Upon seeing the Sanctuary, I realized what an incredible project Bala and the crew have undertaken at Tacugama. At 85 chimps, the Sanctuary is in desperate need of public & private donors to continue taking in new chimps that have been confiscated from local pet owners & poachers. Please visit www.tacugama.com to get an idea of the conditions in which many of these chimps are found in captivity.
The more time you spend with these chimps, you enter into their world and start to wish you could see life through their eyes. They are so human, it doesn’t phase you after a while that they’re not your family.
Bala Amarasekaran is also not your regular Project Director. He gave up his career in accounting to run this programme for which he takes no pay and is very careful to manage the funds extremely conservatively. The operating costs of Tacugama are well below that of ANY sanctuary in the world despite such a large number of chimps (currently 85) and such a large Sanctuary (100 acres).
Some ask how you can help chimps when many Sierra Leoneons are struggling to survive on the streets of Freetown. The fact is there exist 2000 NGOs for humans operating in Freetown, and if as humans we cannot help out a species that has nothing to do with human made conflict, we can probably agree that the disastrous outcome would not bode well for humanity. Tacugama also contributes greatly to the local economy by promoting sustainable business, eco-tourism, and the surrounding communities have grown through its community support and training programmes.
Chimps cannot be kept like dogs, cats or parrots as family pets. Apes and Monkeys DO NOT make good pets. Because adult chimps become so strong within a relatively short time (8 times the strength of humans), pet owners soon find them difficult to contain and will sedate them and/or place them in a cage. Given that the average monthly income in Sierra Leone is ~50 USD/month many families cannot afford to feed or care for these pets. Not to mention that these pet chimps are usually stolen from their murdered mothers to sustain a living for hunters in rural areas. Since disarmament the illegal bushmeat trade has fortunately seen some improvement, but the threat remains. Your contribution to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary ensures a future for an entire species.
Thank you for your generous support.