Popular chimp sanctuary closes doors over threat from illegal human land grab

There is a distinct moment when the tranquillity of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary envelops our car as we drive higher up the mountain.

The buzz of Freetown gives way to the hushed calm of this pocket of pristine rainforest reserved for critically endangered western chimpanzees rescued from across Sierra Leone. The quiet is necessary.

These bright primates - closest related to humans in the animal kingdom - are easily disturbed and the ones living in Tacugama are particularly sensitive. The more than 120 chimpanzees brought here are traumatised survivors of mistreatment, hunting and violent separation from their families in the wild.

They are now facing another existential threat. Illegal encroachment is eating away at the edges of the conservation area.

Despite wildlife laws, forest has been cleared to make way for houses being constructed closer and closer to chimp enclosures. "We've been issuing several warnings over the last year," says Tacugama founder Bala Amarasekaran.

"Four months ago - again - we gave a warning. Then we had presidential intervention say that some of this encroachment will be stopped.

It started very well for the first month then everything stopped again and we are back at square one. So, we are very tired and very stressed." Thirty years ago, Mr Amarasekaran appealed to the government to donate land and partner with him to create a sanctuary for the protection of the abused orphaned chimps he was finding across Freetown.

Today, land in the Western Area Forest Reserve is being grabbed right under the government's nose. "The government has been very good in terms of helping us in every way - however we expect the leadership to be more firm," says Mr Amarasekaran.

"When we talk to them, they are all with us. They all want to help.

But when it comes to action it looks like some of the departments that have the mandate to institute certain laws and take the necessary law enforcement action are not acting." Sanctuary closes its doors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research Tacugama has grown to become Sierra Leone's most popular tourist attraction over the last three decades. But in a stand against the fast-approaching illegal encroachment, the sanctuary has closed its doors to visitors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research.

"It is not a tourist attraction - we made it become a tourist attraction. It is supposed to be an orphanage for rescued chimpanzees," Mr Amarasekaran says.

"They are used to us and some visitors but they will start to see strangers come and that is where the problems start. They are not comfortable with strangers - don't forget it is the stranger who killed their mother.

It is the stranger that wiped out their group." 'A complex problem' We asked Sierra Leone's government spokesperson and minister of information and civic education, Chernor Bah, about the illegal encroachment. "It is a complex problem.

You have a city that is growing. People need places to stay and we have not done the best job in terms of enforcing all these limitations," he replied.

"Some of our agents seem to have been complicit in allocating and giving people land in places they are not supposed to stay. So, I don't think I can sit here and say we have done enough - there is much more we can do.

"[Tacugama] is probably our most cherished and significant wildlife asset in the country." A national symbol for tourism In 2019, the government designated the western chimpanzee as the national animal and national symbol for tourism. The image of a chimp is now etched in Sierra Leonean passports, a result of Tacugama's advocacy Mr Amarasekaran and his team hope will entrench a love and respect for chimps that will curb the need for intervention.

"We wanted something more - that is how the national animal bill came through," says Mr Amarasekaran. "We thought if the agencies that are mandated to do all the law enforcement are not active and effective, then maybe we need to create a synergy between the people and the animals." Chimpanzees hunted for bushmeat But chimpanzees are still being hunted as bushmeat for food across Sierra Leone and baby chimps are being torn from their families to be kept as illegal pets.

Tacugama's latest rescue is only eight months old. Baby Asana is frail with thinning hair and is being nursed back to health by his chimp mum, Mama P, when we meet him.

He was rescued after an informant sent a video of Asana wearing human clothes and being mistreated as an illegal pet in Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city. "For me as the founder of the sanctuary, I feel defeated," says Mr Amarasekaran with Asana being cared for behind him.

"These chimps shouldn't be arriving here if we have done enough work outside - there shouldn't be any killings, there shouldn't be any rescues. That is the time when I can say that I achieved something." Research from the Jane Goodall Institute identified that between five and 10 chimpanzees die for every surviving rescued chimpanzee.

And with the sanctuary closed, much-needed public advocacy work will take a hard hit. 'Until I came to the sanctuary, I didn't see a chimpanzee' "I'm really concerned because I only even started to experience chimpanzees when I started working here.

I knew that we had chimps here. But until I came to the sanctuary, I didn't see a chimpanzee," says 25-year-old Tacugama communications officer, Sidikie Bayoh.

"Now, we are at a situation where we are closed indefinitely but what if this becomes something wherein we can never open the sanctuary again for people to visit? Then you will have all these young Sierra Leoneans never fully understanding what their national animal is." The closure also means there will be no revenue from visitors at a time when USAID funding has been halted. "In the absence of funding from - at the moment - the US government, it is going to be difficult for us to turn around quickly," says Mr Amarasekaran.

He then shrugs and smiles knowingly, adding: "We are very resilient - we are like chimpanzees. So, we will manage somehow.".