Monthly Report
October 19
Limbe Wildlife Centre: October 2019 by Guillaume LE FLOHIC Manager (Limbe Wildlife Centre) & Country Director (Pandrillus Cameroon)
Published in November 2019 Limbe Wildlife Centre, P.O. Box 878, Limbe, Republic of Cameroon
Limbe Wildlife Centre is a collaborative effort between the Pandrillus Foundation and the Republic of Cameroon, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF Pandrillus Foundation is a non-profit making NGO specialized in the protection, rehabilitation and reintroduction of primates, as well as management and sustainable financing of conservation projects in Africa Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife is in charge of implementing the national forest policy for ensuring sustainable management and conservation of wildlife and biodiversity over the national territory as enacted by forestry law No. 01/94 of 20 November which regulates all forestry, wildlife and fisheries activities
guillaume@limbewildlife.org limbewildlifecentre
+237 681 991 590 limbewildlife
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limbewildlife.org limbewildlife
Monthly Report
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Content OCTOBER 2019 HIGHLIGHTS ACHIEVEMENTS OCTOBER 2019 & OBJECTIVES NOVEMBER 2019 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership| Public Relations| Project Management 2. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment 3. Capacity building 4. Community Conservation, Environmental Education & Ecotourism 5. Management of animal population and well-being 6. Rehabilitation and release programme 7. Research, Monitoring & Health Safety rules 8. Communication & Visibility 9. Revenues generated
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6 6 7 8 11 12 13 15 17 18 19
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Foreword
Dear Friends and Supporters, On 4 February 2017, the African grey parrot, previously listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and in CITES Appendix 2, was reclassified as Endangered and placed in Appendix 1. The worldwide trade of the species was henceforth banned. As a consequence, the African grey parrot is now by law one of the most protected species in Cameroon (Class A), and both capture and export are no longer permitted. For years, Cameroon has been a hub for export and sourcing of wild parrots, contributing to almost half of the 1.3 million legally wild-caught individuals between 1982 and 2014! At the international level, three conditions of ownership were imposed on holders 1) production of a certificate of origin of the individual parrot 2) each parrot must be identified (equipped with a chip and/or a
ring), and 3) an accredited veterinarian must establish the registration of the individual and complete an examination. However, due to limited resources, CITES recommendations could not be followed in Cameroon despite the fact hundreds of individuals are thought to be kept by private owners. In October 2019, we completed the construction of the first rehabilitation aviary for the endangered African grey parrots in Cameroon (p. 8-9). Hence the Limbe Wildlife Centre has become the only government-led project in-country dedicated to the survival of the species. It is also one of the only few establishments running a rehabilitation programme all over the natural distribution area of the African grey parrot. The rescued birds normally arrive in terrible condition and require a great deal
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of specialist care. As their flight feathers are often cut by poachers, they must grow back and then each bird must learn to fly again. This large 242m2 aviary will be lifechanging for rescued parrots and integral to facilitate faster rehabilitation, thereby reducing their time spent in captivity. It will also increase our capacity to rescue more parrots and ultimately, will enable us to release more of these endangered animals back into the wild to restore dwindling wild populations. Later this month, the 19 individuals seized in the port of Kribi in June 2019 were transferred to the thoroughly-enriched management area (p. 15-16) and will be released in the large aviary in November. The next step in our conservation project will be to ensure adequate post-release monitoring. We are studying different options to monitor parrots post-release and collect crucial data on survivorship, distribution, migration patterns and rate of recapture.
Our constant education efforts are pivotal alongside conservation measures. Our school outreach programme resumed for the 2019-20 academic year with an updated curriculum divided into 16 lessons. It will reach almost 1,500 children in 10 local schools. This year, registration for our Saturday Nature Club includes 55 children. Four sessions were organized pertaining to plants, insects, tigers and vertebrates (p. 12). Our vet team was also busy this month, as several individuals required special care and treatment. Several implants were placed on female chimpanzees, and numerous health checks made on our African grey parrot in rehabilitation (p. 1314). Other significant progress was made this month, in all departments, detailed in the present report. Thank you as always for your unfailing support, With very best wishes,
Limbe, 31 October 2019
Guillaume LE FLOHIC LWC Manager, Pandrillus Foundation
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October 2019 Highlights
□ MINFOF, Pandrillus and other stakeholders worked on the elaboration of supports to further engage the communities living around regional protected areas □ Completed the construction of the first African grey parrot rehabilitation aviary in Cameroon □ Started the 2019/20 School Outreach Programme: 10 schools, 24 classes and 1,488 children □ Presented the first results of the Gorilla Research Project to the Société Francophone de Primatologie in France □ Website: Launched our new website! □ Giving Day for Apes 2019: Raised $4,657 from 57 individual donors
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Achievements October 2019 & Objectives November 2019 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership| Public Relations| Project Management â–Ą MINFOF, through the PSMNR-SWR, Pandrillus and other stakeholders worked on the elaboration of supports to further engage the communities living around regional protected areas to protect wildlife, reduce encroachment and recognize the value of nature, 14-16 October (Images 4-5)
Image 1. LWC Head of Education, Image 2. Family picture of the participants Wilson Ateh, and Pandrillus Education who provided their expertise to the PSMNRCoordinator, Cyril Delfosse provided SWR. their expertise to the PSMNR-SWR. November 2019 objectives: â–Ą Validate internal rules and regulations (pending)
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2. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment □ Completed the construction of the first African grey parrot rehabilitation aviary in Cameroon (Images 3-8) □ Continued the restructuration of the vet clinic/quarantine/chimp nursery complex (Images 9-12) □ Continued to re-build the Olive baboon upper satellite cage (Images 13-14) □ Replaced enrichment structures in the Savannah-dwelling guenon enclosure (Images 15-16) □ Maintained 1 sliding door in the gorilla group 1
Image 3. Slab formwork preparation for Image 4. Concrete slab. access to the African grey parrot rehabilitation aviary
Image 5. Setting a bamboo screen all Image 6. View of the management area around the management area of the protected with the bamboo screen. African grey parrot rehabilitation aviary.
