JGI-EDEN SANCTUARY, SOUTH AFRICA

Claude is about 8 years old, is a young chimpanzee and was abandoned, together with the zoo he was at a location called Bangui, at Central African Republic since 2008. Claude used to be kept in a small cage and was fed due to donations of people from French and North-America Embassies in the country.

These diplomats contacted PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance, which began to produce the documentation necessary to obtain the permission for Claude to leave for Jane Goodall Eden Sanctuary, at South Africa. The bureaucracy took two years and finally this month an airplane of South-African Air Force made the transport, supported by PASA and other environment organizations.

Other three chimpanzees are also in precarious situation in the country, according to information given to the rescue team. But the owners of the chimpanzees and the country denied the permission for them to leave the country, despite the fact that they do not have conditions to keep them decently.

“Some transfers are quick, and some require tremendous patience,” said Doug Cress, executive director of PASA. “This one took longer than any of us would have liked, but all credit to JGI-South Africa and JGI-Chimpanzee Eden for not giving up. The important thing is that Claude is safe in his new home.”

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International