Chimpanzee Conservation Centre

 Last year, Jérôme Grenèche, a French volunteer, shoted hours of video during the 4 months he spent at the CCC.

Back to France, he realized an amazing work compiling and producing different videos to show what is the life at the CCC, what are the threats that wild chimpanzees are facing and what we try to do at the CCC to protect them and how we rescue and rehabilitate orphan chimpanzees.

We will use Jérôme’s videos to promote our educational/sensitization message both in Europe and USA as well as in Guinea.

Here is a link for his 26 min version with English subtitles. Hope you will enjoy it, it is quite long but we think it is worth watching. Do not hesitate to tell us what you think about it!

Please click on the link underneath, it will open the video, then click on the “play” button on the right bottom.

A helping hand

Take care,

Chris

Hey everybody,

sorry for the long silence, I got some troubles with the new version of the blog. Anyway, it is fixed now and I wanted to warmly thanks all the team of Wildlife Direct who does a great job by helping all of us to give you fresh news through our blogs. Please do not forget to help Wildlife Direct whenever you make a donation, without them, we could not do it!

I don’t know what happen with the post about Veve and the vetroom, it has completely disappeared and I can not find it anymore. To resume, the CCC vetroom was built in 2001 thanks to a small grant of $500.

 Today it needs  major improvments in terms of security: we need to replace the wooden door by a stronger and safer metallic door and we want to add solid metallic grids to the windows so no chimps can enter!

Veve managed to find her way in few months ago and ate some medicines. She started to lose weigh and to feel bad few weeks ago and Estelle the director understood from the keepers that it started after Veve ate these medicines…She gave her an anti-acid treatment as well as a gastric protector and she is now fine but the treatment will last for few more weeks.

We already wanted to thank James G., Brenton H., Kathy S. and Arnaud C. for their generous donation. But we need more support to improve it! I hope to be able to post the photos of the new improvements soon!

For the latest news from the sanctuary: everybody is busy for the moment to watch over bush fires which are really common in the dry season. They are often due to poachers who use bush fires to hunt… We use to make big firewalls all around the CCC but sometimes it is not enough, especially if a fire arrives during the day! We all hope that everything will be OK for all the chimps and the CCC team and we hope that the hard work of the Park protection will finally end these harmful practises…

The group of 6 released chimps are OK but are stressed by these fires. Lottie’s son is growing well! Zira had been seen again with wild chimps and she now clearly avoids human contact!

At the sanctuary the team finally could see the wild female’s baby and it is a girl! That’s a good news!

 ok, I will certainly get more news this WE, I will keep you posted!

Take care,

Chris

We wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year for 2010! We wish it will bring you health, joy and love!

All the CCC team thanks you for following us through this blog and helping us all year long. Your support is essential and means a lot to everybody. Thank you very much!

Everything is allright at the CCC.

The chimps are doing well, the team as well. Just the usual problems with the cars, boat engine… The CCC team is also waiting for an other chimp to arrive. The team learnt that a young chimp was being sold in Faranah 2 weeks ago, they contacted the local authorities who are trying their best to seize this poor baby. It shows that we have to make a bigger effort in our education program to stop the chimpanzee pet trade…

Take care and Best wishes again for 2010!

Chris and all the CCC team

Today I want to pay tribute to the CCC’s great team of local workers. They are 100 % dedicated to the CCC, they understand why they are working with orphan chimpanzees; they sincerely care for each one of them and are committed to their rehabilitation.

 Some of them started to work with us years ago, like Kenda who actually started to work with chimps in 1992 in one the first Guinean sanctuary (their chimps were transfered to the CCC in 1997). Kenda is a wonderful keeper, he loves chimpanzees and wants to dedicate the rest of his life to protect them. He is particurlarly interested in veterinarian aspects and we try to get him involved in a maximum of the chimps health care and veterinary procedures.

Kenda and Lobai

Antoine (keeper), Ibro (keeper and educator) and Albert (keeper) joined us more than 2 years ago and they are now an important part of the team. Ibro is responsible for carrying out our sensitization and education program in villages and cities in the region. He usually does hundred of kilometers each year to visit remote villages. Ibro is an excellent educator, with kids but also adults! We are glad he is here to promote the important message of protecting the environment and animals!

Antoine and Panza

Albert and Ama

Ibro during a sensitization campain with elders of a village

Young keepers (Issa, Ibrahima, Moktar) joined us this year or last year. They are learning their job and they brought lots of energy at the CCC! We are glad they have joined us.

Ibrahima and babies

Issa and Nelson

Moktar and Ama

We also have Balde, the driver. He is in charge of the 2 CCC’s cars for which Estelle (CCC director) likes to remind  everybody “without a car, no project!” so she usually asks everybody to take really good care of them! Luckily Balde is an excellent driver and mecanic and we do not have too much trouble in the middle of the bush, even if the 2 cars need regular repairs because of the bad roads…

Balde our driver

There is Mamadi, our boat driver. He was born by the Niger river and he used to fish with his dad when he was younger, so he knows really well this big river inhabited by hippos… He is in charge of the CCC’s boat which is used to reach the release site. Mamadi, when he is not driving the boat, spends most of his time at the release site where he helps the team to monitor the released chimps; he also keeps the camp and contributes to protection of the Park. He is a young brave man and we are lucky to have him.

