Primates Who Were Rescued from the Cruel Wildlife Trade Need Your Help!
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Dear Friends,
Gorillas and chimpanzees in protected forests in Africa are shot down and butchered in the bushmeat trade, and the babies, who are too small to eat, are sold on the black market to be pets. In other areas, baby primates are stolen from the forest to be trafficked to China or the Middle East where they are sold as pets or put on exhibit in appallingly inhumane zoos. These highly intelligent and social animals face a miserable existence locked in cages or living in isolation.
However, through collaboration between wildlife centers, other nonprofit organizations, and government agencies, some smugglers are arrested and animals are saved. Thousands of chimpanzees and other primates who have been rescued as babies from the horrific wildlife trade now live at PASA member wildlife centers across Africa.
Little Kanoa was Rescued from Being Smuggled to China
In 2012, the Cameroon authorities with LAGA of the EAGLE Network arrested a wildlife dealer with a 1 1/2 year old infant chimpanzee. After little Kanoa’s mother was brutally killed by a poacher, he was sold to the dealer who planned to smuggle him out of Cameroon into the international wildlife market in China. However Kanoa probably wouldn’t have survived the journey because the violent hunt that killed his mother left him in severe pain with an open, badly infected fracture to his left leg.
Kanoa was brought to Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon where he received extensive medical treatment and much-needed loving care. While his leg was healing, he spent his first months confined indoors and gazing longingly out to the forest. However, all attempts to carry him outside left him panicked and running back indoors. He seemed to pine for the life and the mother that he lost, but his last memories of that life were clearly terrifying.
After little Kanoa's leg finally healed, he caregivers gradually coaxed him outside and introduced him to five other young chimpanzees who accepted him almost immediately. These new friendships and the dedicated care of Sanaga-Yong’s staff helped him to heal emotionally, and he was soon playing in the forest as though he had never left it.
UPDATE: Today, Kanoa lives in a social group with those five young chimps and three adults, and he is happy and healthy. The name Kanoa means "the free one" in Hawaiian, and is an apt name for this little wild boy. Despite the horrific experiences he endured during his youth, he seems emotionally intact and has integrated well into his social group. Kanoa is especially bonded to Anita, and many of the staff say the two chimpanzees are best friends and are almost inseparable.
Additionally, this lively chimp doesn't show any signs of his former injury. He enjoys being carried around by the adults as any healthy young chimp would. Kanoa is a favorite of the staff as well as the visitors at Sanaga-Yong, and he is expected to live for decades.
Kanoa will probably spend his life at Sanaga-Yong, where he is safe from hunters and smugglers. However, the costs of caring for a chimpanzee for its entire life are tremendous.
Help care for Kanoa and other young chimps who have been rescued from cruel fates and live at Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center.
You can Help Stop This Horrifying Trade!
The illegal wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to the existence of apes and other endangered primates, in addition to causing unthinkable suffering.
Most of the animals in PASA's 22 member sanctuaries in 13 African countries were rescued from traffickers. Wildlife sanctuaries play an essential role in stopping the wildlife trade because without their commitment to provide lifetime care for animals confiscated from smugglers, many of the confiscations and arrests couldn’t happen.
Kanoa is a success story, but there are many more chimpanzees who urgently need to be rescued and cared for. We can't do it without you. Will you help an animal in desperate need today?
All best wishes,
Gregg Tully
Executive Director
Pan African Sanctuary Alliance
About PASA:
The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), the largest association of wildlife centers in Africa, includes 22 organizations in 13 countries which are securing a future for Africa’s primates and their habitat by rescuing and caring for orphaned apes and monkeys, working to stop the illegal trade in wildlife, promoting the conservation of wild primates, educating the public, and empowering communities. PASA advocates for its member organizations on an international scale, provides them with support, and works closely with them to raise awareness globally about wildlife conservation issues.
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Dear Friends,
I’m excited to tell you about a new project to bring wildlife conservation to every student in Cameroon, as well as a conference PASA will hold to empower primate sanctuaries across Africa and presentations in the U.S. by founders and directors of African sanctuaries. Thank you for making it all possible through your generous support.
Project to Add Conservation Education to Cameroon’s National Education Curriculum
PASA (the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance) recently held a workshop in collaboration with Cameroon’s three PASA member sanctuaries: Ape Action Africa, Limbe Wildlife Centre, and Sanaga-Yong Rescue Center. The workshop participants agreed that the greatest threat to Cameroon’s great apes is human intrusion into primate habitat and the resulting brutal killings and capture of the animals. These sanctuaries conduct community engagement programs that produce long-term improvements in the welfare of primates in their local areas but they don’t have the resources needed to expand this work to a national scale.
The key outcome of the workshop was a plan to add wildlife conservation to Cameroon’s national education curriculum, to educate every student in the country and produce an important and long-lasting shift in the thinking of the people of Cameroon. PASA and the sanctuaries intend to conduct a fairly short-term project with very a long-lasting and widespread impact: every student in Cameroon will have a better appreciation of wildlife. The program will have a vital role in preventing the extinction of Cameroon’s great apes.
Protect great apes by helping to make this important project a reality. To learn more about this and other programs for Africa’s primates, please visit PASA's website at http://www.pasaprimates.org!
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PASA Empowers Primate Sanctuaries across Africa
The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance will continue its longstanding tradition of bringing together the leaders of primate sanctuaries across Africa by holding a Strategic Development Conference in November in Nairobi, Kenya. The main goal of the conference is to help the sanctuaries build their capacity to provide high quality care for primates and expand their conservation programs. Directors and managers of more than 20 of PASA’s member sanctuaries will discuss the challenges they face, share ideas for overcoming them, and talk about how PASA can maximize its impact for the sanctuaries.
