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December 1997 Beyond Limbe By Mia MacDonald

 

Sanctuaries for African chimps, gorillas and monkeys orphaned or injured by the "bushmeat" trade are in demand, as the number of primates in need increases. In order to try and meet this sadly growing market, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and even individuals have set up sanctuaries in a number of West and Central African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Burundi, Zambia and Cameroun. Earlier this year, I visited two sanctuaries in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar, the capital of Cross River State (about 50 kilometers from the Cameroun border) that are working to nurture and eventually re- release to the wild orphaned primates.

Drill Ranch
The Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Center (known as the "Drill Ranch") and Cercopan were begun earlier this decade by North Americans who recognized the need for primate rehabilitation facilities in a region of Nigeria where some forested ecosystems remain. The Drill Ranch (founded by Oregon natives Liza Gadsby and Peter Jenkins, who also set up the Limbe Wildlife Center in Cameroun), is located in a verdant compound in a quiet section of Calabar. The Ranch is temporary home to about 40 drills and several young chimpanzees. The drills live in social groups in very clean, semi-spacious enclosures complete with fauna and "enrichment" materials (rope ladders and rubber tires). They breed and mature while they await release into a large forest enclosure, and eventually, open rainforest in the Afi Forest Reserve in Boki, north of Calabar. All the Ranch's drills are donated, mostly as infants, by people in Cross River State, or are recovered by government wildlife officers or staff of national parks. One chimpanzee, Jacob, lived in solitary confinement at the Calabar Zoo for 12 years before receiving sanctuary at the Drill Ranch. Unfortunately, release into the wild of orphaned or captive chimpanzees is almost always unsuccessful.

Central to the Ranch's founding vision is drill rehabilitation and release. At the end of 1996, 27 drills were relocated, via helicopter and Land Rover, to a five hectare enclosure in the Afi Forest. The site is leased from three villages, providing them with a steady income. Villagers welcomed the drills with a libation of palm wine. A full cup was drunk by Billy, the dominant male. Release of this first group of pioneering drills into true "wild" forest (fast dwindling) is scheduled for 1999, with more liberations of Ranch drills expected in the next century.

Drills--not to be confused with their genetic cousin, the red and blue faced mandrill--are large (males may reach 75 pounds), short-tailed monkeys with smooth black faces. Drills are indigenous only to Nigeria's Cross River State, southwestern Cameroun, and Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The world population of drills is less than 10,000, and could be as low as 2,000 to 3,000. Each day, it is estimated that between five and 50 drills are shot and their carcasses sold as "bushmeat". One drill may fetch between $30 and $50-- a substantial amount in both Nigeria and Cameroun, where economic times are hard and prospects for employment sparse. (A private chauffeur I met in Lagos makes $83 for a full month of work.)

Cercopan
The sanctuary called Cercopan, off a main road and just behind a guest house, is smaller but no less verdant than the Drill Ranch. It offers sanctuary to two types of forest monkeys indigenous to the region: guenons (classified as highly endangered) and mangabeys (threatened). Both are considerably smaller than drills. Cercopan is currently home to about 40 monkeys--all orphaned as nursing infants when their mothers were killed for bushmeat. They are housed in small groups in tall, but not vast, enclosures. Fauna is abundant, and the monkeys I saw looked far from bored. Founded by Canadian Zena Tooze, Cercopan has undertaken an extensive program to educate local youth, and is seeking funding to facilitate the rescue of more orphaned monkeys, and their eventual re-release into remaining forested regions.

Both Cercopan and the Drill Ranch work cooperatively and closely with the Cross River State Department of Forestry, and in alliance with local supporters--many self-identified environmentalists and many not. The Ranch and Cercopan run with the assistance of a paid Nigerian staff, several overseas volunteers, and in-kind donations of transport, fax and other services. As with most primate sanctuaries, the larger, more-established Drill Ranch and the smaller, newer Cercopan could do more with additional funds, particularly releasing rehabilitated drills and monkeys to the rainforest (an expensive business, rife with logistical needs and complications), and undertaking community education projects. As remaining forests are besieged by loggers and hunters, the need for good sanctuaries for displaced primates, like the Drill Ranch and Cercopan, will only increase. It's the inexorable law of supply and demand, of which the drills, chimpanzees and monkeys I saw in Calabar are unwitting and compelling casualties. For more information on, or to contribute to the critical work of these sanctuaries, contact:

Calabar Drill Ranch, Housing Estate P.O. Box 826, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Contributions can be sent in the U.S. to: Gadsby, 4300 S.W. Fairview Blvd., Portland, OR 97221. [If you have the chance to visit, the Drill Ranch is located at: Nsefik Eyo Layout, Ndidem Iso Road at Atekong Drive, Calabar.]

Cercopan, c/o Housing Estate P.O. Box 107, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Visit the Cercopan Website: http://www.uni.edu/museum/cercopan [If you can visit in person, Cercopan is located at: 4, Ishie Lane (behind Henss), Calabar.]

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