Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Chimpanzee | Date: Sep 17 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Running a sanctuary is hard work and it is not always easy to make time to write about it. We have had some sick animals in the last months, which is normal in the rainy season, but it seems that we have had the worst now. Because of the relative cold the bananas did not ripe well, so we had to find alternatives and cook lots of potatoes and cocoyams. That is back to normal too. This summer we have also been busy with four very successful Holiday Workshops and now we are starting up the next school year’s Outreach Program.

As I have some time now, I would like to tell you about Gah. People who watch the series ‘Going Ape’ will remember the baby chimpanzee that was completely paralysed when he came to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. When his mother was shot he had received bullits in his spine. Only with a lot of veterinary care, physiotherapy and patience of our quarantine keepers, Gah slowly started to move again. First his arms, later his legs, but he will always have a silly walk.

Gah is now almost 4 years old now and a few months ago we decided that it was time for him to move on from the baby group to the youngsters group. Most young chimps make this transition without any problems, but for Gah it was hard. Chimpanzees always play rough with eachother and Gah did not respond well to this. We started the introduction with the smallest chimpanzee: Mbu. She had spent a long time with Gah in the infants group and right away they became friends again. But after that it became more difficult, because all the others just banged on Gah’s head to see how he would respond to that. Having Mbu as a friend did not help, because she was too small to interfere with any of the others. At some point we had to take a step backwards and begin again. Each time we added one chimpanzee to the couple Mbu and Gah and observed how it went. When they were fine for a few days we added another. It took a long time, but the result is that now all the chimpanzees accept Gah as part of the group. Okay, he has a silly walk and does not run very fast, nor climb very high, but he is just Gah. They don’t bother him now very much anymore. Slowly he is developing a friendship with George, who is normally very oriented towards people. George normally spends most of his time sitting in front of the fence looking at the visitors and the keepers. It is good for him too, to have a new friend.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries (Assistant Manager)

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Category: Chimpanzee | Date: Aug 05 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Last Thursday I was called by a man in Bafoussam, who said he had a baby chimpanzee that he would like to donate to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. He had tried to find a good place for it for more then a month, but it was not until he emailed the IFAW office in France that he found out about the LWC. On Friday our head keeper travelled to Bafoussam to meet the man and bring back the chimpanzee. They arrived on Saturday in Limbe. The man told us that he had bought the chimpanzee from someone in Mbam forest, where he often goes to find herbs. He had paid 50,000 CFA (75 euros) for it. He told us that it was not the first time he had seen a young chimpanzee in that forest. The first time he had not bought the animal and when he came back a few days later the animal had died. This is why he felt he had to buy this chimpanzee to save its life. The Limbe Wildlife Centre never buys animals because it encourages hunters to get more animals from the forest. The man understood this, but he had felt like he had no choice. Just as we were listening to the man’s story, his phone rang. It was the man from the forest, saying that he had another chimpanzee for sale. This is a very sad illustration of the fact that buying animals really creates a market. We will of course try to get this chimpanzee as well, but then through confiscation. 

We have called our new chimpanzee Mbam. He is around one and a half years old and in good condition. He does not trust people yet and does not like us to touch him. No wonder after what he has been through. We take shares sitting with him and let him come to us. Today he started licking my hand, so I am sure he will soon come around.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager 

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Category: Cameroon, Chimpanzee | Date: May 30 2008 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Last Thursday at the end of the day I got a phone call from an American missionary who works in the forest of the eastern province. He visited the Limbe Wildlife Centre a few months ago with his family and at that time Sandy and I talked to them about the problem of orphaned baby chimps and gorillas. They told us that they had seen hunters with baby chimpanzees close to where they live, so we said that if they would ever see that again they should call us. And so they did…

On the morning of Saturday 12th May a hunter in Mayos took a baby chimpanzee back from the forest. He had killed the mother and wanted to sell the baby. Fortunately for the infant the American family heard about this and they were able to convince the hunters that it would be much better for the baby to be brought to a sanctuary. So they took the baby home and took care of it until they travelled to Douala. As soon as they were in reach of a telephone network they called us that they were on their way.

Sandy and I drove to Douala to meet them and there we found a very little, female chimpanzee. Sandy took her over and immediately the little infant seemed to be comfortable. It is quite clear that the family has done a good job taking care of her.

We are very happy that the American family decided to support Mayos financially. This will help us to pay for the food and the veterinary care, but it will not cover all the costs. Especially the quarantine period, when many tests and vaccinations need to be done is a very expensive period. The total costs of the first three months at the Limbe Wildlife Centre will probably be around $800. We would be very greatful if you would like to help us take care of Mayos by making a small donation.

Mayos is in good health, but so young! When we had a close look at her teeth, we estimated her age at four months. She is not very mobile yet, just sitting and observing the world around her. Her legs are not yet strong enough to stand up, but if she holds on to something she can move around a little bit. Sandy has built a tiny little climbing structure for her, but most of the time she prefers to sit on her lap. At the end of the day she goes home with Sandy and she sleeps through the night in a box, holding on to her toy gorilla that was given to her by the American family.

Simone de Vries

Assistant Project Manager

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