Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Sanctuary becomes 21st PASA Member
The Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Sanctuary, inaugurated in 2001, has been named the newest member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA). The facility’s initial goal was to improve the well-being and safety of adult captive gorillas kept in a research facility over the previous two decades. A naturally-forested enclosure was built for them on a remote island of the Republic of Gabon, north of Loango National park.
In 2006, the Fernan-Vaz Rehabilitation Centre was begun with the goal of maximising the reintroduction potential of young confiscated gorillas orphaned by Gabon’s illegal bushmeat trade. The rehabilitation centre consists of an on-site quarantine facility and a separate island, removed from human exposure, where the gorillas are busy acquiring important skills needed for future autonomy in the wild. Together, the sanctuary and the rehabilitation centre constitute the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project (FVGP).
Fernan-Vas becomes the second PASA member sanctuary in Gabon, joining Projet Protection des Gorilles (PPG) – Gabon.
PASA, which is based in Portland, is comprised of 21 member sanctuaries in 12 African countries, which rescue and rehabilitate chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, drills, and other endangered primates.
“PASA is extremely proud to welcome the Fernan-Vas sanctuary into our family,” said Anne Warner, executive director of PASA. “The overall FVGP mission to contribute to the protection of both wild great ape populations and their habitat through education, scientific research, law enforcement, advocacy, capacity-building, community involvement, educational and low-impact tourism, is a good fit with PASA’s aims.”
Fernan-Vas was admitted into PASA following a site inspection and a vote of the PASA advisory council. “The staff at the Projet Gorille Fernan-Vaz (PGFV) are very happy that we have joined the PASA family” said Veterinarian and sanctuary manager Nick Bachand. “A sanctuary’s daily operations can be challenging in the field. Having access to a diversified network of expert is therefore invaluable. This comes at a great time for us as we are just about to expand our local community outreach program. PASA’s support will make a significant difference in helping us making this more successful. We are very pleased, it is a great motivational booster for us”
International Award for Animal Sanctuary Excellence Presented to Stany Nyandwi, Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
The Carole Noon Award for Sanctuary Excellence was awarded to Stany Nyandwi and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) on December 9, 2011. The award was established by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), to memorialize Carole Noon, Ph.D., a courageous and innovative sanctuary pioneer and champion of chimpanzees. The award was presented on Ngamba Island by GFAS Executive Director, Patty Finch. Ngamba Island Sanctuary is a charter member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), which coordinates activities between primate rehabilitation centers in Africa.
“Everyone who has received this award has demonstrated great courage, extreme self-sacrifice, and exceptional determination to help animals in need, and Stany Nyandwi is no exception” says Finch.
“Mr. Nyandwi’s accomplishments started even before he came to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary,” states Finch. He was nominated by Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) Executive Director, Anne Warner, who wrote “Stany began as a housekeeper/cook at the Jane Goodall Institute’s (JGI) chimpanzee project in Burundi in 1989. So many confiscated orphan chimpanzees were arriving and in such poor condition that Nyandwi was quickly converted from a cook to a chimpanzee caregiver. He had a particular affinity and connection with the youngest – and often most damaged – chimpanzees, and he quickly developed a specialty in reviving those closest to death.”
Burundi in the mid-1990s was a volatile and dangerous place. Nyandwi and his colleagues had to walk more than six miles every day to get to work by 6 AM, each morning starting in the dark and walking home after sunset each evening. In 1994, two staff members were killed on a walk home. They were attacked and murdered yet Nyandwi almost always arrived early for work and stayed late.
By the end of 1995, the JGI made plans to relocate all 20 chimpanzees to the newly created Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya. Nyandwi, was taken to Sweetwaters to look after the chimpanzees in their new home. For six weeks, Nyandwi was left alone in Kenya to care for the 10 infants. Away from his family and his countrymen, Nyandwi thought of nothing but the chimpanzees, sometimes walking five kilometers to buy food and medical supplies for the infants with his own salary.
Today, Nyandwi is the Assistant Sanctuary Manager/ Head Caregiver for Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary. “His main role is the welfare of the chimpanzees in his care, and the trainer of all the animal caregivers and veterinarians not only on Ngamba but also those from other sanctuaries who come on staff exchange programme to Ngamba,” says CSWCT Executive Director, Lilly Ajarova.
“My heart is with the chimps,” Nyandwi states. “I care for them like my own children. People are killing chimps in the forest, the babies are suffering. They need us to take care of them. If not, perhaps they will end up like the rhino in Uganda – gone, extinct and now we are paying a great deal to bring them back.”
A $5000 donation to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary (CSWCT) accompanies the award, underwritten this year by the Pettus Crowe Foundation, the National Anti-Vivisection Society, The Pegasus Foundation, and individual Board members from PASA, GFAS, and Save the Chimps.
“We are proud to honor this sanctuary, recognized by both PASA and GFAS as an outstanding facility, in which the incredible teamwork demonstrated here is all directed to conservation, protection, and care of the magnificent chimpanzees of Uganda,” states Finch.
Ape Action Africa Keeper Germaine Named Disney Conservation Hero for 2011
Zanga Germaine, who overcame a lack of formal education growing up in Cameroon to become one of the most respected primate keepers in Africa, has been selected as a Disney Conservation Hero for 2011.
Germaine works at the Ape Action Africa’s Mefou Primate Park in Cameroon. Zanga’s passion for the primates in his care at is evident, and his ability to express that love to volunteers, tourists, ambassadors, and even reformed hunters is an essential part of the sanctuary fabric. He is considered an expert in chimpanzee, gorilla and primate care and behavior, and has helped make Ape Action Africa a model member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA).
