Page 27 - Liberia Exhibit Magazine Issue1

Jenny Desmond, a CNN correspondent and
her husband Jim are making strides under the
Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection
since they moved to the West African nation in
2015.

Upon the couple arrival in Liberia, the coun-
try’s forestry authorities brought them 19 young
chimpanzees in need of parents and a home.

Unlike the blood center chimps, who were
fully grown and living somewhat independently,
the majority of these chimps were newly or-
phaned by poachers who killed their mothers for
bushmeat. Like human babies, these chimpan-
zees need around-the-clock care.

According to a statement from the organi-
zation, in order to provide adequate care for
the orphans, the Desmonds hired a team of
caregivers from the local village to serve as their
surrogate mothers. But chimpanzee babies grow
up quickly, and, by two or three years old, they
have to be transitioned into a group of other
chimps. In addition, they need far more space
— space that they don’t have in the small home
they inhabit in a densely populated village two
hours outside of Monrovia.

Leaving this natural heritage to the goodwill of
an NGO leaves much to desire.

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