This gentle and cheerful chimpanzee is again in danger of returning to a cage, as he has lived for years when used to be negotiated by a Ugandan dealer that neither gave him nutritious food.

A rescue team of Ngamba Island Sanctuary had to ask for help from the police to release Baron of his captivity and keep under control the drug dealer who threatened to kill everyone if they took the chimp. In 2008, Baron was finally rescued and joined the group of 48 chimpanzees living in the Sanctuary, on the banks of the largest Tropical lake on Earth: Lake Victoria.

But now the lake can become a dangerous enemy that can destroy the house of those unfortunate chimps, most rescued from the hands of traffickers. The rains of the past weeks have increased the level of the lake, which has begun to invade the island. With the help of PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance, which donated an emergency budget, a retaining wall was built, but this is not enough. The wall must be increased in order to prevent the water to take away all facilities and primates.

Ngamba Sanctuary fears that the rains will continue until March  and will make the level of Lake increasing in altitudes unseen, and the island will be at the mercy of the water. An international call, backed by PASA, is being done so that donations are received, to increase the protection of the Island and save the most essential facilities in order to preserve the sanctuary, their guests and the keepers with whom they live.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International

See the dramatic photos of the waters of Lake Victoria threateningly invading the island: