News

News archive:  2011  

News archive:  2010  

News archive:  2009  

News archive:  2008  

Celebrating New Year with Air France

More than forty parents and children enjoyed a special holiday visit to Mefou Primate Park this week, courtesy of Air France. The airline’s District Manager, Pascal Chouraqui planned the event for his staff and their families to celebrate the New Year and chose Ape Action Africa to host it in the heart of our forest sanctuary.

The families were treated to a tour of the park with our Head of Education Jetta James and enjoyed meeting our chimps and gorillas as well as learning about the special plants and trees that grow in the forest. Afterwards, both young and old joined in with some traditional dancing, courtesy of the Mefou Dance Group – an exciting new project that we have been developing to benefit the local communities.

As the heat of the day drew in, the families retreated to the shade of our education centre, made over for the day with a cool, forest-style terrace and enjoyed drinks and a three-course meal.

Air France is a valued supporter of Ape Action Africa and our Director finished the day with a speech of thanks and well wishes to all the families for 2012.

See more photos of the forest event at our photo gallery

Ronnie's story

It has been a quiet couple of weeks at Mefou Primate Park, with members of our team enjoying a well earned rest with family and friends over the holiday period. During this time, our youngest infants have been flourishing, but the hunting continues and they have have been joined by our latest arrival – infant chimpanzee Ronnie, who was confiscated in early December from the nearby town of Mbalmayo

We don’t know much about Ronnie’s past as his owner refused to give any information to the Cameroon authorities. We do know that he is around 10 months old and was kept in a tiny cage that was just big enough for him to turn around. His confinement and isolation caused him terrible stress. When he arrived at the sanctuary he was a bundle of nerves, jumping and reacting in fear whenever he was touched.

He was immediately placed with two full-time carers and clung hard to both of them, climbing to the highest parts of their bodies and refusing to let go, even at night. Having been fed on junk food and table scraps, he only recognized coke and spaghetti and had to be coaxed into adopting a chimp diet, including milk formula. Like most rescued babies he was thin and dehydrated, but had also contracted an infection in his throat sac which caused it to bloat with fluid. Whenever he swallowed he made a tiny sound like a frog and suffered from reflux, often throwing up his milk formula at night.

With quiet, persistent care, Ronnie now understands he is safe and he is venturing away from his carers to explore his surroundings. This week he has started displaying chimp behavior like nest-building, even using one for his daytime nap. After a course of antibiotics his throat condition has improved significantly and he has gained almost a kilo in weight. He now has the strength to climb and hang by his arms and is using his newfound energy to patrol the front of his carers’ house, slapping his feet on the tiled surface to assert himself when visitors arrive. It won’t be long before this little boy is ready to meet others of his own kind and learn to live like a chimp again.

See more photos of Ronnie's early weeks in our photo gallery.