Monthly Report
March 2020
Limbe Wildlife Centre: March 2020 by Guillaume LE FLOHIC Manager (Limbe Wildlife Centre) & Country Director (Pandrillus Cameroon)
Published in April 2020 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 March which regulates all forestry, wildlife and fisheries activities
guillaume@limbewildlife.org limbewildlifecentre
+237 681 991 590 limbewildlife
ALL OUR REPORTS ARE AVAILABLE
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Monthly Report
March 2020
Content
MARCH 2020 HIGHLIGHTS ACHIEVEMENTS MARCH 2020 & OBJECTIVES APRIL 2020 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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Monthly Report
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Foreword
Dear Friends and Supporters, Obviously what we all have in mind this month is Covid-19, now spread in every continent and most countries in the world. I believe we all must support one another during this difficult period. Most of you are confined at home, stressed, bored or unwell. As I write these words, I wish all of you the very best and that you remain safe and healthy. I also hope that you do your part, contributing individually to stop the spread of the virus. Cameroon is not locked down yet, it is likely a matter of days or weeks. Like you, I am worried about the beloved ones we have dispersed across the world. The feeling that we cannot do much to support and reassure them, or conversely receive the support and reassurance we all need, is an immensely upsetting one. Love and patience are what we can and must give to each other.
Appropriately enough, one of LWC’s highlights this month was the rescue of a baby white-bellied pangolin (p. 15-16). This highly endangered species, the most trafficked mammal in the world, this amazing and unique animal has only one protection: its scales. These scales, ironically, have been the very reason why it has been so widely and intensively hunted. Congratulations to China for banning wildlife bushmeat markets and consumption over the territory! One of the most harmless creatures, which has become the symbol of the extent of illegal trafficking, could play a role in the emergence of new coronaviruses. The species is thought to be the intermediate source of contamination from wildlife to human population. As we all know, this has had the devastating consequences of emerging as a pandemic, a global crisis considered to be the worst since WWII by UN chief. This is poetic irony at its finest!
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Philosophers, religious and scientists’ minds are surely deeply stimulated by this surreal situation. Yet politicians, whom we rely upon to make the right decisions to protect their peoples’ health and security, are struggling to stop playing political games. Perhaps for the first time in their professional careers, they will realize they are not totally above the rules of biology. Coronavirus does not discriminate between those with power and those without. As ever, though, the poorest are the most vulnerable in this highly unsettling period in our history. Moderation, courage, justice and science are the values we should rely on more than ever, and we must stand for these principles. My thoughts go out to those who have been impacted by the virus, in particular in China, US, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Spain, France, UK, Egypt, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Chile, Equator, Colombia, Panama, India, Malaysia, Australia, and Cameroon, which, unfortunately, does not seem ready to face the outbreak. Sadly, this month Pandrillus and the MINFOF decided to close the LWC until further notice, to protect our staff members and animals. The volunteer programme is closed, which will affect our revenues. Other precautionary measures were subsequently taken: handwashing stations and hygiene protocols have been reinforced, waste management is now done entirely internally to reduce pollution, face
masks were produced, and collaboration between services to monitor every single of the 455 animals is upgraded (p. 18-20). All of these measures have a cost. This constitutes an unwelcome added pressure to our financial situation. We were already chasing funds to fill the projected deficit, a deficit resulting from the sheer number of rescued African grey parrots we are rehabilitating and preparing for release. It is vital to secure a minimum of $80,000 for the next 6-9 months.
We need your help more than ever to secure $80,000 The most important concern right now, however, is that our team is prepared to face the epidemic in Cameroon. This involves retraining in hygiene protocol, which will not only benefit the LWC but also themselves and their families. As the LWC is in town, we are likely more at risk than many other places. This risk extends especially to our cherished 15 gorillas and 43 chimps. We will need your help more than ever. Meanwhile, normal work kept going. The integration of chimpanzee Chinoise was a great success, as was the rescue of a mother Western tree Hyrax and her baby. African grey parrot health checks and transferral to the rehabilitation aviary was also completed (p. 15-17), and we almost finished the construction of the new Special Care section for disabled chimpanzees (p. 910).
