News

Ngamba Island Chimps Get New Leader - June 5, 2020

In awake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ngamba island chimps get new leader, Chimp Kisembo. This chimpanzee has been eyeing the Alpha Male position since 2010 during Chimp Mika’s reign. Chimpanzee leadership varies from one individual to another and to become a leader is not about being stronger or weaker neither young nor old but the […]

ChimpFace tests successfully its software to detect wildlife trafficking online - June 2, 2020

By Jaqueline B. Ramos* In April 2020, ChimpFace pilot tested its software to detect wildlife trafficking online by deploying an algorithm to detect baby/juvenile chimpanzee faces within publicly available YouTube videos. Pilot testing successfully confirmed the technical feasibility and potential of this approach.  The algorithm showed to have very high precision and a low false-positive […]

Peter Singer: “Think strategically” - June 1, 2020

By Max Kendix “Don’t worry everyone, this is the last one on Singer”, our ethics professor announced last term. The introductory course was a broad sweep of moral philosophy, and yet Peter Singer became the focus of every lecture. The Australian academic enjoys a sort of fame and influence unheard of for contemporary philosophers; his […]

In chimpanzees, females contribute to the protection of the territory - May 29, 2020

Female chimpanzees are also important in helping to win and keep a territory In humans, warfare and territoriality have traditionally been considered male “business.” Chimpanzees, with whom we share this propensity for out-group hostility and territoriality, are thought to follow the same gender difference. This vision may be too simplistic, as suggested by an international […]

GAP Brazil: Moments of chimpanzee Cecilia, granted with Habeas Corpus, at the Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba/SP - May 28, 2020

Chimpanzee Cecilia, 22 years old, became famous worldwide in April 2017, when she was transferred from Mendoza zoo, in Argentina, to the Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba, in São Paulo, Brazil (affiliated to GAP Project). She was the first chimpanzee in the world who is really enjoying the right to live in a sanctuary granted […]

Center for Great Apes: Sanctuary Update During the Pandemic - May 27, 2020

By Patti Ragan, Founding Director CGA After nearly three months of following our COVID-19 protocols, we want to let you know that both our apes and our staff are staying healthy. While we miss our members, volunteers, and visitors, we believe that maintaining “physical and social distancing” by limiting the number of people here beyond the […]

GAP Brazil: Chimpanzee Black celebrates his first year at the Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba/SP - May 22, 2020

Chimpanzee Black completed, at the beginning of May, a year in his new home – and life – at the Great Apes Sanctuary of Sorocaba/SP. Meeting the main objective of providing greater welfare in captivity, he is fully adapted, in good health, he lives very well with the female Dolores and, mainly, according to the […]

COVID-19: Urgent Message from Congo Chimps - May 15, 2020

From PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance We just received an urgent message from HELP Congo, a PASA member in the Republic of Congo. COVID has been devastating to their sanctuary, and they’re very worried about being able to care for their rescued chimps. There’s no time to waste. Olga was one of the first […]

Mystery Surrounding The Export of Chimpanzees to China - May 13, 2020

By Peter Dickinson – Independent International Zoo Consultant / Zoo News Digest In July 2019, 18 Chimpanzees were exported from South Africa to China. They had CITES documentation but these show significant non-compliances with CITES and with the South African CITES Regulations, 2010. WHERE WERE THESE CHIMPANZEES BRED? Perhaps somebody from PAAZA can answer the question. This […]

Terry is there for his friend, Cayenne. You can help too. - May 12, 2020

From Save the Chimps Sanctuary Terry wasn’t going to give up on his friend Cayenne. Every day he’d venture out onto the island, look back, and urge Cayenne to join him. Having spent her first fifteen years in a suspended cage, Cayenne didn’t know what concrete was, never mind grass. It looked so soft, and […]

Sanctuary announces success in birth control - May 8, 2020

From Center for Great Apes We have a special announcement to share with our friends and supporters. In our 27-year history, the Center for Great Apes has successfully implemented birth control methods for all our sanctuary residents with no “birth control failures”… until now. Sunshine, a 37-year-old female orangutan who arrived at our sanctuary three […]

Joanna and Rikita are free at last - May 4, 2020

From PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance Every day for 12 years, Joanna and Rikita stared out from the bars of their cages at the trees they would never climb and the grass they could never touch. Stolen from their families in the forest, then sold as novelty pets, they only knew a life of […]

In loving memory – Rufus: 1966-2020 - May 2, 2020

From Save the Chimps Sanctuary It is with heavy hearts that we write to you of the passing of one of the most iconic and well-loved members of our STC family: Rufus. But it also is a time to rejoice. Rufus is finally completely free. Thanks to you he spent his last decades in the […]

COVID-19: Rescued chimpanzees in Cameroon urgently need your help - April 30, 2020

From Children of Conservation Every day,  committed employees work to protect and conserve endangered species. During this global crisis, they need our help. Children of Conservation is committed to ensuring that the forgotten first responders for wildlife in Africa are able to survive during the COVID-19 crisis.  With your help, together we can ensure that […]

Twelve rangers killed in latest Virunga Park incident - April 25, 2020

by Fred Kockott (Mongabay) Twelve rangers and five other people were killed in Virunga National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday. It was the latest deadly incident in the park, where more than 150 rangers have been killed since 2006. Virunga, which includes large areas of intact rainforest that […]

Unsung heroes of the COVID crisis - April 9, 2020

By PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance We are deeply worried about a group of people who are easily overlooked – the animal caregivers at primate rescue centers throughout Africa. As COVID-19 sweeps across Africa, these caregivers are our only hope in protecting the apes. Every day, for 25 years, Jonathan Kang has been caring […]

PASA/Africa: Monkeys Need Food During COVID-19 - April 3, 2020

From PASA – Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance We can’t believe how much the world has changed in just a few weeks. COVID-19 has touched every corner of the globe, and it has been devastating to PASA member sanctuaries. The effects of this pandemic are hitting Vervet Monkey Foundation (VMF) in South Africa particularly hard. Travel […]

The Chimpanzee & Me, by Ben Garrod: realistic and hopeful - April 1, 2020

Book review by Alyson Baker* In The chimpanzee & me, academic primatologist and broadcaster Ben Garrod relates his experiences with chimpanzees.  The stories are bracketed by tales of the first chimp he fell in love with – Pasa from the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda – and cover the biology and plight of chimpanzees, mainly focussing […]

Just Right - April 1, 2020

By Diana – Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest If you are new to the blog, here are two things to know about the boss female chimpanzee Jamie: she loves boots, and she is constantly ordering the humans around. You can see the force of her personality in these photos: She’s also very particular about the things that […]

Virus which causes COVID-19 threatens great ape conservation - March 31, 2020

Interview with Johannes Refisch, United Nations Great Apes Survival Partnership Programme, Manager and Coordinator Both great ape research and tourism have allowed people to learn about chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, and to observe them from a close proximity. Great ape tourism also serves as an important source of revenue for governments and communities, and […]