Janet the young chimpanzee is in forest school at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary after tumultuous first year of life

Janet the chimpanzee is celebrating over a year of safety and love!

The two-year-old primate resides at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone, where she is currently in “forest school” with the facility’s other orphaned rescue chimps.

It’s a happier life, far different from where Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary found her in January 2023.

A spokesperson for Tacugama told us that the sanctuary first learned of Janet when they received an “alarming call and footage all the way from Australia.”

In January 2023, a man named John Kamara, who is based in Australia, received information from a volunteer youth group he founded in Sierra Leone. A volunteer from the group sent Kamara footage of “a baby chimpanzee in a bad state,” tied outside a home with a rope around her neck.

Even though he was in Australia, Kamara knew he had to take action. He called Tacugama and shared the situation. After getting the information, Tacugama quickly launched a rescue mission.

“She lost her mum, her family, and her home and was held as a pet, living outside the house on a tightrope,” the Tacugama spokesperson says. “For every baby chimp obtained, the mother and several other family members have been killed. For a family will never give up their young without a fight.”

The Tacugama rescue team, consisting of a driver, a camp supervisor, outreach field officers, on-site rangers, NPAA (National Protected Area Authority) rangers, and local police, found Janet malnourished, traumatized, dehydrated, and suffering from severe skin disease when they arrived. She also had a tight rope around her neck.

“She was in a very bad state, physically and mentally,” the Tacugama spokesperson explains.

The rescue team brought Janet to the sanctuary, where they immediately started her medical treatment and initiated a three-month quarantine period.

Tacugama quarantines all new arrivals for three months. During this time, orphaned chimps like Janet are under the 24/7 care of a surrogate human mother.

“Janet responded very well to her treatments, started to eat well, and quickly proved to be a very independent little girl. She was constantly climbing fast and high, keeping her surrogate mother very busy,” the spokesperson adds.

After her quarantine and being deemed healthy, Janet moved to forest school with other orphaned chimps under Tacugama’s care. Tacugama is home to 120 rescue chimpanzees, including 40 babies and toddlers. At forest school, Janet and the other young chimps are learning essential skills like climbing, foraging, and socializing.

Rehabilitating traumatized baby chimpanzees takes time. Tacugama is preparing the young ones for the next phase of their care – introducing them to a larger group of adult chimpanzees who share an outdoor enclosure during the day.

Tacugama is honored to give Janet “a second chance at a chimpanzee-worthy life,” but the sanctuary is also concerned about the “alarming” number of chimpanzees being kept as pets.

“Almost all the young animals we rescue are taken from homes where they are kept as pets. All the animals are malnourished and severely traumatized. Often, they also have pellets in their bodies because the rest of their families were shot,” the spokesperson adds about what the rescue chimps have endured.

Western chimpanzees like Janet are critically endangered, with only 5,500 remaining in the wild in Sierra Leone. Tacugama is dedicated to protecting these at-risk animals and preserving our planet’s biodiversity.

Animal lovers can assist with this mission by donating to Tacugama via the sanctuary’s website. People can also support the sanctuary by subscribing to Ecoflix, the world’s first nonprofit streaming platform. Tacugama is among the nonprofits Ecoflix users can dedicate their subscriptions to.

To learn more about Ecoflix and the nonprofits they support, you can visit Ecoflix’s website.