Tacugama

Category: Introduction, Tacugama | Date: Dec 05 2008 | By: tacugama

What a great few days we’ve had here! We’ve finally been able to introduce Urgent and Salva to a whole new way of life much closer to what Mother Nature intended for them.

After such a terrible first 15 years Urgent is now out in one of our forested enclosures and able to climb trees, for probably the first time in her life. You may remember that she came to Tacugama in July this year having spent at least the last 8-10 years tied to a tree by a short chain. As far as we understand she has been captive almost all of her life. Last Saturday saw her finally meet Gorilla and Jetti face to face and then they took her on a guided tour of their forested enclosure. She hasn’t looked back and we were thrilled yesterday to finally see her at the top of a tree watching the world go by with Jetti at her side.

Gorilla gives Urgent a welcoming grooming

Urgent - a new experience!
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Urgent and Jetti
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Urgent happy with the next stage in her life
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Urgent when we first found her
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Salva, who came to us four months ago in a terrible state with infected wounds, has been gradually introduced to Baba’s group since he completed his quarantine period. After sharing the night dens with them for a couple of weeks he finally joined them last week as they ventured out to spend their day foraging and playing in the enclosure. He’s now working hard to emulate Kouze’s skill on the ropes and build his muscles, his confidence grows every day he’s out.

Salva enjoys his freedom to climb a tree
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His has not been an easy journey – he suffered badly from the recent bout of flu and then had to undergo an operation to remove a needle tip from his thigh bone after a dart used to deliver antibiotics snapped and left a fragment in his leg. At last he’s made good friends and when things get a bit rough in his new family, Joko’s usually there to take extra care.

Salva and Tico share a grapefruit
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With Baba (left), Kouze (behind) and Joko (right)
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Salva being released from his bonds on arrival at Tacugama
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As ever your donations help us to continue our work with Salva, Urgent and the other 89 chimpanzees at Tacugama as well as to continue our education and community liaison to help protect Sierra Leone’s wild chimpanzee population. Thank you for your recent support to Pilar, Christine and Joanne. Also many thanks to the GOAL team based in Kenema in Sierra Leone who recently visited us at Tacugama and asked especially to sponsor Urgent. They’re working on development projects around the village where Urgent was confiscated and were very happy to know that she was finally back in a forest with her own kind for company.

Tags: Chimpanzee, Sierra Leone, Tacugama, wildlife