Tacugama

As well as helping with the chimp health checks, Ruud and Esther are busy with their brief to enrich the enclosures where the younger chimps are playing every day, we gave you some initial pictures in a recent blog, here Esther tells us more about what’s been happening:

As we head into the 3rd week at Tacugama a platform is finally taking shape in enclosure A, where everyday almost 30 chimp youngsters play. We start work as the sun comes up at about 7am until either both batteries for the wireless drill are empty or we can’t bear the heat any longer, which ever comes first! Usually they are synchronised at around 10 am.

Pastor helps Esther to brace the trees
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We have to ensure that whatever we have been working on is at a chimp proof stage. The chimps have been watching us work intently from their night dens. The first thing they do as they run outside is to shake, bite, prise and sniff every new bit of wood, screw or bolt that is in their domain. If it wobbles they’ll wobble it. They like nothing better to give everything a good shake, using their whole body weight as a pendulum then to let go at a certain moment, to fly into the air, nonchalantly grabbing hold of a rope at the last minute. Unfortunately for them we have taken it upon ourselves to stop some of this fun behaviour, by strengthening and reinforcing the existing trees in the enclosure. I’m not sure if ‘tree’ is the correct word as the poor specimens that remain are completely denuded of leaves and bark. Many of the large limbs have broken off from years of chimp abuse. Of course in the wild, chimps use trees to shake as a display, so it’s all good training but it means that they are steadily losing all their high sitting places. We’re trying to preserve those that remain.

Thanks to the generosity of our past employer, Stichting AAP in Holland, Ruud and I arrived laden down with 1,000 Euros worth of hardware such as threaded bar, nuts, bolts and screws, a good sharp wood saw, a hack saw and an adjustable spanner. This plus 36 quality padlocks for the cages were donated to Tacugama, they’re not easy to get in Sierra Leone.

Ruud works on the new platform

We are working swiftly through our supply in the aim to make long lasting structures that will withstand a number of rainy seasons. Being sensible creatures, chimps like to sit in the shade during the heat of the day, so one of aims is to increase the shady spots, which will also double as rain protection, chimps also don’t like to get wet! We stick to the shade during the day too, making hammocks and swings from car tyres and working on other enrichment ideas.

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We’d like to add our thanks to Stichting AAP for their donation – Esther and Ruud are putting it all to good use. We also have fallen behind on our thanks to all of you for your support. We owe a really big thanks to Allan, Joanne, Wanda, Meghan, Theresa, Lucia, Suzanne, Christine, Nyree, Linda, Charla and Serah for generous donations and to Phil, Stacey, Lesley and Nikki for adopting chimps. You all continue to help us to make a direct difference – THANK YOU ALL!