Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Simone de Vries, Uncategorized, endangered species | Date: Nov 17 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

It is has been too long since my last blog, while there is really so much to tell. If you could pay a visit to the Limbe Wildlife Centre now, you would see that the entrance is nicely painted, with new plants along the wall. Then you would come in and go to the new gorilla pavilion, where you would have a great view over the gorillas that are high up in the trees. We are still working on the education signboards in and around the pavilion, but that will be ready before your next visit! During your visit you would of course see all the 15 species of monkeys and apes that live in the LWC. When you would be almost at the end of the tour you would see a giant construction of pipes.

This is the new enclosure for our guenons. I am very happy with this new construction, because the old enclosure is about to fall down. The new enclosure is bigger, has better separation possibilities and there is even a real tree growing inside. But I must say, it also costs a lot of money! We have received building materials from San Diego Zoo and money from Pro-Wildlife, but we still need more money to complete the enclosure. You can help us giving the monkeys the space they need, by making a donation through the paypal option on this page. Thank you very much for your support.

I will write more often again, so we will keep in touch!

Best wishes,

Simone

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Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, endangered species, rehabilitation | Date: Oct 28 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Within the last couples of months we have received three small dwarf crocodiles here at LWC. One was caught by some children in a river; one was given as a present to a chief of a village. His son came here to sell it, but we convinced him to donate it. The last one was brought here during the night. We don’t know its story. Yesterday, we released two of the crocodiles back to the wild.Unfortunately the last one has some serious wounds after being tied up with ropes around its legs. We will not release him yet, as we are worried that the wounds will get infected.

The two crocodiles were released in the nearby Bimbia Community Forest. In the forest is a river, a perfect habitat for dwarf crocodiles. We wanted to release the crocodiles weeks ago, but the road to the forest is really bad during the rainy season, so the river has not been accessible for months. But now the dry season is finally here, and the road is better.

The release team consisted of keeper James, Driver Egbe, volunteer Yana and me, Sofie. The crocodiles were loaded in seperate transport boxes on the back on our truck, and we were ready to go.

Although the road was much better than in the rainy season, it was still pretty bad and sometimes the ride was a bit scary. The road was very muddy and slippery with big potholes.  It is a stunning tour though, in a very hilly area with the view of Limbe, Mt. Cameroon, the sea and rainforest.

After 1.5 hour’s drive we reach the river, and it was time for the crocodiles to be released. We simply open the transport boxes, and the crocodiles could finally enter the water. It was so nice to see them back in their true habitat, and they both swam away right away. Hopefully they will have a safe life in Bimbia Forest now. Good luck crocodiles!

Best wishes,

Sofie   

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Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, endangered species, rehabilitation | Date: Oct 07 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

I just want to show you some more photos of Ndogpassi Jake, the mandrill we received a month ago.

Jake is doing fine. He is still in quarantine and has more than two months left before he can move on to the enclosure with the other mandrills here. We are trying to give him a lot of enrichment, branches, frozen fruit etc to keep him busy and he loves it! But most of all he loves company and is very happy when we sit outside his cage and talk to him.

We did his health check a few weeks ago, and he seems to be in a good condition, though a bit underweight. While Jake was sedated for the health check we could finally remove the piece of rope he had around his waist when he came here. He looks much better without it!

Best wishes,

Sofie

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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

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Category: Anne Sofie Meilvang, Cameroon, endangered species, rehabilitation | Date: Aug 25 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

A few weeks ago we told you that we had released our two civet cats back to the wild.Only a few days after, a man came to the centre with two small civet cats. The man has a cane rat farm, and some farmers brought these civet babies to him. They had been working in their fields and saw that the mother of the babies had run away, so they decided to pick up the babies and bring them to the owner of the cane rat farm.Unfortunately this is the kind of story we hear often. If the farmers would have left the babies the mum would probably have returned later to take care of them.

