The Jane Goodall Institute SA established Chimp Eden in 2006 and it is the first and only Chimp sanctuary in South Africa.
The chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) is considered to be the closest relative to humans and is “Endangered’ under a strict application of the IUCN Red List Criteria (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and is listed in Appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Chimpanzees in the wild may be extinct within the next 10 - 20 years if current trends cannot be reversed.
The goal of the chimpanzee sanctuary is to rescue chimpanzees that have survived the bush meat trade, been orphaned, traded in the illegal pet market, or rescued from being traumatised for entertainment in circuses, beach resorts and night clubs.
The chimpanzees at Chimp Eden are the lucky ones, living out their lives in a risk free environment and being provided with the necessary attention to recover from the trauma they have experienced. The chimpanzees spend their days in semi-wild enclosures, and show normal social interaction and behavioural patterns as group members.
There are currently three different chimp groups and enclosures at the South African sanctuary. There are viewpoints overlooking the forest and “foraging areas’ from which visitors and volunteers can observe and study the chimpanzees.
Founded in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute continues Dr Goodall's pioneering research on chimpanzee behaviour. This research transformed scientific perceptions of the relationship between humans and animals. The South African chimpanzee sanctuary is proud to be part of the Jane Good Institute, which is a global leader in the effort to conserve and preserve endangered species and habitats, and in particular chimpanzees.
The JGI is also widely recognised for establishing innovative community-centred conservation and development programmes in Africa. Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the Institute's global environmental and humanitarian youth program, has groups in more than 120 countries.
Information on Chimp Eden courtesy of http://www.chimpeden.com/
Once gain this is a subject that really pulls your heart strings as many of these Chimps have been saved from living in the worst possible conditions of circus environments, personal pets of gypsies who made them perform and if they didn't would get beaten and locked into small spaces with no food or water.
There are chimps who were chained to posts outside a bar as entertainment for the arriving customers. Chimps who arrived with cigarette burns and with the worst malnutrition you can possibly imagine. One was dressed in tight jeans by his previous owner to the point where his hip bones were deformed, one who arrived overweight and addicted to chocolates and coca cola and even one who arrived as an alcoholic and had to go into rehab before being able to start a new life at Chimp Eden as a normal chimp.
Sadly none of these Chimps can at this stage be released back into the wild as South Africa itself has no areas of forest that are suitable for the chimps. We hope and pray that one day Chimp Eden will be able find the right and safe location and that this will be the next step of the conservation efforts, but in the meantime by visiting Chimp Eden you will see that the lucky ones that have made their way here are having the time of their lives.
