First visit to Tacugama (5/22-27/2016)

During our first visit to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary we had the opportunity to meet Bala Amarasekaran, who funded this sanctuary in 1995 and together with his team has had it grow and survive to an extremely cruel war after which Tacugama has become one of the most recognized rehabilitation and conservation centers for apes in the world.

With Sophie Moittié, staff veterinarian at Tacugama, we reviewed the necropsy and sampling protocol for special diagnostic techniques. We handed in a donation of medical consumables by Jennifer Jahn (Clínica Veterinaria Albatros, Estepona [Málaga], Spain). We gave a seminar on the diseases of primates and concepts on nonhuman primate quarantine and One Health. Early in the morning we participated in the daily staff meeting. The excellent physical status of the over 70 chimpanzees under care at Tacugama was readily obvious and most were housed in impressive fenced patches of primary forest with excellent opportunities for physical exercise and privacy. In the surroundings of these facilities some group of wild chimpanzees have a part of their range. The diversity of animal species at the Western Peninsula National Park, particularly obvious for birds and arthropods, is impressive.

During our visit 2 new chimpanzee infants arrived at the sanctuary after confiscation at a village in the areas where Tacugama staff conducts wild chimpanzee censuses and outreach work for sustainable development of human settlements. These infant chimpanzees were provided with special general and veterinary care in the quarantine area due to their age, health status and evidence of respiratory disease. Viral infections commonly of human origin (particularly syncytial respiratory virus and metapneumovirus) are a recognized, important cause of infantile and juvenile mortality in chimpanzees especially if complicated with bacterial (Streptococcus pneumoniae) pneumonia. At the sanctuary, there were 2 additional chimpanzee infants still in the quarantine period from a previous confiscation. This illustrates the magnitude of chimpanzee poaching for bushmeat market and killings during chimpanzee crop ridings in Sierra Leone.

With Tacugama staff members involved with teaching environmental education, we visited two the schools close to the park where this essential component of Tacugama’s conservation activities takes place. The first school, made of wood and tin, was crowded with kids of different ages in a single classroom; light was scarce and heat, humidity and improper ventilation were almost asphyxiating. Kids received us with smiles and a welcome song in English. In 2014, Sierra Leone was considered the fifth poorest country in the world, and infantile mortality was estimated at around 75% in 2013.

Small groups of Ebola orphan survivors visited the sanctuary during our stay under the care of a volunteer in humanitarian action. This disease has recently caused the demise of thousands of Sierra Leoneans during the most catastrophic epidemic of this filoviral disease, initiated after the contact of a kid with bats while playing in a tree. Other Ebola outbreaks have coincided with epizootics of mortality in chimpanzees and gorillas with thousands of apes lost, in some of which infection was demonstrated. Ebola appears to be one of the major causes of the decline in the wild populations of apes. All Ebola outbreaks with available solid epidemiological data are associated with contact with bats (reservoirs) or hunting, handling and consumption of ape carcasses, or both (FAO, 2015). This is an example of the devastating effects of some human activities both in apes and human populations. In 2010, over 270 tons of bushmeat were estimated to be imported into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris only via Air France, while in 2012 the estimate for this illegal trade in the US was around 25,000 tons per year.

I had an extended conversation with Bala in which we discussed on the actual conservation needs for Sierra Leone and the conditions of extreme poverty we saw at the first school we visited; he warned me about a worse situation in the human communities they visit during their census and outreach work in the forests. All our options to significantly contribute to conservation must promote environmental education taught in dignified, newly built schools, as well as additional specific projects (e.g., borehole drilling for access to safe water) that allow a sustainable development of human communities in the forests of Sierra Leone. One of current Tacugama’s projects is contributing to building new schools. Schools for Salone (www.schoolsforsalone.com) is a non-profit organization devoted to the construction of new schools in Sierra Leone (they have already built 18 schools and 3 libraries). Tacugama is working on a project with Schools for Salone to build a new school with a cost of 35,000$. In conclusion, this trip has consolidated our collaboration and outreach project with Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, but it has confronted us to what is on the TV about Africa but until you see it with your own eyes you don’t begin to understand. This experience and meeting Bala and his extraordinary conservation work, urge Noah’s Path to go much further than just providing diagnostic and research pathology support. We need to grow into a global cooperation program that supports Bala and his Tacugama team’s efforts to establish solid conservation strategies for the immediate future. Any of you interested in collaborating with this program, please contact directly Tacugama (www.tacugama.com) or Noah’s Path.