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If you wish to keep helping us prepare to face the challenges of the coming weeks, please buy some T-shirts or hoodies for our fundraising campaign (p. 20-21). It will go a long way and help us provide the best care to our African grey parrots. Any extra will be pivotal to help us acquire Covid-19 tests we could use for our staff, but worst-case scenario, for our primates too.
Thank you as always for your unfailing support, Stay safe and healthy, and as in high spirits as you can: it just takes a couple of muscles to give you a good Duchenne smile1
With very best wishes, Limbe, 31 March 2020
Guillaume LE FLOHIC LWC Manager, Pandrillus Foundation
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discovered that just recently. For those who are bored at home, that’s a fine subject to study ! Smiling is contagious but safe !
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March 2020 Highlights COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC □ Suspended all education activities with children □ Upgraded all sanitary protocols as precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 □ Drafted the proposal of the national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots □ Organised a 2-days staff training workshop: 15 presentations made by heads of section and department □ Rescued 1 infant endangered white-bellied pangolin □ Almost 200 African grey parrots in the new rehabilitation aviary are ready to enter the soft release programme □ Completed the social integration of Chimpanzee Chinoise (subadult female) into the Mainland group □ Launched our online T-shirt fundraising campaign to support the national African grey parrot rehabilitation and release programme
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Achievements March 2020 & Objectives April 2020 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership| Public Relations| Project Management ▥ Drafted the proposal of the national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus): Establishment and management of the national conservation programme for the endangered African grey parrot victims of wildlife trafficking (Image 1) ▥ Conducted individual performance review for 2019 and transmitted a letter to all 31 staff members (Image 2) Image 1. In the framework of the long-term national rehabilitation and release programme for endangered African grey parrots, the Limbe Wildlife Centre will be used for quarantine, treatment and care of parrots and the early stages of their rehabilitation to enable them to flight in our special rehabilitation aviary. Then, groups of parrots will be transferred to the chosen sites within Cameroon’s protected areas and be released and monitored, following established soft release methodology.
Image 2. Every staff was provided with a 4-page letter highlighting attendance, performance, results to tests and recommendations from the management for next
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year. On the other hand, suggestions made to improve work performance is written down. This has demonstrated to be a very useful tool to help the staff member keep track of their weaknesses while reinforcing their strengths. April 2020 objectives: □ Validate internal rules and regulations (pending) □ Review the proposal of the national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots
2. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment □ Continued the re-structuration of the chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section the new quarantine cages (Images 3-7) □ Installed shelves at the kitchen to upgrade food storing standard and facilitate preparation (Images 8-10) □ Renovating septic tank at the Pandrillus house
Image 3. Finishing off the second phase Image 4. Increasing high of the old fence of the overhanging panel in the block wall in the chimpanzee Special Care chimpanzee Special Care section. section.
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Image 5. Final view of the last phase of Image 6. Installation of the electric fence the overhang metal panel installation in wire in the chimpanzee Special Care the chimpanzee Special Care section. section.
Image 7. View of the fence lines in the Image 8. Installing the kitchen shelves. chimpanzee Special Care section.
Image 9. Final view of the kitchen Image 10. The shelves provide better shelves. storage conditions for food like papaya.
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April 2020 objectives: □ Complete the re-structuration of the chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section □ Complete the renovation of the Nile crocodile enclosure (pending)
3. Capacity building □ Workshop: 2-days staff training, 15 presentations made by heads of section and department (Images 11-12) □ Started ecoguide training: focus on the missions of the LWC, past, present and future activities run by sections, conservation status and ecology of the species cared for at LWC, coordinated by Ateh Wilson (Head of Education Dept) □ Continued the new manual of standard operation procedures (SOP) for the African grey parrots rehabilitation and monitoring □ Workshop: Habitat assessment in Campo Ma’an National Park in view of releasing wildlife back into the wild, by Cyril Delfosse (Pandrillus Postdoctoral Researcher) & Steven Janssen (Pandrillus Wildlife Veterinarian) (Images 13-14)
Image 11. Guenon keeper, Johnson Matute, doing a presentation about the Guenon section and the different species and individuals it includes.
