Sierra Leone's chimpanzees have lost a third of their habitat in the last 25 years

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00:00At the Takugama Sanctuary, Niko the chimpanzee is being taught how to thrive once again in

00:10the wild.

00:12With the aid of a stick, he has to gather the food from the small puzzle before him.

00:17The exercise was custom designed by one of the on-site staff to stimulate arm movement.

00:23So when he came in, his humerus was completely fractured in half.

00:27It was a pellet wound, a bullet wound from when he was captured most likely, that his

00:33family would have been killed and he was injured in the process.

00:37He was only young, he was less than two.

00:39That was more than ten years ago, but hunting is still a reality in Sierra Leone.

00:45Last year the park received dozens of young chimpanzees whose families had been killed.

00:55New residents are held in quarantine and vaccinated before being placed in the rehabilitation section.

01:01After that they are released into a larger area protected by the sanctuary.

01:07But the mission stretches further than the confines of the pen.

01:15Joko and his colleague work as part of a team of rangers.

01:18Today they have left the sanctuary to plant video cameras in the surrounding area to monitor

01:24the nearby population of wild chimpanzees.

01:27They also take on the poachers.

01:29During the morning hour, make sure that I watch for the traps.

01:34When I see this trap, I make sure that I destroy it.

01:37And then maybe sometime we are lucky to see some hunters.

01:41We chase them out and then we arrest them, take the gun from them.

01:45The Takugama Sanctuary is partly financed through eco-tourism.

01:50The park offers visits, hikes and stays in lodges nestled in the heart of the forest.

01:56It employs close to 100 people from local communities.

02:00You cannot practice conservation when people are hungry.

02:03We work with about 100 plus communities.

02:06If you promote eco-tourism as the next livelihood event for them, an initiative for them, I

02:13think the chances are better in terms of they will protect the environment.

02:18Their efforts are beginning to pay off.

02:20In large part due to the work of the sanctuary, the government declared chimpanzees as Sierra

02:25Leone's national animal in 2019.

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