From PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance

We are terrified by how many orphaned primates will need our care in the coming months. PASA’s emergency rescue fund ensures that urgent rescues like these are conducted quickly, resulting in more lives being saved. 

Last week, three chimpanzees and two young baboons arrived at our member Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Centre in dire need of medical care. A fourth baby chimp is on his way to another PASA member in DRC, JACK Sanctuary, while they are also working to save 25 orphaned monkeys at the same time.

Shockingly many orphans are continuing to arrive at sanctuaries from the wildlife trade.

These continuous arrivals take a heavy toll on our members. Itsaso Velez, the Technical Director of Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Centre, says, “This is too much. It’s only May and we have already rescued seven chimpanzees.” The scale of this crisis is almost unbelievable.

The ones that arrived at our member sanctuaries are the lucky ones. Two other chimps in DRC that were confiscated from traffickers died before our members could reach them.

When Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Centre learned that several young chimpanzees were confiscated from poachers over 1,000 kilometers away, they quickly contacted local partners to mobilize a rescue team. It took the team two days to reach the chimps because flooding had damaged the roads and the location was extremely remote. Upon arrival, the team learned of the devastating death of the two other babies.

The rescue team provided urgent medical care to the surviving chimps and while waiting for a flight to Lwiro, yet another chimpanzee and two baboons were confiscated with help from the local authorities. Luckily, these orphans were able to go directly into the rescue team’s care and gain safe transport to the sanctuary.

To learn more about PASA’s work and support it, visit the alliance website – Double your gift today to save more orphans from harm.