BIG CHANGE FOR MARGOT AND FRIENDS!

Margot (left) and Selma are two of four juveniles we moved over to Bikol’s group of 23, mostly adult, chimpanzees last week.
In February 2011, Cameroon authorities confiscated then one-year-old Margot soon after a hunter had killed her mother and and left her with a gunshot wound to the face. Margot’s painful injuries included a badly fractured jaw and a gaping ½-inch hole in the roof of her mouth, but with medical care at our Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, she soon recovered and made good friends with slightly older juveniles Selma and Anita. Kanoa joined them in 2012.
Until last week the four were spending their days playing in the forest under the watchful eyes of their caregivers. Now they will face a challenging few months in a large cage chamber as we try to integrate them with the large group of older chimpanzees. We’ll proceed slowly and as safely as possible, but adult female Manni is already enjoying time inside with the “kids.” If the integration is successful, Margot and her friends will eventually join the big group in a 20-acre tract of forest, and the lives of all involved chimpanzees will be richer as a result.
We’ll keep you posted!

Photo courtesy of Jacques Gillon