Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Guenon, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Mar 27 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

In the last months we have received a lot of money via this blog. We are really grateful for these donations and would like to thank everybody who contributed. The work we do would not be possible without you! Let me tell you about the animals that are doing really well thanks to your donation.

Gorilla Adjibolo (foto by George Logan), who was rescued in December 2007 when she was half a year old, is growing well. She still takes her milk in the morning and the afternoon, but for the rest she is just like a big gorilla. She is very happy with her two adoptive mothers Abby and Tinu and the playful Arno. Here also a picture of her moms.

And a picture of Arno. Ever since he has his own family you can just see him grow. Pretty soon he will develop as a silverback!

Preuss’s monkey Bobendina is now 8 months old and is growing as well, but she still sucks her thumb. She is in a group with the one-year-older male Bobo and four females.

Mayos is still the baby in our infant chimpanzee group, but she is already 14 months old. She is starting to be more assertive and when the boys bother her she just goes after them. Ilor, the oldest infant, is her biggest friend.

And finally, our youngest gorilla, born on 3rd March 2009 in the LWC, has a name! In memory of the two gorillas that died last year, we call her Atinbi, which means replacement. Atinbi is doing really well and the whole group of gorillas is very interested in her. Especially Chella, her father, is hanging around all the time to make sure she is okay.

And then something completely different: the Limbe Wildlife Centre has a new website. Please have a look at www.limbewildlife.org.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager

6 responses so far

Category: Cameroon, Gorilla, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Mar 11 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

On 3rd March Western lowland gorilla Akiba gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Mother and child are doing well.

The Limbe Wildlife Centre has the policy not to breed with gorillas and chimpanzees, as we need all the space we have for the rescue of victims of the bushmeat and pet trades. This is why all the gorilla females get daily oral contraceptives. Akiba, with her 9 years old the youngest gorilla in the group, has been on the pil for several years now. Last year though she was seriously ill and we had to separate her from the group. One of our volunteers stayed with her 24 hours a day, trying to feed her and giving her medication. We had taken her off the pil, as it was already quite difficult to get her to take the necessary medications. Fortunately, she got better and started to grow again. We put her back on contraceptives and joined her with the rest of the group.

In the group she looked better and better, and she grew. At some point she looked quite healthy, but still she grew. Therefore we decided to do a pregancy test, which came out positive. We did a second test with the same result. Then we knew we had to start preparing for the birth of a baby. And although it was not planned, it was very hard not to be happy about it.

The last month of her carriage, Akiba spent the night with just some quiet females, but in the end she gave birth during the day in the outside enclosure. The group was very interested and gorilla keeper Bama saw right away that something was going on. He opened the door and Akiba ran inside with a small bundle on her arm.

The first two days we have observed them carefully, but we did not see any suckling. This is why we decided to sedate Akiba and put the baby on the nipple. As soon as we did this the baby started drinking. Ever since the baby is drinking fine. Akiba and the baby are outside again and they are doing really well.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries, Assistant Project Manager

9 responses so far

Category: Cameroon, Chimpanzee, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Mar 11 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Last saturday 7th March was a very exciting day. After three and a half years of building we finally opened the new island chimpanzee enclosure. Without a doubt, the building of this enclosure has been the most ambitious and difficult project in the history of the Limbe Wildlife Centre, but we can say that the result is magnificent.

The enclosure, known as the island enclosure, has been funded by generous donations from the Born Free Foundation, so we were delighted that a representative of this organisation could participate in the opening. In his opening speech, Ian Redmond explained that also for the Born Free Foundation this project has been an enormous undertaking. Further, we were honoured by the presence of the Director of Wildlife of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, the Divisional Delegate and many other invitees. In a joint effort a ribbon was cut and the new chimpanzee signboard was revealed. Subsequently the chimpanzees were released from the new satellite enclosure into the new outside enclosure.

The new enclosure is large, but only until we saw the chimpanzees run into it we realised how large. The chimpanzees just seem to disappear in all the space they have now. It is an absolute pleasure to see the chimpanzees run around, play with each other and in the water, and explore all corners and hiding spots. Especially with the tall vegetation this enclosure is a true chimpanzee jungle.

We would like to thank the Born Free Foundation for their endless support and great patience. The work that we do can only be done because of sponsors like them and we are extremely grateful. With the completion of this job we now have time to start planning the building of a new guenon enclosure (see blog of ). We welcome all donations for this new project.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries, Assistant Project Manager

7 responses so far

Category: Cameroon | Date: Mar 05 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

We received a detailed report about the ‘Race of Hope’ from the runners themselves, with some great pictures and an impression of the Limbe Wildlife Centre at the end of it. We would like to share it with all of you:

“After much preparation both physically and logistically, we competed in the Mt. Cameroon Race for Hope on February 21st. A group of 6 made the trip to Buea, Cameroon and four of us joined the 500+ runners on the mountain on the day of the race.

In typical West African fashion, the lack of organization of the event resulted in significant headaches in the weeks, days, and even minutes leading up to the race. But, after 3 weeks of daily emails and phone calls, hiring a Cameroonian to negotiate with the authorities in our absence, and completing a series of oddly “thorough” medical examinations, our registration was complete 10 minutes before the race… just in time for a few interviews with local reporters.

The whole of the Buea town population seemed to be out to see off the runners. The initial 7km of the course was lined with thousands of residents cheering us on and offering smiles, encouragement, and the occasional “Le Blanc! Le Blanc!” to let us know that we were welcome on their mountain.

The mountain proved to be as challenging as expected with highly variable weather conditions and some of the most treacherous terrain imaginable. It was inspiring to watch the local runners literally fly down the mountain as we ascended through some of the most challenging phases. It is safe to say that the local racers are some of the most well-tuned athletes in all the world.

To the amazement of all of us, Keith made it to the summit at 13,500 ft and back down, completing the race in under 10 hours. It is truly a remarkable achievement best conveyed by his first words after completing the race: “I’m never setting foot on that #&%ing mountain again.”

With a tricky decent to make and the promise of post-race celebration, Doug opted to turn around after 4 hours, reaching the camp at 10,000 ft, and ultimately spent over 7 hours on the mountain. Our other two participants, Nigel and Amir, got a taste of the slope above tree-line at about mid-day, but were soon turned around by the race authorities who didn’t want to spend their evening guiding the lost “Blancs” through the rain forest.

The event was deemed a tremendous success by all with everybody safely making it off the mountain.The day after the race, we had the opportunity to visit the Limbe Wildlife Centre to enjoy the warm hospitality of the staff. It was definitely a mix of emotions as we were able to watch the rescued animals and hear about the LWC’s plans for the future, but at the same time see the horrors of the bush meat trade and its impact on both the endangered animals and the region. We were particularly taken by a group of young orphaned chimpanzees and an orphaned baby gorilla. It was amazing to look into their inquisitive eyes and watch them interact with each other and their environment.

The response from our first mailing has been tremendous. We want to thank those who have contributed to this cause, the folks at the Limbe Wildlife Centre wanted us to extend their appreciation. Please note that we will continue to accept donations for the race until March 15th. The site is open year round if anybody would like to make further donations to Limbe Wildlife Center. Look out for a series called “Going Ape 2”on Animal Planet, which focuses on the work of the LWC and other similar centers in Cameroon.”

Sincerely,
Keith Norman
Doug Gratwick

One response so far