Mamadi on the boat

The other Mamadi (same name and surname as Mamadi boat driver, but they are not relatives!) was hired few months before the release in 2008 to help us conduct the last surveys on the release site. He stayed after the release as a guide. But few weeks ago, he went to the sanctuary to start training as a keeper. Apparently he is doing incredibly well as he learnt a lot about chimps with the adult released chimpanzees, which makes it much easier when you have to work with babies or youngsters!

Mamadi

So I am glad to post you the pictures of our workers. Without them, the CCC could not be able to do all the hard work involved in chimpanzee protection and rehabilitating orphans! Please do not forget them, we need them to take good care of the CCC chimpanzees!

The team (including our welder!)

In an other post, I will introduce you to the other key members of the CCC team. 

Take care

Chris

We wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! We hope you  will share a moment of love and peace with your family and friends.

Thank you all for your constant support, for reading us. We need to know that you care about our cause. A big Thank you  from the chimps!

Panza and Chris

Sorry for the  problem with the youtube link in the previous post, it should work now!

Lottie gave us the most beautiful present! We wish her and her son, and all her group, a happy life, free in the forest!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Chris

As promised, here is a short film of Lottie's baby! Enjoy! 

Chris

Dear Carryl and Theresa,

Don’t worry for Coco, we will try to find the best solution for him as well. Coco was rescued by the CCC almost 10 years ago, when he was already an adult. He was severly injuried in 1996 while in captivity in an hotel in Conakry when a military guy shot him several times when one day Coco broke his chain and ran away in Conakry’s streets. Estelle, the CCC’s director saved his life and took care of him day after day in Conakry, until he recovered. When Estelle became the director of the CCC in 1999, she managed to collect funds to build a quarantine cage for him and we brought him to the sanctuary in March 2000. Saddly Coco does not behave like a “real” chimp, he spent too much time with people and then it is difficult for us to integrate him within a group, as these chimps must build strong bonds together to be released as a social group in the future. 

But Coco shared his enclosure for a long time with Amadeus, a younger male suffering from major physiological disorders (hypoparthyroidism), they were really good friends but Amadeus died in September 2007. It was a hard time for Coco and all the team. After that Coco spent some time with another male, Marco, rescued in September 2008 in Conakry. He was 10 years old and he was suffering from severe physical abnormalities. Marco saddly died in December 2008 from pulmonary bleeding. Once again, Coco had a hard time after the loss of his new friend.

The team tried to introduce Coco with Zoe a couple of weeks ago but Coco escaped from his enclosure after one hour… He is really smart as his enclosure is double meshed…

We are thinking of a plan for Coco and maybe Zoe (if she can not be integrated in a group) and other chimps who cannot not be released because of behavioral or veterinary matters. We need to find the best solution for these chimps, build them a good infrastructure where they can enjoy on outdoor space without being able to escape, where they can interact together happily. At this point we will need to raise a lot of money to do that.

But for the moment Coco sees Zoe every day even if they are not together and they have some interactions, maybe not as much as Coco would like, but Zoe is a little bit shy with this beautiful male! They both need time to know each other and Zoe needs time to be re-socialized and to “learn” a bit about  the forest in her enclosure. So we will not rush things, we will let her adapt, gain confidence and get to know Coco better, then we will see what we can do.

One of the rules of the CCC volunteers and keepers is to spend a lot of time with Coco (and Zoe if she wants to join), whenever they can. Volunteers and keepers bring him enrichment, wild fruits and leaves, play with him (he loves tickles!), spend time in grooming sessions, etc. So Coco is never by himself for long, except for his nap and at night!

Coco eating sugar cane

Coco grooming a volunteer

Coco playing with a volunteer

We will keep you posted on Zoe and Coco.

Take care!
Chris

Zoe eating in her cage. She has free access to her cage and enclosure

in her enclosure

Zoe is adapting well to her new life and friends at the sanctuary! Everybody there loves her, she is really sweet and so beautiful! We hope to be able to find a good long term solution for her, with Coco or maybe to try to integrate her in a group after her quarantine period. We will take time before taking any decision for her and we will give her enough time to adjust to this new life.

Take care

Chris

I don’t know if you remember but I explained that a wild female integrated the adult group at the sanctuary when Laurence, released in June 2008, came back to the sanctuary in August 2008, with her new friend! They both decided to join the new adult group – they jumped in the enclosure-  who was formed after the release of the 12 adult chimps of the previous group and they were both really well accepted.

Since then, we tried to scare this wild female away to try to convince her to go back in the forest but she chose to stay in her new group. She seems to be a young adult female and it is quite normal that she looked for a new group. But it was really surprising for us to see that she chose to stay in this unusual group of chimps despite her fear of humans… She is still really scared of people and she never approches the keepers even if she comes in the indoor cages to feed with the others chimps.

She usually goes outside the enclosure once in a while – she does not care about the electrical fence… – to drink, eat wild fruits that she cannot find inside the enclosure but she always comes back !

And the good news of this week is that she gave birth to a healthy baby a few days ago, a new baby chimp in this world! The CCC team could not yet confirm if it is a male or female as the wild female stays a lot in the enclosure with her new born. We all hope that her baby will grow safely in this unusual “safe” environment but that they will also both eventually enjoy a free life when the mummy decides it is time to go!

I will post you soon a video of Lottie’s baby and hope to be able to get some pics of this new baby!

Many thanks to all of you who are reading us and supporting us, it is extremely important for us and the chimps we take care of. We need your help more than ever.

Take care

Chris