Ebola Fears Endanger Sierra Leone Chimpanzee Sanctuary

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/10/22/ebola-fears-dry-funding-sierra-leone-chimpanzee-sanctuary


The Tacugama refuge has issued an emergency appeal for donations to keep feeding the apes in its care.



(Photo: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary/Facebook)

October 23, 2014 By John R. Platt

John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.


One of the most important chimpanzee sanctuaries in West Africa has issued an emergency appeal for financial aid amid Sierra Leone’s Ebola crisis. The staff and animals at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary outside of Freetown are healthy—they do not directly face any threats from the disease—but the turmoil has cut off at least half of their funding.

“The crisis has caused a deficit of $7,500 a month for the past four months,” said Bala Amarasekaran, the sanctuary’s program director and founder, who said he does not expect things to improve anytime soon. “We are deeply worried, as we may be in for the long haul.”

Tacugama has a monthly budget of $15,000, which includes food for the animals, staff salaries, and educational outreach.

The 100-acre sanctuary is home to more than 100 chimpanzees. Tacugama normally receives about 30 percent of its operating budget from the 1,500 tourists who visit annually to see the chimpanzees, stay overnight in the sanctuary’s four lodges, attend yoga weekends, or take birding trips through the surrounding Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve.

FULL story at link.

[Mnemosyne]

1. K&R for more visibility. nt

[Omaha Steve]

2. Kick