IDA-Africa
Oct 9, 2006
Support IDA-Africa ~ Purchase a unique 2007 calendar ~ for yourself and a friend!
Each month features a beautiful color photograph of chimpanzees at Sanaga-Yong Rescue Center, a short biography, and important U.S. and Cameroon dates along with animal welfare observance days.
The 17" x 11" calendar is only $15, including shipping and handling and proceeds directly benefit the chimpanzees.
Baati (l) accepting an embrace from Sambe. |
Baati is the newest member of our sponsorship program.
When Baati was taken from the forest after his mother was killed for the illegal bushmeat trade, he was kept in a small wooden box, deprived of all physical contact and comfort...a baby without his mother.
He was rescued by IDA-Africa in December 2005 when he was less than six months old. During his early days at Sanaga-Yong Center, he couldn't tolerate being touched by human caregivers or chimpanzees. He was too scared. With patience and time though, Baati began to trust and learned once again about the comfort of being in loving arms.
Chimpanzee Sponsorship is a GREAT GIFT -- one that truly makes a difference. Click here to learn more. |
Tati and Amigo Update
On March 29, 2006, with assistance from the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF), IDA-Africa rescued Tati who had been chained to a limb of a tree for years. In July, we shared with you a brief update on Tati and his new friend, Amigo. Today Tati and Amigo live together in an enclosure built for them.
As is the wonder with the amazing chimpanzees at Sanaga-Yong Center, Tati and Amigo have shown resilience, determination and a will to survive. Tati and Amigo, a slightly older chimpanzee rescued only days after Tati, are adjusting well and have begun the long road to re-learning all the intricacies of being a chimpanzee.
Tati before rescue-not able to touch the ground. | Tati and Amigo were officially integrated July 31 after living in adjoining enclosures for three months, during which time they were able to get to know one another, play and groom through the mesh barrier, and adjust to their new situation. Neither of these individuals understood the nuances of social behavior and communication for chimpanzees. Life in captivity robbed each of them of the opportunity to learn and grow as they would have in the wild. They are figuring things out though, relying on their instincts and learning from each other.
As is the fate with many orphaned chimpanzees,Tati and Amigo were kept as “pets” when they were taken from the forest. Tati was held in a neck chain on a tree limb and Amigo in a box cage in a backyard. Until they were too old and too strong to handle, they had been kept as a "pet" with human families. As is the case with all primates (and wild animals), when they outgrow the cute and cuddlly stage, chains, cages and abuse become their reality. Tati and Amigo, as well as others at Sanaga-Yong Center, endured years of agonizing boredom, isolated and deprived of social interaction with their own species.
Adolescents like Tati and Amigo have an especially difficult time adjusting to life with chimpanzees. They are faced with fear and anxiety caused by isolation and abuse and have to learn how to undo the immeasurable affects of living directly with humans. At Sanaga-Yong Center, they are given an opportunity to be the individual they may have become had they never been stolen from the wild.
As the logging industry continues to cut roads into the forests there is increased access for bushmeat poachers to reach what once was remote wildlands. The impact on great apes (and other wildlife) is devastating. These two powerful, destructive forces feed one another like wind feeds a fire. The trade in bushmeat is illegal but while the demand persists, the pressure on remaining wild chimpanzees will continue and their future is in peril.
IDA-Africa's extensive public education and sensitization campaign helps to raise awareness of the laws against holding, selling or killing great apes, of the plight of the remaining wild apes. Our efforts are helping to change attitudes and behaviors through school and community education programs, a country-wide radio campaign, and general outreach and participation in community events. Read more here.
Learn about the Captive Primate Safety Act and bushmeat.
Gremlin
Like all residents of the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, this young chimpanzee's mother was stolen from him by bush meat hunters. The same hunters who killed his mother took him into captivity, most likely in hopes of selling him as a pet. US Ambassador Neils Marquardt discovered him in a remote village and helped arrange through the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife of the Cameroon government to have the baby transported to the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center. (Read about the Amassador's 2005 visit to Sanaga-Yong Center)
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The baby was approximately 16 months old and was named Gremlin. During his initial quarantine period (necessary to make sure he was healthy), Gremlin clung to his human caregivers...desperate for safety. Former volunteer, Brett Rafter, shared this story: ...while sitting on my lap hugging my neck Gremlin saw our camp cat walking by. He carefully stepped down, puffed up like a tarantula, and displayed, stomping up and down with arms bowed like a bull dog, little fists pounding the ground. And then as soon as he realized he wasn’t holding on for support and that even the cat was bigger than him, he raced back towards me, flinging himself to wrap both arms around my neck and bury his head in my chest - he did not look up for some time!
Gremlin currently lives with baby chimpanzees Sambe and Baati. He has become very good friends with his adopted siblings, both of whom share a similar history. They are taken on daily forays into the forest by their caregiver Henriette. During his first jaunt into the forest, Gremlin passed on joining Sambe and Baati who were banging on a log and fighting over a piece of fruit. Instead he wandered off to a tree, grabbed a small stick and proceeded to fish for termites ~ perhaps something he learned from his mother.
IDA-Africa ~ 700 SW 126th Ave, Beaverton, OR 97005
503-643-8302~ andrea@ida-africa.org
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