Tacugama: Rescuing Sierra Leone's Last Chimpanzees

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary sits in the hills above Freetown, Sierra Leone, where founders Bala and Sharmila Amarasekaran began taking in orphaned chimpanzees in 1988 after rescuing one tied to a tree. Since formally opening in 1995, the sanctuary has rescued and rehabilitated more than 200 western chimpanzees orphaned by poaching, the pet trade and habitat loss, with 123 currently living on site. Beyond direct rescue, Tacugama trains rangers, led a national chimpanzee census, and works with communities to protect the forests that shelter Sierra Leone's remaining wild chimpanzees. The western chimpanzee is Critically Endangered, and Sierra Leone is believed to hold the world's third-largest surviving population.