What we do

Ape Action Africa works on the front-lines of great ape protection. Our goals are to address the immediate threats faced by gorillas and chimpanzees in Africa, and to work with local communities to develop long-term solutions that protect them well into the future – ensuring their survival.

We  rescue orphaned and injured gorillas and chimpanzees – some only days old and hours from death – from poachers and bushmeat traders.

Once these animals are in our care we work around the clock to save them by providing urgent veterinary care and nourishment. When they are strong enough, the young orphans are taken to our centre in the heart of West Africa – Cameroon’s Mefou National Park. Ape Action Africa operates its protection programme from the Park and with the support and assistance of the local community, with whom it has a close bond.

In this protected zone, safe from poachers, the animals continue to be cared for by our trained experts – many of them local community members who have joined our efforts. We then work to reintroduce the orphans to their own kind in safe and controlled environments. Eventually, once habituated and old enough, the orphans are reintroduced to their own kind and become members of groups that the centre’s older orphans have formed.

We also operate a thriving education programme for local school children, who are encouraged to come and visit the enclosures to see Cameroon's wildlife in its natural environment – and to gain a better understanding of the importance of great ape protection.

We are also committed to identifying and establishing areas that can be set aside as safe and protected habitat for rescued gorillas and chimpanzees. It is our hope that one day the great apes in our care will be released into the wild where they belong.