Chimpanzee

Charity: Jane Goodall Institute UK
Project: Chimpanzee Illegal Bushmeat Community Campaign
Where in the World? Western Republic of Congo
Grant: £20,000

In the past 20 years, chimpanzee numbers in the wild have fallen from 1,000,000 to less than 200,000 today. Part of the problem is the trade in bush meat, when local people kill chimpanzees for the pot. As a consequence huge numbers of young chimpanzees are orphaned by the deaths of their parents.

These orphan chimps are illegally taken from the forest. When recovered, these young chimps are placed in sanctuaries. But they cannot spend their whole lives there, and eventually they must be reintroduced into the wild. That process takes dedication, time and money.

Wildlife Finder: find out more about chimpanzees.

How your money has helped

Your donations have helped prevent chimpanzees in West Africa being hunted for their meat.

In the Republic of Congo, the Jane Goodhall Institute has set up the Illegal Bushmeat Community Campaign. It studies chimpanzees living in the forests that make up the Greater Tchimpounga Ecosystem in the west of the country and educate local people about their status.

This will hopefully reduce the number of chimpanzees being hunted and help reintroduce into the wild chimps who have been orphaned by the bush meat trade.

The BBC Wildlife Fund has given £20,000 to the Illegal Bushmeat Community Campaign.

The Jane Goodhall Institute used this money to employ a project manager for 18 months. That person managed a survey of wildlife living adjacent to the existing Tchimpounga Natural Reserve, which sits within the Greater Tchimpounga Ecosystem in the west of the Republic of Congo. Those surveys have enabled the Institute to evaluate how best to create new protected areas of forest beyond the reserve.

The project manager also oversaw surveys that evaluated the socio-economic status of people living in the area, information that was invaluable in informing how best to manage the trade in bush meat and make it sustainable.

The campaign employed Congolese nationals, building the capacity for great ape research and conservation in the Republic of Congo.

Outlook

The Jane Goodhall Institute has been working with the Republic of Congo for 15 years. In that time it has provided welfare for chimpanzees at its Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre and supported the protection of the Tchimpounga Reserve.

By surveying local ape populations and encouraging sustainable development programmes, it hopes to secure the long term conservation of the central African chimpanzee. It also hopes to lessen the numbers of chimps living in sanctuaries.

Did you know

• Male and female chimpanzees have markedly different faces, but male and female gorillas do not. As in people, male chimps with broad faces and enlarged cheekbones are perceived to be more attractive by the opposite sex, and because of this selection pressure male chimps have evolved wider faces than females. Gorillas of both sexes have similar-shaped faces.
• When a chimpanzee is confronted by a task that it cannot solve by itself it will actively recruit another chimpanzee to act as a collaborative partner. What’s more, a chimpanzee is able to identify which other chimp will best help it solve the problem and choose that helper over others less able to help it solve the task.
• Chimpanzees can understand the different values of Arabic numerals, and then remember them for at least three years.