Providing Safe Havens for Orphan Chimpanzees in Africa
Orphans Nakuu and Nani at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary, Congo.
© Jane Goodall Institute
The Jane Goodall Institute sanctuaries address root problems threatening great apes in the wild while protecting the youngest victims of illegal hunting: orphaned chimpanzees. Most of these chimpanzees are traumatized, sick, malnourished, and in desperate need of medical attention when they are confiscated from poachers and black-market sellers and brought to a sanctuary.
JGI has created two sanctuaries in Africa—in the Republic of Congo and Uganda—housing nearly 160 orphaned chimpanzees.
Caring for orphan chimpanzees is a long-term commitment, as they can live to 60 years, and reintroduction into the wild poses tremendous challenges. “There were many who urged me not to get involved with orphan chimps,” recalls Goodall, “but for me there was no dilemma. I could not turn my back on the outstretched hands, the pleading eyes, the pathetic, malnourished bodies of the orphans. And so, our sanctuary programs began.”
For more information on JGI’s sanctuary program, please visit www.janegoodall.org and www.ngambaisland.org