You can give 140 orphaned chimpanzees a safe haven

Thanks to your support the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre (TCRC) was able to offer a safe home to Zola after a bad start in life.  Zola was confiscated from three poachers in far northern Congo in a town called Imphondo on the Ubangui River that borders DRC.  The three poachers were later arrested! yeah!  PALF, a programme setup by the Aspinall Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for enforcement of the wildlife laws, were the ones that found the poachers and forced the arrest.  Zola was immediately flown down to Brazzaville where he stayed overnight with Virginia, the vet from the Aspinall Foundation, and on a plane the next day to Tchimpounga.  Herve, one of the carers at the sanctuary, was on his day off but went to the airport to collect Zola and escort him back to the sanctuary, and along with expert care from Simone, one of our seasoned chimp mum's, spent the night bringing him back to life.  He is between two to three years old, very malnourished, very tired and weak but has a lovely calm, strong heart!  He was initially called Maya by the ones who confiscated him, but because we already have a Maya, the staff had two names picked out for him...Zola, which means friendly and Mazi, which means water, because he was so dehydrated and thirsty when he arrived he just drank and drank the rehydration fluids he was offered!   The staff at Tchimpounga decided they have too many "M's" (26 chimps whose names start with M) so went with Zola, which is very appropriate because he really is a lovely friendly little guy. He is still a bit like an old man, with his slow and deliberate movements, but he eats all day, slowly, nibbling at his food. He still seems to always have a dazed look in his face, which may disappear in time when he regains he strength and normal energy!  But we are glad that PALF was there to rescue him and for the great team effort of the conservation NGO's in Congo to bring him safely into the arms of the staff at Tchimpounga who will make sure he grows to be a strong and healthy adult male.