Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
We were recently contacted by two Australian artists who learned about Tacugama through a documentary called “Chimps under Fire” from Animal Planet. They’ve been moved to create a series of works that will be exhibited in October at Monarto Zoo in South Australia. Leigh Rust and Patrick Hedges are not only helping to raise the profile of Tacugama, they’re also donating a large portion of the profits from their works to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and the Monarto Zoo to help conservation efforts for our amazing chimpanzees. Their exhibition will coincide with the official opening of Monarto Zoo’s new chimp habitat. We’re extremely grateful to Leigh and Patrick and we’ll let you all know how the exhibition goes. In the meantime we’re providing photos of the Tacugama families for the guys to use as source materials for their work. Here’s a couple of tasters for you… …. from Leigh …. from Patrick And here’s a link to more information and images from the project directly from the artists http://leighrust.com/tacugama.html We’re also very happy to report that our three new arrivals, Tombo, Urgent and Mac are doing well. Tombo has learned to use her hammock, Urgent was anaesthetised today for her full health check and Dr Rosa is now analysing the results, and Tombo has become a banana monster, eating hard to try and catch up with Gaura! More about them and the rest of the chimps on our next post.
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.
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. |
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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. 
