as babies and sold as pets by hunters who killed their mothers for food. I made this second visit to the reserve in the forested mountains around Freetown in a heavy rain storm. Beautiful. ...and refreshingly cool!
This year, the sanctuary celebrates its 15th anniversary with the completion of an impressive national chimpanzee census. See http://www.tacugama.com/ for more information, to adopt a chimp, or to visit the sanctuary or offer your skills as a volunteer. The census estimates indicate roughly 4,000 chimpanzees living in the wild throughout Sierra Leone, alongside even more rare forest elephants and pygmy hippopotamus.
No comments:
Post a Comment