In the last months we have fed the vulture with meat and palmnuts. This species of vultures is the only one not feeding strictly on meat. As a matter of fact, our palmnut vulture really likes palmnuts a lot! In the area of Limbe a lot of rainforest has been cut in order to space for oil palm plantations. It is therefor not a surprise that palmnut vultures are common around here.

The rehabilitation of this particular vulture takes a long time. He arrived in the LWC in April, but after 4 months the wings show very little progress. As the feathers were pulled out at a very young age there is a possibility that the wings will not completely recover.

We have now moved him to a bigger space where he can move around more. We hope that this will help him to stay healthy and strong. He is now sharing an enclosure with our Fraser’s eagle owl. We did not know how they would respond to each other, but they seem to be fine together. In the beginning the owl made himself really big by putting up all his feathers, but then he realized that it was okay. The upper branches are for Fraser, the lower ones for the vulture.

On the picture below you can see that the wings still have a long way to go.

Best wishes,

Simone

Nicky Mamfe is a female drill that came to the Limbe Wildlife Centre in February of this year. After a three months quarantine period she is now in the proces of being introduced to the other drills. The introduction is going very slowly, because Nicky has a lot of problems.

Nicky was called after Felix Lankester’s wife, who found her tied to a rope in the village of Mamfe. Nicky Lankester persuaded the owner to give up the drill and donate it to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. She had a crate made out of scrap wood and transported the drill to Limbe.

Nicky Mamfe’s spine is damaged and she has problems moving her hind legs in a normal way. On top of that, she completely lacks social skills and is afraid of the other drills. We can only guess what she has been going through, but is has left its marks both fysically and mentally. Nicky is now in a cage next to the drill enclosure and she has company of a few nice females with their young. However, during feeding we have to separate them, because Nicky is too scared to eat in their company. It is clear that this process is going to take a long time, but we will be very patient.

The drill is the most endangered primate species in Africa, with an estimated number of 3000 left in the wild. Nevertheless, hunting pressure is still very high. Drills live in large groups and mostly on the ground, which makes them very vulnerable for hunters. The hunters kill the adults, while the infants are kept alive in order to sell them as pets. Last year we rescued four drills that had been illegally kept in people’s homes.

The Limbe Wildlife Centre is now home to 62 drills. We breed with them, with the aim to do a reintroduction project in the future. As can be seen in the picture, the males are much bigger then the females. When a female is in heat, she attracks the males with a large sexual swelling. The dominant male, to be recognised by his colourfull buttocks and chin, will follow the female around, anywhere she goes, and mate with her regularly.

Hopefully one day Nicky will be a happy member of this group. With the condition of her legs she will never be able to run around like the ohers, but if she gets used to their company she can feel safe again and live a normal drill life.

Best wishes,

Simone

Jo-Jo was kept by a Greek business man, ever since he was a baby. Over time he became more and more difficult to keep and frequently escaped. When the man left the country he left Jo-Jo with a Cameroonian colleague. The colleague decided to donate Jo-Jo to the Limbe Wildlife Centre. This is how Jo-Jo was kept until then.

Jo-Jo was an aggressive chimpanzee when he came to us. Being in a small cage for a long time had been very hard for him and hours on end he was rattling his feet against the quarantine cage. His rehabilitation has taken a long time, but this week he was finally ready to go outside with the rest of the chimpanzees in the new Born Free Chimpanzee enclosure.

He first hesitated, going out for a few seconds and then run inside again. He repeated that a few times. Then he grabbed Papa, a young male, from the back and walked out with him. Papa guided him around, Jo-jo holding on tightly. Several chimpanzees came up to Jo-Jo and hugged him. It was almost like they were congratulating him: you are outside! Papa walked him all the way down to the end of the enclosure, where Carlos was waiting for them.

Carlos is our biggest chimpanzee and he weighs 84 kilograms. Carlos and Jo-Jo hugged each other and Jo-Jo even climbed on Carlos back. Like that, Carlos walked him around a bit then they went up to a climbing structure. Jo-Jo climbed up and stayed there the rest of the day.

Jo-Jo, who only weighs 50 kilograms, looks quite small next to Carlos.

At the end of the day Jo-Jo did not want to come inside. We could not blame him, because he had been inside for too long. Finally when darkness came, Jo-Jo went in and we closed the door behind him. This routine was repeated the two days that followed, until yesterday when he went inside with the others.