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Image 7. View of the management area Image 8. Final view of the finished African from inside the big hall. grey parrot rehabilitation aviary.
Image 9. Crafting and concreting of a Image 10. View of the finish slap for the new slab for the new intensive care new intensive care section of the vet section of the vet clinic. clinic.
Image 11. Sitting bamboo screen all Image 12. Sitting bamboo screen all around the new enrichment section wall. around the new enrichment section wall.
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Image 13. Dismounting of the old Olive Image 14. Installation of the Olive baboon upper satellite cage. baboon upper satellite cage and dressing work on the new foundation.
Image 15. Setting new enrichment Image 16. View of replaced enrichment structures in the Savannah-dwelling structures in the Savannah-dwelling guenon enclosure. guenon enclosure. November 2019 objectives: â–Ą Complete the renovation of the Olive baboon satellite cages â–Ą Continue restructuring the vet clinic/quarantine/chimp nursery complex
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3. Capacity building □ Organised a workshop with the animal care staff to enhance the reporting of activities, challenges and successes at the end of each month (Image 17) □ Started the new manual of standard operation procedures (SOP) for the African grey parrots, with the assistance of Kristen Marshall from Los Angeles Zoo.
Image 17. Jonathan Kang, Head Keeper, explaining his colleagues the information that is requested and the methodology to thoroughly and rigorously report to management. November 2019 objectives: □ Continue with the above ongoing activities
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4. Community Conservation, Environmental Education & Ecotourism □ Nature's Club: 2019-2020 Nature Club resumed: 55 kids registered; monthly effort: 94 kids.days (Images 18-19) Sessions:
- World Animal Day on vertebrates (“Draw your favourite animal”); - Plants (painting of egg trays and plantation of bean seeds into it); - Tigers (BBC documentary on tigers); - Insects (salt dough modelling of insects)
□ School outreach programme: Started the 2019-2020 programme: 10 schools, 24 classes and 1,488 school children will attend our 16 lessons of our curriculum □ Community-based Green Economy: 15 ex-hunter members sustainably harvesting wild herbaceous plants: 861 kg of Aframomum stems and 540 kg of Costus stems; 44 women members harvesting crop by-product: 1,098 kg of cassava leaves, 3,580 kg of papaya leaves, 3,061 kg of potato leaves, 511 kg of invasive Trumpet wood shoots, corresponding to 114 trees hand-cut; 1,013,895 XAF (€1,548) paid directly to the local community association this month; 9,532,025 XAF (€14,553) contributed to alleviate local poverty in 2019.
Image 18. Pandrillus Education Image 19. After learning about plants and Coordinator Cyril Delfosse showed to the the photosynthesis, kids painted egg trays, kids different types of plants. put soil into it and planted a bean seed to watch it grow in the next days.
November 2019 objectives: □ Continue with ongoing programs
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5. Management of animal population and well-being Ongoing activities □ Maintained frequency and diversity of enrichment in each section
Specific activities □ None
□ Vet cares (October 2019): ◌ 40 Primate individuals treated; 14 anaesthesia performed; 35 individuals sampled (12 blood samples for haematology analysis, 32 faecal samples for coprology analysis); 15 contraceptions; 1 identification with microchip; 2 laceration repairs; 1 major surgery; 29 drug therapies: 45% antiparasitics, 14% dietary supplements, 14% anti-inflammatories, 14% antibiotics, 7% arthritis supplements, 3% fluid therapy, 3% others; 2 health checks: Drill (1), Mona monkey (1); 0 death; 0 euthanasia (Images 21-24) ◌ African grey parrots: Conducted 15 health checks and treated each individual (Image 25)
Image 20. Our vet team is very happy Image 21. Akih Emmanuel and Tana with the big donation of material and Ossomba during microchip of a male supplies made by the Los Angeles Zoo, drill for identification. one of our long-lasting partners!
