-1-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Limbe Wildlife Centre: June-July 2021 Cover page: Newly rescued endangered Preuss’s monkey named Camfor Published in August 2021 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 February which regulates all forestry, wildlife and fisheries activities
peggy@limbewildlife.org limbewildlifecentre
+237 698 87 7002 limbewildlife
ALL OUR REPORTS ARE AVAILABLE
-2-
limbewildlife.org limbewildlife
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Accreditations & Awards
In December 2018, the Limbe Wildlife Centre had its accreditation with the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) renewed for another five years. PASA is the largest association of wildlife centres and sanctuaries in Africa, founded by the Limbe Wildlife Centre, along with 6 other primate sanctuaries. Today, PASA includes 23 organizations in 13 countries that demonstrate exceptional commitment to securing a future for Africa’s primates and their habitat and implement the highest standards of animal welfare and conservation practices. In April 2018, the Limbe Wildlife Centre was voted Best Volunteer Abroad Project and chosen to feature in the Tutorful’s Wildlife Conservation editorial along with other prestigious organisations making a notable difference in wildlife conservation worldwide. The LWC gives people the chance to volunteer and assist experienced caregivers with the daily caregiving activities, offering the opportunity for volunteers to the experience of making a meaningful contribution to primate conservation (and all the satisfaction this provides).
In August 2019, the Limbe Wildlife Centre received a 2019 Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award at the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland, in recognition of the remarkable efforts the LWC has made to help combat wildlife crime.
-3-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Content
ACCREDITATIONS & AWARDS FOREWORD OUR PRIORITY FINANCIAL NEEDS JUNE-JULY 2021 HIGHLIGHTS LWC’s SPECIAL HIGHTLIGHT
3 5 7 8 9
ACHIEVEMENTS JUNE-JULY 2021 & OBJECTIVES AUGUST 2021 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership & Public Relations 2. Population management & Animal welfare 3. Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release programme 4. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment 5. Community Conservation, Environmental education & Ecotourism 6. Wildlife conservation research & Health monitoring 7. Capacity building, staff empowerment & Mentorship 8. Communication & Visibility 9. Revenues generated -4-
10 10 10 14 16 21 22 22 23 24
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Foreword
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | PROJECT MANAGER A Calm time for gorilla physiotherapy
Dear Friends and Supporters,
including our newly employed Animal Care and Rehabilitation Manager, Marie-Claire Gauthier, will keep monitoring Mbigou’s progress in the group thoroughly. We’ll assess levels of bonding with others for at least two months until we can consider that he is fully part of the group.
After several difficult months, or rather a difficult year, it was very satisfying to have two months gone by without any serious problems or hurdles. In fact, the months of June and July were two of ease and serenity, the only exception being a branch that fell as a result of a storm and that damaged the drill fence.
Another individual has received special attention of late. As all the groups are stable, we have more time to devote to individuals with special needs. Twiggs is one of these individuals. She arrived in 2003 with an untreated injury of the right arm that left her disabled. Since then, she has not been able to use her arm properly. To increase her mobility and strength, we initiated an innovative physiotherapy
Despite this incident, Mbigou, a juvenile male drill rescued in 2020, finally integrated into the large group of 65 individuals. Although the integration of individuals into an already wellestablished group is always tricky, the process went well and smoothly. Our team,
-5-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
protocol based on positive reinforcement training to encourage and stimulate her to use it slightly more. This uses a similar principle to human rehabilitation. We have been providing her with special enrichment, and a tight programme to which she has been responding very well. On Father’s day, we shared a video of her relationship with our head keeper, Jonathan Kang, to all of our social media platforms. The video reached an unmatched 15.6M people worldwide!
practices. Thank you to Children of Conservation for your appreciation.
Visibility and communication of our successes and challenges is vital to maintain our resources that are still fragile since the pandemic. Lastly, a short documentary produced by Sky Television for the COP26 in 2021 to emphasized the work done at the LWC to protect wildlife and educate citizens in sustainable
With the rainy season in full swing, we hope that the following months will not be greatly influenced by the very wet weather that is forecasted. We wish for you all to stay healthy, warm and safe.
Despite the constant rainfall for the last two months, our team has maintained our infrastructure consistently. Throughout this period, no less than two guenon enclosures and the duiker enclosure were renovated. We also took the chance to thank and reward the 4 best workers of second trimester of the Centre for their efforts and commitment.
