September
2003
A
Sanctuary for an Orphaned Forest
By Sangamithra Iyer
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Emma. Photo courtesy of IDA-Africa |
Shortly after my arrival in Cameroon, I met a very
beautiful and fragile creature: Emma, a nine month-old victim of the
bushmeat trade. Chimpanzees and gorillas, among other wild animals,
are illegally hunted in West Africa for meat. Consequently, baby chimpanzees,
like Emma, are often orphaned and sold as pets and kept in horrid conditions.
Emma was rescued from her harsh captivity by In Defense of Animals-Africa
(IDA-Africa) with the assistance of the Cameroon Ministry of the Environment
and Forestry (MINEF), and was traveling with us to her new home at the
Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center (SYCRC). The Rescue Center is located
in the Mbargue forest in eastern Cameroon—a 200-mile drive from
the capital city, Yaoundé. In Yaoundé, I met Dr. Sheri
Speede and Edmund Stone who started IDA-Africa, a nonprofit organization
whose dual mission is to maintain the SYCRC sanctuary for orphaned captive
chimpanzees in Cameroon and to wage a conservation campaign for the
country’s remaining wild chimpanzees. Driving for 11 hours through
the night, I carried and tried to comfort this precious frightened chimpanzee
who was clinging to my lap. I noticed the rope burns on her legs, and
tried to imagine what she had been through in the past few months of
her life. She must have witnessed her mother’s death, which is
often the case. Her mother probably held her tight trying to protect
her. I tried to reassure baby Emma that she was safe now as we bounced
along laterite roads and through uneasy roadblocks.
The only vehicles we encountered during the night were large logging
trucks. I contemplated the role they played in murdering the mother
of this scared little chimp, and wondered just how much they were taking
out of the forests. In the past few decades, European and Asian logging
companies have built roads into what were previously untouched and inaccessible
forests of Cameroon, opening up the wilderness to poachers. Large logging
crews hire commercial hunters to provide food for them, while logging
trucks often serve as conduits to transport illegal bushmeat to other
markets. Even after the logging companies leave, the clear-cut lanes
remain, providing poachers easy access to now vulnerable habitats of
wild apes. If current trends continue, statistics indicate that we may
lose our next of kin within the next few decades.
We arrived at the sanctuary near dawn and were greeted by Claude, the
resident rooster, and a curious kitten named Assuum. Assuum was the
runt of a litter in one of the local villages, and in their local dialect
her name means “nothing.” A SYCRC volunteer adopted this
frail kitty and within a couple of weeks, she transformed from “nothing”
into a spunky kitten with a lot of sass.
A similar transformation occurs with the chimps at the sanctuary. Previously
orphaned, stripped of everything and treated like nothing, they enter
the sanctuary emotionally and physically wounded, but with time, love,
care and companionship, these wounds begin to heal.
The sanctuary has a nursery where the infants receive continuous care.
There, I watched them play fight, then rush to their human caregiver
for reassurance. I saw tragically broken individuals becoming a family
as they tickled and groomed one another. I saw two new friends vocalizing
for comfort and then walking with arms around each other.
At the adult forested enclosure, I spent some time with Nama, a female
who was orphaned as a child and spent nearly 20 years of her life in
the same spot, chained to the ground. Though small and frail, she has
become a strong matriarch and comforts and protects the other chimpanzees.
The local Cameroonian staff call her Avocat, the French word for lawyer,
because she is the peacemaker in the adult group—despite the ill
treatment she endured the majority of her life, she knows what is fair
and what is just.
The IDA-Africa sanctuary not only cares for chimpanzees, but also plays
a significant role in the community of villages in the forest. The SYCRC
education center is a wonderful asset, teaching local children and adults
about not only chimpanzees and conservation, but also about issues like
HIV prevention and nutrition. The sanctuary also supplies condoms (provided
by another NGO) for staff employees. In an area where there is no physician,
Dr. Speede, the primate veterinarian, provides what care and advice
she feels she can to the staff and local villagers. The sanctuary also
helps support local farmers—every week, sanctuary volunteers go
on “fruit runs” for the chimpanzees. Most of the local villagers
are subsistence farmers who are not otherwise employed, so selling fruit
to the sanctuary provides some additional income. Twenty local Cameroonians
are employed full-time, serving as chimpanzee caregivers, guards, general
laborers, and educators. Over the past few years, the staff members
have gained an appreciation for chimpanzees and feel the urgency and
importance of conservation efforts. They take personal ownership in
the cause and help spread the message back to their respective villages.
Conservation is a community issue and conservationists must work with
the community for any efforts to work.
With every new chimp that arrives at the center, we are reminded that
a mother has been killed and that the bushmeat trade is flourishing.
It has been over a year since I left the sanctuary and at least 10 more
babies have been rescued. Countless more are held in oppressive conditions.
In addition to caring for these rescued orphans, IDA-Africa is trying
to fight the source of the problem. At the end of 2002, they launched
a national radio campaign in French, Maka, and Bulu, conveying the urgency
of protecting chimpanzees and gorillas—the national treasure—before
it is too late. In addition, Dr. Speede is working with MINEF to get
the larger forest area around the sanctuary designated as protected
land, which would prohibit logging in these parts and protect the wild
chimpanzees we hear in the forest at night.
For the sanctuary’s efforts to be successful, however, existing
laws pertaining to the killing, buying, or selling of endangered species
must be enforced. In July 2003, a man was convicted for the first time—despite
the law being established nine years ago—for trying to sell a
baby chimpanzee, and was forced to serve a sentence of one month in
jail and pay a fine of about $1,000. In April, Cameroonian officials
announced that any restaurant serving meat from endangered species could
be charged with a fine of more than $16,000 and face up to three years
in prison. Hopefully these efforts to improve community awareness and
law enforcement in the struggle against the bushmeat crisis are an indication
of more to come.
In the several weeks I volunteered at the sanctuary, I was able to witness
the rehabilitation process take place. Emma started bonding with her
new friends Niete and Gwen. I would watch them groom, play, and climb
in the forest. They were learning to trust one another and once again
feel like part of a family. It is wonderful that there are sanctuaries
rehabilitating and nurturing orphaned chimpanzees and allowing them
to live out their lives with companionship and care. I only hope that
future offspring will be able to have that companionship and care at
their mothers’ side, in the wilderness where they belong.
Sangamithra Iyer is a geoenvironmental engineer and a plant-eating
primate who has had the pleasure of being in the presence of great apes.
For more information about IDA-Africa, supporting the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee
Rescue Center, or “adopting” a chimpanzee, go to www.ida-africa.org
or call (503) 643-8302.
