Rescue Orphaned Primates

As we enter the festive season, we at PASA want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our amazing supporters. Apes and monkeys across Africa face more threats than ever, but your kindness and generosity has helped to save many precious lives this year. Here are the stories of just a few of the orphaned animals that you have helped to rescue and protect in 2023. While the horrors they have endured are great, the community of supporters, caregivers, veterinarians, and volunteers who have come together to protect them is heartwarming to behold.

Tsotsi, a young chimpanzee orphan was brought to PASA member Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone after enduring a harrowing ordeal at the hands of poachers. When she arrived, Tsotsi had a fractured arm and leg, severe trauma, malnutrition, and more than 10 shotgun pellets embedded in her tiny body from the guns that killed her family. The X-rays of her tiny body covered in these pellets provides a dreadful picture of the horrors of the illegal wildlife trade.

Thankfully, the support of primate lovers around the world meant that she was able to receive expert and dedicated care from the team at Tacugama. Despite her terrible condition, Tsotsi's spirit remained unbroken. She displayed an unyielding will to live, marked by her voracious appetite and zest for life. After weeks of emergency care, Tsotsi was thriving, gaining weight, and exuding vibrant energy. Every day, Tsotsi grows a little bit stronger, thanks to her tenacity and the dedicated care she has received. Though she still has a long journey ahead, her incredible resilience leaves no doubt that she will grow into a beautiful chimpanzee. While her family can never be replaced, when she’s old enough Tsotsi will be introduced to a new chimpanzee family at the sanctuary, where together they can stay safe and cared for and begin to build new lives together.

Just as Tsotsi was being rescued in Sierra Leone, PASA member Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Guinea rescued another orphaned chimpanzee whom they named Doura. Like Tsotsi, Doura had been through a terrible ordeal when he was taken from his family and kept in appalling captive conditions. Thanks to the Guinean authorities, and your support, he is already living with other chimpanzees at the sanctuary. After his quarantine period ended, he was introduced to the other young orphans, Pepe, Marco, and Cesar. These young victims of the wildlife trade bonded immediately and have formed their own family of survivors. Cesar, in particular, is a protective and caring big brother for Doura, who reassures Doura if ever he gets frightened. Every day, this little family explores the forest with their caregivers, learning the skills that their mothers would have taught them in the wild and most importantly, getting to swing through the trees and play just like young chimps should.

These remarkable tales of hope against adversity are only made possible by kind-hearted supporters like you. By protecting the lives of these orphans and many others like them, you are giving hope for the future of Africa’s primates and helping to fight the threats that they face every day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and, from everyone at PASA, we wish you very happy holidays!

Photos by Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Chimpanzee Conservation Center.