Image 12. Some of the LWC staff present for the presentations. These workshops are essential to have the information flow amongst the staff and is always a moment to built the team spirit and have some fun!
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Image 13. Habitat assessment is pivotal Image 14. Dr Cyril Delfosse presenting the to study the feasibility to transfer Western fieldwork made in Campo Ma’an National lowland gorilla from the Limbe Wildlife Park. Centre into semi-wild enclosures. Preliminary results were shared with our staff members.
April 2020 objectives: □ Continue with the above ongoing activities □ Evaluate ecoguide skills and give certificates □ Organise workshop: Recording daily data on animals: focus on respiratory symptoms to detect early stage of Covid-19 in Great Ape population, by Jonathan Kang (Head Keeper and Gorilla Keeper) □ Organise workshop: How to efficiently disinfect animal infrastructures?: protocol to use bleach and other disinfectants, by Dr John Kiyang (Head Veterinarian)
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4. Community Conservation, Environmental Education & Ecotourism DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, ALL EDUCATION ACTIVITIES WITH CHILDREN HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED □ School outreach programme: Continued the 2019-2020 programme: 10 schools, 24 classes and 1,488 schoolchildren; monthly efforts: 35.2 men.hours. □ Saturday Nature Club: 2019-2020 Nature Club continued: 782 kids registered; monthly attendance: 79 kids (Images 15-16). Sessions:
- What is an ecosystem? (Roleplaying): 52 attendees, 26 new kids. - International Day of Action for Rivers (Studying the Limbe river): 27 attendees, 1 new kid. □ Community-based Green Economy: 15 ex-hunter members sustainably harvesting wild herbaceous plants: 799.5 kg of Aframomum stems and 304 kg of Costus stems; 34 women members harvesting crop by-product: 380 kg of cassava leaves, 3,106 kg of papaya leaves, 3,296 kg of potato leaves, 380 kg of invasive Trumpet wood shoots, corresponding to 85 trees hand-cut; 885,940 XAF (€1,353) paid directly to the local community association this month; 2,524,280 XAF (€3,854) contributed to alleviate local poverty in 2020.
Image 15. This month we talked about ecosystems to the kids of the Nature Club. They made role-playing at the end of the session to understand the different interactions between all the elements of an ecosystem.
Image 16. The Limbe river, within the LWC, served to illustrate what an ecosystem is, with plants and animals living and interacting together. It was the occasion to celebrate the International Day of Action for Rivers.
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April 2020 objectives: □ Continue with ongoing programs
5. Management of animal population and well-being Ongoing activities □ Maintained frequency and diversity of enrichments in each section (Images 28-29)
Specific activities □ Putty-nosed monkey: Continued to integrate Bamenda, Eboti, and Tanyi to the Putty-nosed monkey group □ Vet cares (March 2020): ◌ 74 Primate individuals treated; 7 anaesthesia performed; 14 individual sampled (3 blood samples for haematology analysis, 14 faecal samples for coprology analysis); 1 contraceptions; 0 identification with a microchip; 3 laceration repairs; 0 major surgery; 78 drug therapies: 76% dietary supplements, 9% antibiotics, 7% anti-inflammatories, 4% fluid therapy, 3% arthritis supplements, 1% others; 1 health check: Drill (1: Mbigou, juvenile male, 2nd quarantine health check); 1 death ◌ African grey parrots: 173 health checks performed; 11 individuals received intensive care treatment with 3rd generation antibiotic treatment, antiinflammatories, and supportive treatment; 10 deaths
April 2020 objectives: □ Continue with the ongoing activities □ Putty-nosed monkey: Continue to integrate Bamenda, Eboti, and Tanyi to the Puttynosed monkey group
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□ Vet cares: 3rd quarantine health check: Drill (Mbigou, juvenile male); General health checks: African grey parrots (50+); Contraception: Chimpanzee (1), Drills (14) and Guenons (10)
6. Rehabilitation and release programme Arrival & quarantine □ Received 1 juvenile endangered white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) (Images 17-18) □ Received 2 Western tree Hyrax (mother and juvenile) (Images 19-20)
Behavioural rehabilitation □ Drill: Completed the behavioural rehabilitation of the juvenile male Drill
Social rehabilitation □ African grey parrot: Introduced 69 individuals to the group of 122 in the new rehabilitation aviary, reaching 191 individuals ready to be released back into the wild (Images 21-22) □ Chimpanzee: Completed the social integration of Chinoise (subadult female) into the Mainland group (Images 23-24) □ Drill: Started the social rehabilitation of the juvenile male Drill with adult female Jafita
Release (ecological & environmental rehabilitation) □ None
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Image 17. The Infant White_bellied Image 18. After a couple of days, the pangolin was very young. He received white_belied pangolin was offered to around-the-clock care. forage for ants and termites on the ground.