Now the two civet babies are in our quarantine and they are doing fine. We feed them milk and fruit. As soon as they are old enough to be released, we will take them back to the wild.

Last week we received another wild animal: a dwarf crocodile. A man brought it here. He bought it from some children who were catching small crocodiles on hooks in a river.  He actually bought two crocodiles, but the other one died quickly after he got it. Of course this man had only good intentions when he bought the crocodiles – he wanted to save them and bring them to a safe place.

Unfortunately it is not a good idea to buy these animals as it encourages the children to try to catch more crocodiles and sell them.This crocodile was lucky to survive, and as soon as we can, we are also going to release it back to nature.

These stories make me a bit sad, but they also remind me why our education program is so important. I really hope one day that people will understand how special these animals are, and why it is important to keep them in the wild.  One day!

Best wishes,

Sofie

2 responses so far

Category: Bush meat, Cameroon, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Aug 23 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

In less than two years time this blog has become a major fundraising activity for the Limbe Wildlife Centre. While the credit crisis is having an impact on the possibilities to fund projects, this blog is proving that lots of small donation make a big difference. First of all I would like to thank everybody who has donated money through the paypall option on this page. You have made it possible that we are taking care of more than 200 primates and other wildlife species! For all our other readers, I would like to say: please make a donation now. I will explain why this is so important for the LWC.

Every month we are faced with the payments of salaries. Pandrillus, the NGO that manages the Limbe Wildlife Centre, employes a veterinary surgeon, a vet nurse, keepers, education officers, etc. Our staff is truly amazing. They are the most dedicated people I have ever worked with and the LWC would not have been what it is today without their passion and perseverance. Nevertheless, raising funds for salaries is very difficult. Therefor this blog has been invaluable for us in this matter and I hope it will be in the future as well.

Another big chunk of our expenses has to do with veterinary care. All animals that arrive at the LWC go through quarantine and need several health checks before we start introduction into a resident family group. Anaestatics, TB-tests, etc. have to be brought from Europe or America and are very expensive. And in a time like this, with so many animals on treatment for respitorial diseases, a lot of money goes into medications. Again, the money sent through this blog has been incredibly helpful and we need your ongoing support.

So please, if you all give a small donation now, the Limbe Wildlife Centre will be able to continue its work. Our animals deserve the best possible care and together we can give it to them.

Finally, this blog is not only about money. I really appreciate all the comments to our stories. It is good to know there is so many people out there who care and support what we are doing. It gives us the strength to go on and do what we need to do.

Thank you so much!

Simone

Tags: Cameroon, conservation, help

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Category: Chimpanzee, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Aug 16 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Yesterday was my off day, but Sofie called me to say that Banyo was taken to quarantine because she was very sick. Like several other chimpanzees, she had been coughing and sneezing for a few days. Unfortunately, Banyo has now developed a pneumonia, which can be very dangerous. She is in intensive care, on a drip and getting medication. The whole night keepers have been sitting with her to make sure she was fine and doesn’t pull out the drip.

The rainy season in Limbe has been very tough this year, which resulted four times in flooded enclosures. The combination of rain and cold is very hard on the animals and every year a lot of animals get colds. But Banyo is really very ill now. She is just lying and sleeping, breathing fast and shallow. We are all very worried, but doing what we can to help her. I will keep you all informed.

Best wishes,

Simone

Tags: chimpanzee illness

4 responses so far

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

We have an old mandrill here in Limbe Wildlife Centre. He is called “Man alone”.

“Man alone” has been here longer than anyone really remembers. He was already here in 1993, when Limbe Zoo turned in to Limbe Wildlife Centre. One of our keepers has been working here more than 20 years, and he tells that Man Alone was here when he started.  At that time “Man alone” was the only mandrill in the zoo – hence his name. He was then held in a very small cage, where he could not even turn around. Of course this changed when the place became Limbe Wildlife Centre.

