RESCUE IN DRC

On December, PASA (Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance) received the first information of the existence of three baby chimpanzees – one male and two females – abandoned in a rescue center at Democratic Republic of Congo. There have been days since they had eaten and drunk water and they were in critical condition.

A joint of organizations, led by PASA, sponsored by IPPL and Disney Conservation Fund and supported by local environment authorizes of DRC, mobilized to organize the transference of the babies to a sanctuary in Lubumbashi. After two months of efforts, on March 8 they arrived at Jack Sanctuary, where they will be together with other 29 orphans who live there.

According to Doug Cress, executive director of PASA, “It was a hard transfer, which needed collaboration and coordination of a lot of organizations. It is not easy to travel with chimpanzees more than 1300 kilometers and each step – from the construction of the transport cages to health exams and manage to arrange an adequate flight – had to be done under extreme pressure.”

The babies were found last December at a place called Suena. They were abandoned with two other adult chimpanzees and other two smaller monkeys. The monkeys were sent to a sanctuary near Lwiro in January, and so the two adult chimpanzees will. Suena Rescue Center was founded in 2005 by South-African Pieter and Sumarita Boshoff and there was a time it host 12 chimpanzees. The couple abandoned the project and the project and today their location is not known.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International