Championing Chimpanzees in Sierra Leone
🐵 Species: Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
📍 Location: Dudley, West Midlands, England & Western Area Peninsula National Park, Freetown, Sierra Leone
🔑 Key Partner: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
🏆 Through our partnership with the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, we connect hundreds of learners in the Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone with hundreds of learners in the Black Country – promoting literacy and conservation-education.
The chimpanzee is a species of great ape native to the tropical forests and savannahs of equatorial Africa. Chimpanzees share approximately 98% of our genes and like us; are highly social, care for their offspring for years and can live for over 50 years. Their range extends across nearly two dozen African countries, including Sierra Leone – which is home to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
Located just on the outskirts of Freetown, in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary was founded in 1995 by conservationist Bala Amarasekaran and his wife Sharmila. Initially established to enforce wildlife laws and rescue and rehabilitate critically endangered orphaned Western chimpanzees, Tacugama has grown into a diverse conservation organization.
🚩 What is the problem?
Although chimpanzees are the most abundant of the great ape species, their wild population continues to decline due to a range of threats. Despite the fact that all killing, capture or consumption of great apes is illegal, poaching is the greatest threat to most chimpanzees. Habitat loss and degradation, largely due to slash-and-burn agriculture and the conversion of forest to farmland, and disease, such as the Ebola virus disease, act as a secondary threats. A lack of awareness and education in range countries, such as Sierra Leone, further exacerbates these issues.
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary tackles these threats through a variety of mitigation techniques, including rescue and rehabilitaiton, research, law enforcement and community education. The Tacugama Kids Environmental Education Programme (TKEEP) aims to increase sensitization and environmental awareness in primary schools, and give students the life skills to solve the environmental issues of the future.
🫶 How are we helping?
In 2023 we launched the ‘Chimpanzee Champion’ pen-pal programme. The programme is a collaborative effort between Dudley Zoo & Castle, the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary TKEEP (via the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots initiative), hundreds of learners in the Loma Mountains in Sierra Leone, and hundreds of learners in the Black Country
We work with local primary schools throughout the academic year, helping them write letters to their pen pal friend in Sierra Leone. The annual programme is kickstarted with an outreach visit to each participating primary school and is concluded with a free visit to the zoo – allowing learners to see our chimpanzees in person! Learners in Sierra Leone develop essential reading and writing skills through the pen-pal scheme, and the wider environmental curricula provided by TKEEP, while also facilitating hands-on learning experiences for the students.
Our expert education team, in partnership with our primate team, provide the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary with further support by undertaking administrative and record-keeping tasks for the sanctuary. This includes inputting vital chimpanzee health check reports into the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) – a global data resource promoting animal care.
💗 How can you help?
Simply by visiting Dudley Zoo & Castle, you are supporting chimpanzee conservation. Support us further by…
