Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, Chimpanzee, rehabilitation | Date: Sep 22 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

The three baby chimpanzees, which were confiscated from a logging camp in May, have finally moved out of quarantine. They spent a longer time in quarantine than our animals normally do because we found some strange lumps on their stomachs when we did their first health check. We were afraid that these could be tuberculosis lumps. Fortunately, after doing several tests and examinations, our vet team found out that the lumps were caused by worms which could be treated. This meant that the babies could be moved.

Tikar, the biggest, went directly to the big enclosure with the adult chimpanzees where he is now slowly being introduced. He moved there together with Mbam, a male from the baby group, who was getting too big and too strong to stay with the other babies. When Mbam first came to the satellite cages with all the adult chimpanzees, he was very scared. The adults were very excited about the newcomers and screamed very loudly. Mbam refused to let go of Killi, his keeper from quarantine. But the day after he was fine and had made good friends with Tikar.

The two smallest chimpanzee babies, Ntui and Ngambe, are now in the baby chimp enclosure together with Mayos, a young female. They still need milk twice a day and are too small to be introduced to the adults. They really enjoy their new life, and spend the whole day playing with each other and on the climbing structures. Mayos seems to be very happy about her new friends. She is normally a bit shy and unsecure, but now that she is the one who has been in the baby enclosure the longest, she acts very confidently. The first day Ngambe and Ntui were outside she showed them around and taught them how to use the climbing structures.

 In the picture you see Ngambe  

And here Ntui

Best wishes,

Sofie

2 responses so far

Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, endangered species, rehabilitation | Date: Sep 14 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

A few weeks ago one of our keepers went to Douala to visit some family. Near their house he discovered an adult male mandrill tied up outside a house. It is of course illegal to keep mandrills, which are endangered animals, in private houses. Therefore we contacted the Chief of Wildlife in Douala to help us with a confiscation. The confiscation and the legal prosecution are not done by us, but by officials working for the government. Last Thursday two of our keepers and our veterinarian went to Douala to take care of the animal during the confiscation and to bring it back to the wildlife centre.  We expected that we needed to sedate the mandrill to get it in to the travel box, but the mandrill has been living as a pet in the house for seven years and was very tame.  He just walked into the box.

The owner told us that he was using the mandrill as a guard to take care of his house. He even told that he sometimes left his children alone in the house and put the mandrill outside to protect them. The mandrill lived as a part of the family and was eating the same food as them. They even gave him beer. He seems to be in a good condition though.

The mandrill is called Jake and is a beautiful fully colored adult. We have added Ndogpassi to his name, as he was confiscated in the Ndogpassi area in Douala. He is now in our quarantine where he has to stay for 3 months, so that we are sure he hasn’t got any diseases he can spread to the rest of our mandrills.I worry about the day when we have to introduce him to our mandrill group. First of all we already have adult males in the group, and secondly Jake clearly does not know that he is a mandrill. He is so used to living with humans, and he probably has not seen other mandrills for the last 7 years, so it will be difficult for him to understand their “language” and their behavior. Hopefully he will learn it!

I will keep you updated on Jake.

Best wishes,

Sofie

One response so far

Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, Chimpanzee, Gorilla | Date: Sep 06 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

We are now rebuilding our old chimpanzee enclosure. The chimpanzee enclosure is next to one of our gorilla enclosures with a group of four gorillas. Before the two enclosures were separated with fence and a corridor, but now we have build a wall between the two enclosures. This means, that the gorillas had their enclosure expanded with roughly 100 square meters a few days ago. It is not much, but for the gorillas it has been very exciting and very good enrichment.

The new area is quite muddy, and the silverback Arno has spent the last days jumping and rolling around in the mud - Having a great time. Every time he is feed, he brings the food to that part of the enclosure, so he can sit and eat with his back against the wall.

On the picture you see him covered in mud – he is normally quite black, but today he is brown from the mud.

The other gorillas have also been very interested in the new part of their enclosure. Especially Tinu, one of the females, love to bang on the new wall, making a lot of noise. When the chimpanzees return to their enclosure on the other side of the wall, I am sure that both the gorillas and the chimpanzees will have great fun communicating with each other banging on the wall.

Best wishes,

Sofie

One response so far