In 1996 we received another mandrill, and finally “Man alone” got some company. Mandrills do not live in the area around Limbe, but are found in the southern part of Cameroon. But still we receive mandrills once in a while, and today we have a group of 13 individuals. They are living in a big enclosure next to the baboons. For many years “Man alone” was the dominant male in the group. He was very big and strong, and his face brightly colored as you can see on the photo.

Now he is getting old, and he has lost a lot of weight the last year. He has also developed quite a hunchback. Another male, Prosper, is now the dominant male, and “Man alone” is slowly losing his beautiful colors. He does not move much around anymore, but has a special place in the corner of the enclosure, where he often sits and oversees the group.  Hopefully he will stay with us a bit longer..

Have a nice weekend,

Sofie

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Category: Cameroon, Gorilla, Simone de Vries, endangered species | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

This morning I thought I would go to the bank, arrange some paperwork for the car, answer emails etc. But it all went completely different. Baby gorilla Atinbi was not with her mother Akiba, because during the night Jumbo had stolen the baby. When Atinbi was born we were afraid this might happen, because Akiba was not a very high ranking female. But in the last 5 months Akiba has been an excellent mom, who always protects her baby very well. Until this morning.

Jumbo, here on the picture with Atinbi, is a very funny gorilla. She is always dancing, moving her body and shaking her arms. This morning she was even crazier than normal and she was giving Atinbi a roller coaster ride, jumping up and down and rolling from one side to the other. Atinbi did not appreciate it and called for her mom. Akiba was nervous, trying to get her baby back, then giving up and walk around. We observed it for a while, but it was clear that this problem was not going to be solved by the gorillas themselves. We decided to separate Jumbo from the rest of the group, so Bama could go in with her and try to take Atinbi away from her. Jumbo is not an aggressive gorilla, but it is always a bit risky to do something like this. Bama tried to grab Atinbi, but Jumbo would not let him. Bama asked me to come in and help, but to be honest that did not help at all. If there is anybody who can get things done from our gorillas it is Bama. I just made a picture of his efforts.

We had already given up and the vet team was preparing to sedate Jumbo, when Bama gave it one last shot. He yelled at Jumbo and acted like the perfect silverback. Jumbo was a bit impressed this time and let Bama take the baby. But as soon as Bama had the baby and headed towards the door, Jumbo came after him and did not want to let him out of the cage. It took quite some effort to get out without letting Jumbo out as well.Akiba is now inside with her baby and her friend Pitchou for company. We wanted to give them some rest, before going back into the group.

Atinbi is getting more and more adventurous, so we think that she must have wandered off a bit, when Jumbo took her. But she is still a baby that needs to drink milk and be with her mom. We will have to keep a close eye on Jumbo, so she does not do it again.

Best wishes, Simone

Tags: baby, Gorilla, infant

4 responses so far

Category: Cameroon, Simone de Vries, education, endangered species | Date: Aug 02 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

The Fraser’s eagle owl at the Limbe Wildlife Centre has a new enclosure. Since his arrival in January 2008 the owl has lived in a cage in quarantine. Now we have build a new cage for him, so he has more space and the visitors can learn about owls.

Fraser was brought to the LWC after some kids had thrown rocks at him. His eye was damaged and as a result he cannot be released. In Cameroon owls are considered to be witches, who bring bad luck. It is very important to educate the people about owls and their place in nature.In order to give Fraser the opportunity to fly we started a training program. Every day his trainer Killi takes him out of the cage to let him fly freely outside. Apart from the welfare issue, these flight shows are an excellent opportunity to talk to the visitors about owls. Yesterday Fraser moved in his new cage and he seems perfectly happy in there, but this afternoon during the training he was a bit confused and not flying very much. Maybe he needs some time to adjust.

On this pictures Killi is showing the owl in front of the new cage. If you want to support the Limbe Wildlife Centre, please make a donation. With the money we receive via this blog we can build other enclosures for our animals. Thank you very much for your support!

Best wishes, Simone

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