This weekend saw the arrival at Tacugama of yet another young chimp prematurely separated from its mother. He’s from the Kangari Hills in the centre of Sierra Leone so we have called him …. Kangari.

Moses receives Kangari at Tacugama
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He arrived at the sanctuary as the result of sensitisation work undertaken by our chimpanzee census team who were recently in the area towards the centre of Sierra Leone. A couple of weeks after they had been working there, Dr Terry received a call from the head of Cluff Gold, an exploration company based close to the Kangari Hills. He had been approached by someone with a baby chimp hoping to sell it to him as a pet. Thanks to the briefing he’d received from the census team he informed the person that what they were doing was illegal, immediately called Tacugama and arranged to bring Kangari to the sanctuary – a six hour drive from the hills. The person with the chimp claimed that Kangari had been left behind by his mother as she was chased away from raiding crops in a local farm. Sadly this is a highly unlikely story – Kangari is probably only 18 months old and it would be very unusual for him to be left behind no matter the stress – and it is much more likely that his mother was trapped and killed.

Kangari greets Bala as Dr Rosa takes him for his first check up 
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Kangari was very nervous on arrival and also full of cold.  He’s small for his age (based on the growth of his teeth) and underweight.

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Fortunately he’s settling into quarantine,  recovering from his cold and developing a huge appetite!

Kangari a couple of days after his arrival
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Here you can see a picture of Kangari’s original home in the beautiful Kangari Hills.

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But sadly on closer investigation, it’s not as unspoilt as it looks.

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Perhaps one good thing that should come from Kangari’s arrival is the chance to build a relationship with Cluff Gold so that as they prospect for mineral resources that could create an income for this very poor country, we can propose protection for important habitat areas to be included in their development plans.

Also to let you know that Posseh is busy preparing her answers to your questions – you gave her quite a lot! She should be ready to share her answers in a couple of days.