Archive for the ‘Chimpanzee’ Category
Twice a year, we write Tacugama’s newsletter for friends of the sanctuary to catch up on a summary of our news… here´s a copy for you too! Have a read to catch up on what’s been happening at Tacugama over the first half of 2008 - maybe your family and friends would like to see it too! Please click on this link and not the image below, thanks: http://www.tacugama.com/july08.pdf
The two Australina artists, Patrick Hedge and Leigh Rust, are working hard for their upcoming exhibition. You can see some more of their work at: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=52302214&blogID=419759637 for Patrick and http://www.leighrust.com/tacugama.html for Leigh.
Three days ago we received an urgent call informing us that a baby chimp was being sold at Lumley beach area in Freetown. Our informer was instructed to keep negotiating with the dealer until our arrival. Willie, our head keeper, and Tommy, wildlife ranger were swiftly dispatched. On their way they picked up two police officers and with their help the baby chimp was confiscated without too much hassle. The man, a woodcutter from Tombo village situated in the peninsula of Freetown, obviously explained a fancy story that he came across three adult chimps in the bush and when they saw him, they panicked and took off leaving the baby behind. Tombo village is a gateway by boat to many provincial coastal villages, and we think this baby must have been capture in the south of Sierra Leone and transported into Freetown peninsula for a quick sale. The dealer was in a hurry as he was willing to sell the baby for a mere $25. Tombo on arrival to Tacugama with Willie We have named her Tombo. She is less than a year old, very thin (3.5kg) and very scared. Mama Posseh is now in charge and giving her the love and care she needs to make her feel safe. Tombo It was funny to see Gaura’s reaction to the new arrival. He was attentive, inquisitive and possibly very jealous seeing Mama Posseh taking care of Tombo. It won’t be long Gaura will have a new playmate. Junior is almost completely recovered from his injury and has joined his friends in the night dens. He may be allowed to go outdoors in the coming days. Junior and his mates: his best friend Kouze (sitting in front of him), Nita and Jerry (in the hammocks) Lucia C. and Theresa S. thank you very much for your latest donations. We will use the money to buy extra milk for Tombo.
The rains are here and I’ve been really busy with lots of maintenance work at the sanctuary and some new introductions. Sorry for not giving you as much regular news recently but thanks for your comments and donations. We appreciate them very much. Little Gaura is fine. Gorilla is doing well in Baba’s group. Boyze, another adult male is being introduced to Phillip’s group as he was previously with Gorilla and Augusta. It started well but we’ve had some hic-ups and are progressing slowly. It is not easy to introduce an adult male into a well established adult group!
Cheeta managed to nick the two way radio from Willie and was happily going around, showing off her new toy to the rest of her gang. We tried all sorts of ways to get it back but she was proving to be much smarter than us. She was getting excited hearing her name coming out of the radio and all the attention from the chimps and staff as everyone was following her. The entire Tacugama team was having a good laugh. I wanted to join in….but just the thought of buying another radio for $400 did not permit me. 48 hours gone, the battery has gone flat and the chances of finding the bloody radio in this thick forest is very slim! Cheeta wins! You can bet we’ll be looking at how to secure those radios better…. Cheetah holding her prize aloft, safely out or reach….
When Augusta died two months ago, we were very concerned about her companion and best friend, Gorilla (one must be sick to name a chimp- Gorilla!) They have lived together for the past 11 years and Gorilla was the only chimp Augusta would trust and share her life with. I first met Gorri in 1993 in a deplorable condition sharing his cage with a smaller chimp-Cheeta, both owned by a dubious Austrian Doctor who was dealing in exotic birds and other wildlife. He was rarely in the country and the chimps were left in the care of his care taker who could only afford to feed them sporadically. I was told on many occasions they would go without food and water for days. They learnt to eat their own excrement! The Doctor also owned another chimp called Fatu, who lived in an old toilet next to Gorilla and Cheeta. Fatu’s “toilet” was over 1.5 meters deep in rotting food and her own excrement.
Poor little Gaura….he has gone through his first knock down! Despite his tolerant nature towards medical procedures, he had to be sedated as we all know dental surgery can be very painful.
The Eco-lodges at Tacugama Bernie, one of our long-time friends here at Tacugama stayed in our eco-lodges for a while and wrote this evocative blog entry for us, detailing his encounter with Congo the wild chimp we see here occasionally.
With a heavy heart we announce the death of Augusta. Augie as we fondly call her, was the oldest resident at TCS. She was about 25 years old.
A thousand apologies for not being in touch but this has been a very hectic and exciting week for us. We had the honor of hosting the 2008 PASA management meeting and the last participants left today.
This is proving to be a busy week indeed! We are hosting the upcoming PASA (Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance) Managers’ Meeting, due to start on the 30th of this month, so we’re finalizing the arrangements for this. We’re really looking forward to catch up on everyone’s news and progress. |
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Bala Amarasekaran abandoned his original career as an accountant to establish Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in 1995. Together with the Government of Sierra Leone, he is working to secure the welfare and future of chimpanzees in Sierra Leone. 
