Rescue Orphaned Primates

Every year, PASA's accredited sanctuaries rescue hundreds of orphaned chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys from the illegal wildlife trade, from habitat destruction, and from human conflict. These animals arrive traumatized, often malnourished, and in urgent need of expert care. The veterinarians who receive them are their first line of hope.

This month, PASA brought those veterinarians together.

Clinicians from sanctuaries across Africa gathered at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia, one of PASA's accredited sanctuaries, for a five-day training unlike anything many had experienced before. The PASA Veterinary Workshop united vets who often work in isolation, some as the only clinician at their sanctuary, making high-stakes decisions alone for the rescued primates in their care.

That week, they were no longer alone.

Through hands-on, collaborative sessions, participants built skills in anesthesia and safe immobilization, disease diagnostics, primate nutrition, reproductive health, One Health approaches, and emergency contingency planning. They worked through real case studies drawn from sanctuaries across the PASA network, the same sanctuaries that serve nearly 4,000 rescued apes and monkeys. They practiced on the kinds of constraints they actually face in the field: limited supplies, limited staff, and animals that cannot wait.

Before the workshop began, participants were asked what they hoped to gain. Their answers speak directly to the challenges of caring for rescued primates in under-resourced settings:

"I'm still new to primates — I want to learn as much as possible and get to know people in this field."

"I want practical, field-relevant skills under resource constraints. Real outbreak investigation. Not just theory."

"To meet everyone. To become a better caregiver to the monkeys I love."

After the workshop concluded, nearly every participant reported feeling better equipped to provide excellent veterinary care to African primates. All participants agreed that they had built meaningful connection.

The practical gains will travel home with every participant: stronger anesthesia protocols to improve safety during medical procedures, improved nutrition plans built around locally available resources, more robust welfare assessments, and clearer emergency response plans for the next disease outbreak. Perhaps most importantly, every vet left with colleagues they can call.

For the orphaned primates in their care, those improvements have a tangible impact: safer recoveries after immobilization, more appropriate diets during rehabilitation, and faster, better-coordinated responses when illness spreads through a sanctuary population. Most importantly, they offer these animals a better chance at a meaningful life after a traumatic start.

Your support of PASA connects directly to moments like these: a veterinarian in a remote sanctuary who now has a new protocol, a rescued chimpanzee receiving better care, a community of clinicians that is stronger and more connected than before. By supporting PASA, you help ensure that every primate rescued from trafficking or conflict arrives into the hands of a vet who is well-trained, well-supported, and never working alone.

Thank you for making this work possible.

Photos by Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust and PASA • Kaitlyn Bock

Links:

• http://pasa.org

Last year, we shared Siaka’s story with you. He was a tiny chimpanzee rescued at just one month old after losing his mother to the illegal wildlife trade. Thanks to your compassion, his story did not end there. Today, we are happy to share a hopeful update.

At PASA accredited sanctuary Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Guinea, Siaka is regaining his strength, curiosity, and confidence. Once fragile and entirely dependent on human care, he now spends his days exploring his environment with growing focus and enthusiasm, learning what it means to be a young chimpanzee.

Caregivers at the sanctuary, located along the banks of the River Niger in Haut Niger National Park, have supported Siaka through his earliest milestones. From learning to climb and forage to gaining coordination and confidence, each step forward reflects the steady, patient care made possible by supporters like you.

Siaka has also begun forming bonds with other chimpanzees, including a young companion named Morgane. These early relationships are essential. Chimpanzees are highly social animals, and learning how to interact, play, and communicate with others is a critical part of healthy development. Watching Siaka engage with his chimp family is a heartening sign of healing and progress.

Since its creation in 1997, the Chimpanzee Conservation Center has welcomed nearly 100 chimpanzees of all ages. Siaka arrived as the youngest infant the sanctuary has ever cared for, still without teeth and clearly in need of constant support. Today, his growing independence is a powerful reflection of what long term, expert care can achieve.

Your support helps ensure that chimpanzees like Siaka receive emergency rescue as well as lifelong care. Chimpanzees can live 40 to 50 years or more, and every rescued infant represents a lasting commitment to safety, enrichment, veterinary care, and wellbeing.

Because of you, Siaka is no longer alone or at risk. He is growing, learning, and building the foundations for a secure future.

Thank you for standing with PASA and our accredited sanctuaries. Your generosity continues to change lives, and we look forward to sharing more of Siaka’s journey with you in the years ahead.

Photos by Chimpanzee Conservation Center / Antione Explore

Links:

• PASA