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Image 22. LWC Vet Nurse, Tana Ossomba, performing the monitoring on Arno throughout the intervention. Dr John Kiyang cleaned and flushed the calf wound and checked that it was neither infected nor requiring surgery.
Image 23. Upon arrival at the LWC, the rope used to keep J.K. made a deep wound to his ankle which required urgent intervention from our vet team.
Image 24. LWC lab technician and Image 25. LWC Head Vet, Dr John assistant vet, Akih Emmanuel, monitoring Kiyang, and volunteer vet, Steven JK during his health check. Janssen performing routine health checks on our rescued African Grey Parrots, incl. checking wings, feathers, weight, and overall physical condition. November 2019 objectives: â–Ą Continue with the ongoing activities â–Ą Vet cares: General health checks: None; Contraception: None
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6. Rehabilitation and release programme Arrival & quarantine □ Rescued 1 male juvenile Mona monkey □ Rescued 1 Home's hinged tortoise
Behavioural rehabilitation □ African grey parrots: Transferred the 15 individuals from quarantine to the management area of the new rehabilitation aviary (Images 30-31) □ Mona monkey: Started J.K. (male juvenile) behavioural rehabilitation (Images 2627)
Social rehabilitation □ Patas monkey: Continued the social integration of Leonie and Coco (2 subadult females) to the savannah-dwelling guenon group (Images 28-29)
Release (ecological & environmental rehabilitation) □ None
Image 26. After surgery, J.K. recovered very well and fast. He has been under close monitoring since then. He has been provided with all the necessary care, food and enrichment to help his rehabilitation.
Image 27. J.K. has adapted easily to his new condition and he is getting used to run and climb around. We will give him the time needed to strengthen his body before integrating to his new group.
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Image 28. Killi Stephen Matute, Head of Quarantine, prepared a new temporary rehabilitation enclosure for J.K. filled with various enrichments to stimulate locomotion and play behaviours and provide maximum comfort.
Image 29. Leonie and Coco’s social integration within the Savannah-dwelling guenon group is going on well in their temporary introduction enclosure. Here, Leonie is next to Boyo and Ngi.
Image 30. LWC Head of Quarantine, Killi Stephen Matute, and L.A. Zoo bird specialist, Kristen Marshall, releasing the parrots into the Management area. This area is connected to the aviary. It consists of two rooms that will serve to isolate individuals during social integration or for medical procedures.
Image 31. The rescued African grey parrots settled in quite fast and were actively exploring their new environment. They will remain in this area for feeding, close monitoring and veterinary care. They don’t even know that the best is yet to come! Next month…
November 2019 objectives: □ African grey parrots: Continue the rehabilitation process of the new arrivals □ Chimpanzee: Transfer Chinoise (subadult female) to the Mainland group and complete her social rehabilitation □ Mona monkey: Start the social integration of J.K.
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□ Patas monkey: Complete the social integration of Leonie and Coco in the savannah-dwelling guenon group
7. Research, Monitoring & Health Safety rules Ongoing activities □ Started behavioural data collection on the Chimpanzee Mainland group before the future integration of Chinoise
Activity achievement □ Presented the first results of the Gorilla Research Project to the Société Francophone de Primatologie in France (Image 32a&b)
Image 32a&b. Aurore Balaran, who conducted the behavioural study of space use and social relationships in our gorilla’s groups between February and June 2019 – aka the Gorilla Research Project, had a talk about the project at the conference. The French-speaking Society of Primatology (SFDP) aims to bring together the entire scientific community working with non-human primates. The annual conference took place in France at Parc Animalier et Botanique de Branféré, one of our partners for the African grey parrots. More than100 scientists and primatologists attended the 3-days conference and discussed their work on animal behaviour, cognition, physiology, health but also presented updates on educational programmes and conservation actions for primates.
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Data analysis □ Continued the analysis of the data collected on our gorilla’s groups, in partnership with AKONGO | Wildlife connection (www.akongo.fr)
November 2019 objectives: □ Continue with the above ongoing activities □ Continue the analysis of data collected on the gorilla groups (Gorilla Research Project) □ Continue the behavioural data collection on the Chimpanzee Mainland group before the future integration of Chinoise
8. Communication & Visibility □ Digital communication (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter): this month was very interesting. Across all platforms, we reached 99,620 people and our Facebook and Instagram account are rapidly gaining followers. □ Website: Launched our new website! □ Giving Day for Apes 2019: Raised $4,657 from a total of 57 donors, incl. 20 new ones These funds will help to fix the faulty electric fence, start building an overhang, build termite mounts and additional climbing structures as enrichment for the chimpanzees’ welfare.
November 2019 objectives: □ Continue advocating the missions of the LWC within the Central African Conservation Landscape in Cameroon
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9. Revenues generated â–Ą Entrance fees (October 2019): 426,400 XAF (751 visitors; 76% adults, 24% children)
5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Adult Nationals
Children Nationals
Adult Foreigners
Children Foreigners
Figure 1.Visitor statistics October 2018-October 2019
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