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Meet the Founders and Directors of African Sanctuaries!
Directors and founders of PASA member sanctuaries often travel the world to raise awareness about their sanctuaries’ work to protect primates, in addition to their many other responsibilities.
Bala Amarasekaran, founder and director of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone, will give a lecture titled “Light at the End of the Tunnel… Surviving the Ebola Crisis in Sierra Leone” in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Please attend his fascinating and heartfelt presentation which will be on Thursday, October 8 at 6:30 pm at the Clintonville Women’s Club courtesy of the Columbus Zoo, and will be followed by a reception and silent auction to benefit the sanctuary. If you would like to attend, please RSVP at https://give.columbuszoo.org/RSVP.
Rachel Hogan, director of Ape Action Africa in Cameroon, will give a presentation at the San Francisco Zoo on Saturday, October 17 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm titled “My Life with Gorillas.” If you’re in the Bay Area, come meet Rachel and hear her stories about hand-raising days-old orphan gorillas and working on the front lines of gorilla conservation. Admission is free. For more information, contact the San Francisco Zoo at www.sfzoo.org or call +1 415-753-7073.
Claudine Andre is the founder of Lola Ya Bonobo in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. She will give a presentation about the successes of Lola Ya Bonobo and the roles of sanctuaries in conservation at the ZACC Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA on Wednesday, October 14. ZACC (Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation), which builds connections between zoos and aquariums and conservation worldwide, will be from October 12 to 16 at the Renaissance Denver Hotel. Read more about ZACC and register online at http://denverzoo.org/ZACC.
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The Apes and Monkeys Need Your Help!
PASA’s vital work to protect primates from extinction and support sanctuaries in Africa is only possible because of you. Please read more about the vital work to rescue apes and monkeys from bushmeat hunters and wildlife smugglers, give them lifelong loving care, and work to put an end to the illegal wildlife trade. Visit http://www.pasaprimates.org.
All best wishes,
Gregg Tully
Executive Director
Pan African Sanctuary Alliance
About PASA:
The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is a unique collaboration of African primate sanctuaries, communities, governments, and global experts. PASA includes 22 sanctuaries in 12 countries across Africa which secure a future for Africa’s primates and their habitat by rescuing and caring for orphaned apes and monkeys, working to stop the illegal trade in wildlife, promoting the conservation of wild primates, educating the public, and empowering communities.
Links:
The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is a network of wildife sanctuaries across Africa. One of the biggest threats to conservation is the human population. In addition to rapid deforestation, many endangered monkeys and apes are killed and sold for bushmeat or captured and sold as pets. Education is a key component of saving these magnificent creatures. PASA is hosting a workshop in July 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon where we will bring together managers and educators from several of our member sanctuaries to discuss the community education projects that are making a positive impact for conservation. Our experienced facilitators will assist our member sanctuaries in evaluating past efforts and strategizing for future community projects. This workshop will include 2 days of interactive presentations and evaluations.
PASA works with a network of primate sanctuaries throught Africa. We believe that it is important to empower those who are on the ground and dealing directly with the local communities if there is going to be a significant impact on the ability to protect Africa's primates and their wild forest homes. The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is the only network of wildlife sanctuaries and global experts working across Africa to care for and rehabilitate apes and monkeys confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade.
Illegal hunting takes a huge toll on wild primate populations. The captured monkeys and apes are sold for bushmeat, and younger animals are often illegally sold as pets. PASA's member sanctuaries go beyond just providing care for confiscated monkeys and apes, they work to keep primates in their forest homes by engaging local communities, national and international governments to support primate protection laws and halt the illegal trade threatening Africa's primates with extinction. We are uniquely effective at saving the lives of African primates and keeping wild primates safe in their forest homes.
One of the ways PASA helps its member sanctuaries is by hosting and providing conferences in Africa where experts from around the globe join together to educate sanctuary staff and management on the latest techniques and best practices for wildlife care, management and re-introduction. In September of 2014, we held a Workshop for Sanctuary Managers and in November of 2014, we held a Veterinary workshop at Colobus Conservation in Diani, Kenya to focus on wild primate rehabilitation medicine. This training included two days of theory involving interactive presentations, two days of practical application, followed by one day of extensive evaluation.
Last week Lilongwe Wildlife Centre hosted the 2014 PASA management workshop in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Attendees told us it was the best management workshop so far thanks to effective trainings and a welcoming and collaborative atmosphere.
Workshop outcomes included:
- Social media training from Chris Tuttle, a top US communications consultant, to help sanctuaries build support around the world for their work to protect wildlife and support local communities.
- Training on strategic planning for sanctuaries and standards for evaluating conservation programs.
- Session on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and empowering sanctuaries, communities and governments to address wildlife law enforcement issues. PASA attended the CITES Standing Committee meeting in July to speak up for better protection of African great apes - gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees. We are working with member sanctauries and partners around the globe to urge nations to implement CITES regulations and crack down on the illegal trade of African wildlife.
- Training on managing and addressing wildlife disease outbreaks.
- Donation of 3 tablets per sanctuary from the Jane Goodall Institute and a training on Open Data Kit to build and collect standardized data for animal arrivals at sanctuaries. Standardized animal arrivals data are critical to demonstrate to CITES and governments that primate sale and trade is a serious problem.
- Planning for a future workshop to help sanctuaries develop strategic conservation programs that address the specific challenges in their geograhic region, and engage and empower local comunities to protect wildlife and habitats.
Your donations and funding from the Arcus Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute and Coypu Foundation made this workshop possible. Thank you! Your contributions are making a difference for Africa's primates.
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