Image 19. Baby western tree hyrax Image 20. The baby Western tree Hyrax is (Dendrohyrax dorsalis) weighted every day and then was transferred to a well-enriched cage as his condition improved.
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Image 21. Almost 200 individuals are now Image 22. The strongest individuals will in the rehabilitation aviary practising their integrate the pilot soft release project in flight capacities. the coming weeks.
Image 23. Chinoise is the 3rd individuals integrated to the Mainaln group in the past 3 years, the 6th chimp to change group in total!
Image 24. Chinoise is now a full member of the Mainland chimpanzee group. She contributes to increasing the time spent playing and hence enhances the group cohesion.
April 2020 objectives: â–Ą African Grey Parrots: Continue the rehabilitation process of the rescued individuals
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7. Research, Monitoring & Health Safety rules Ongoing activities □ Behavioural monitoring of the endangered Chimpanzees: assess the Mainland group cohesion and individual welfare before, during and after social integration of Chinoise (subadult female) □ Recovery monitoring of the of rescued endangered African grey parrots: Continued to collect data during health checks and through direct observation □ Establishing Haematological Reference Values for the endangered Drill: Continued to build the dataset of haematological data extracted from 18 years of analysis (2002-2019), corresponding to 199 samples, and including a total of 21 haematological parameters.
Activity achievement □ Upgraded all sanitary protocols as precautionary measures against the spread of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the current Covid-19 pandemic: closed access to the public, suspended the abroad volunteer programme, created hand washing stations, strengthen the protocol for disinfection, use of masks, developed new medical reporting, in collaboration between all departments (Images 25-28) □ Started composting of organic material as a way to improve animal waste management within the farm of the Limbe Wildlife Centre (Image 29)
Data analysis □ None
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Image 25. Five handwashing stations were installed within the LWC. Hand disinfection is compulsory when going in and out of various sectors of the centre.
Image 26. Hand sanitizers are also available all around the centre. They are produced by our vet team, sponsored by Pandrillus.
Image 27. Information is displayed all Image 28. Key information on the Covid-19 over the centre to refresh our staff as well as on the various hygiene protocols member of the importance to keep is displayed in the Nyango’s Exhibition Hall. excellent hygiene to protect ourselves, our colleagues and all the animals.
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Image 29. A new compost area within the farm has been arranged to improve on our animal waste management. The method is being designed to naturally kill germs and parasite and sanitize the waste while creating valuable organic matter to fertilize the farm, the Mandrill fallow land or tree nursery for the centre. April 2020 objectives: â–Ą Continue with the above ongoing activities
8. Communication & Visibility â–Ą Digital communication (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter): March was successful for our social media reach (total through all plateforms = 226,810) and was marked mainly by our latest pangolin rescue and our African grey parrot #ProtectWildlife t-shirt fundraiser. We continue to find news interactive and engaging ways to keep our followers up to date and engaged with the work of the LWC and are pleased to see such a constant growth in our online following. â–Ą Fundraising: Launched our online T-shirt campaign to support the national African grey parrot rehabilitation and release programme (Image 48)
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Image 30. BUY A T-SHIRT and support the African grey parrot rehabilitation & release programme in Cameroon! April 2020 objectives: â–Ą Continue advocating the missions of the LWC within the Central African Conservation Landscape in Cameroon
9. Revenues generated â–Ą Entrance fees (March 2020): XAF 374,300 (629 visitors; 16% children, 94% Cameroonians) 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Adult Nationals
Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20
Children Nationals
Adult Foreigners
Children Foreigners
Figure 1.Visitor statistics March 2019- March 2020
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