Germaine will receive a certificate and a $500 prize for being named a Disney Conservation Hero, an annual awards program that “recognizes conservation initiatives are only as successful as the community and the local people involved with the project.”
Germaine is the fifth PASA representative to be named a Disney Conservation Hero. “On behalf of PASA and its member sanctuaries throughout Africa, we congratulate Zanga on this prestigious award,” said Anne Warner, executive director of PASA. “He is a wonderful example of the dedication and skill found among the staff at all PASA sanctuaries, and we believe Zanga and his co-workers in Cameroon, Congo, Kenya and elsewhere will continue to play pivotal roles in the conservation of chimpanzees, gorillas and other endangered species.”
Zanga has worked for Ape Action Africa since 2006 when he joined the team as a construction worker. Director, Rachel Hogan, observed Zanga’s strong work ethic and offered him a three-month trial as a chimpanzee keeper. He began working with a group of thirteen young chimps under the supervision of the Head Keeper, but it wasn’t long before Zanga proved his natural talent for conservation and animal care.
Now a fully-fledged Keeper, Zanga is a vital member of the team and contributes directly to the success of the sanctuary with his quiet and absolute commitment. He walks almost 15km a day to work in the park where he cleans, feeds and watches over 20 chimps. With no running water or power at the sanctuary, his job is challenging but Zanga is uncomplaining. “It is sometimes tiring, but I enjoy all aspects of working with the chimps” he says. “I like watching them playing and laughing just like people. I treat them like my brothers”.
PASA Moves Chimpanzees Amid Sudanese Unrest
The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) threaded political unrest in Southern Sudan to rescue four infant chimpanzees and transfer them to a sanctuary in Uganda.
The four orphans were transferred from a makeshift site amidst Southern Sudan’s declaration of independence to the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which is a charter member of PASA that currently cares for 45 endangered chimpanzees.
Nicknamed Cocoa, Minnie, Sarah and Medina, the female chimpanzees are believed to have been smuggled into Southern Sudan from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are victims of the illegal bushmeat trade.
The transfer was funded by PASA and the Disney Rapid Response Fund, in association with KaSas Kenya airlines, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC), and the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT).
“PASA is one of the very few conservation organizations in Africa providing animal rescue,” said Anne Warner, executive director of PASA. “We are dedicated to both individual welfare, and conservation of the species. Each rescue points to how important it is to stop the illegal animal trade.”
Sudanese wildlife officials initially confiscated the chimpanzees in early 2011, and placed them under the care of PASA consultant Annie Olivecrona in Rumbek. Olivecrona nursed the orphans back to health over a period of months, particularly Sara, who arrived in February extremely weak and malnourished.
Olivecrona worked with PASA and Ngamba Island officials to arrange the chimpanzees’ transfer in the chaotic days and weeks surrounding Southern Sudan’s drive to independence.
PASA has now rescued more than a dozen chimpanzees from Southern Sudan since 2008, although previous transfers went to PASA member sanctuaries in South Africa and Kenya.
PASA was formed in 2000 to unite the rehabilitation centers across Africa that care for thousands of orphaned chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, drills, and other endangered primates. To find out more, visit the PASA website, Facebook page, Twitter page, or get in touch via e-mail.
PASA Sanctuary in Guinea Returns Chimpanzees to the Wild
The Centre de Conservation pour Chimpanzees (CCC) in Guinea is proud to announce that on August 4, 2011, five chimpanzees were released to the wild in the Haut-Niger National Park.
Lola, age 17, was intended for release in June 2008, but when she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Siala, in March 2008, they were kept at the sanctuary until they could be released together. On August 4, mother and daughter joined two males, Rappa, age 14, and Bobo, 16, and another female, Annie, aged 10, for they journey back to the wild.CCC is a charter member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), which coordinates activities between primate rehabilitation centers in Africa.
In 2008, the CCC successfully released five chimpanzees in the same area, and it is believed that these two groups, several individuals of whom already know each other well, will unite in the wild. One of the females released in 2008 joined a wild group in 2009, and has been seen with them many times. The males from both released groups were fitted with the special VHF/GPS/Argos collars that are very helpful for monitoring their movements and for tracking them at distance. Thanks to this high-performance technology – GPS points are downloaded via the Internet.
The CCC has worked tirelessly since 2006 in and around the release area (the “Mafou” core area of the Haut-Niger National Park) in collaboration with the Park authorities, the local administrative authorities and military authorities, to protect the area. The CCC insures yearlong protection around this area, and collects data on a long-term basis to evaluate the impact of the release on the biodiversity of the National Park.
“These chimpanzees wouldn’t be free today without your trust and support”, says Estelle Raballand, CCC Director, to the many local and international groups and individuals who have provided volunteers, funding, and on-the-ground support for these complex releases. Thanks especially to PASA, TUSK Trust, ARCUS Foundation, The Edith J. Goode Residuary Trust, Sweden Chimpanzee Trust, Foundation Le Pal Nature, Foundation Brigitte Bardot, IPPL USA and UK, Fondation Nature et Découvertes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
PASA was formed in 2000 to unite the rehabilitation centers across Africa that care for thousands of orphaned chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, drills, and other endangered primates. To find out more, visit the PASA website, Facebook page, Twitter page, or get in touch via e-mail.