Thank you all, as ever, for your unfailing support. Stay safe and healthy! Peggy Motsch Project Manager
-6-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Our priority financial needs 1. Help us protect our rescued animals during COVID-19! COVID-19 updates in Cameroon
90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0
The number of confirmed cases reaching more than 80,000, with a marked reduction in number of new cases detected throughout May (Monthly increase: +1%). The virus community maintained
still circulates in the and caution must be
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cameroon (source: MINSANTE)
Mar-20
Jun-20
Sep-20
Dec-20
Mar-21
DONATE NOW TO PROTECT THEM FROM We must continue to COVID-19! boost the immunity of 14 critically endangered gorillas, 41
Jun-21
endangered chimps, and 65 endangered Drills and maintain biosecurity measures vs. COVID-19.
2. Splitting the large gorilla enclosure To enable our gorillas to enjoy an enriched outdoor every day, take part in this amazing project and help us divide and re-enrich the largest enclosure with climbing structures and shelter to rest, hide and play. Needed: €3,000
RE-ENRICH THE GORILLAS ENCLOSURE HERE!
3. Construct new enclosures for our Guenons and Mangabeys! Our Mona monkey and Red-capped Mangabeys have reached maximum capacity, therefore they need more space, to increase group cohesion and individual well-being. Goal: €11,000
INCREASE THEIR LIVING SPACE NOW!
Contact info@limbewildlife.org to know more
-7-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
June-July 2021 Highlights
□ Appointed the new Animal Care & Rehabilitation Manager to the Limbe Wildlife Centre □ Mbigou is fully integrated in the Drill group □ Rescued 2 African grey parrots □ Complete renovation of the duiker enclosure □ Complete maintenance of Mona monkey Saker’s enclosure □ Complete maintenance of Red-eared monkey Idenau’s enclosure □ Revealed the best workers of the Limbe Wildlife Centre for second trimester 2021 □ A film crew from England « Sky Television » came to the LWC for the COP26
-8-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Marie-Claire Gauthier, of French nationality, has been appointed new manager in charge of the animal care and rehabilitation at the Limbe Wildlife Centre. She is very welcome in the team and we are looking forward to her hard work ensuring that the best environment is provided to all the animals under our care. “My passion for wildlife, especially primates, began 15 years ago in Costa Rica, where I used to spend hours listening to the howler monkeys living near me. Following this trip, I travelled to Thailand and Bolivia, where I realised how immense the pressures to wild places are and how human encroachement drives humans closer to animals, with the many challenges it brings. This is the sad reality of most countries and the click I needed to dedicate my life to helping wildlife. I engaged as a volunteer in a similar rehabilitation centre protecting vervet monkeys in South Africa, where I learnt animal behaviour, care and rehabilitation, and much more. I am very excited to be part of the LWC family and eager to contribute to helping the LWC grow with all my energy! ” Marie Claire Gauthier
-9-
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Achievements June-July 2021 & Objectives August 2021 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership & Public Relations Funders □ None Ongoing activities □ Marie-Claire Gauthier was appointed as new Animal Care & Rehabilitation Manager to the Limbe Wildlife Centre / Limbe Zoological Garden
August 2021 objectives □ Review the proposal of the national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots (pending)
2. Population management & Animal welfare Funders
Ongoing activities □ Maintained frequency and diversity of enrichments in each section (Images 1 a&b)
Specific activities □ Enriched two new cages in quarantine (social rehabilitation area) for our old female Guenon (Aggie, adult female red-eared monkey) & Mangabey (Sarah, adult female red-capped mangabey) to increase their well-being as they cannot live with their own group anymore (Images 2-3) □ Drill: Completed the introduction, Mbigou (Juvenile male) in the Drill enclosure (Images 4 a&b)
- 10 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
□ Western Lowland Gorilla: Continuing physiotherapy with Twiggs (Adult female) focusing on her disabled right arm □ Vet cares (June-July 2021): o Boosting primate immune systems during Covid-19: providing on daily basis vitamins, plants infusion, extra protein and other nutritional enrichment to all primates o Primates: 352 individuals treated; 17 anaesthesia performed; 37 individuals sampled (15 blood sample for haematology analysis, 2 blood sample for biochemistry analysis, 31 faecal samples for coprology analysis, 5 urine analysis; 0 Tracheal swab for microbiology analysis); 4 contraception; 0 identification with a microchip; 0 laceration repairs; 42 drug therapies: 33% antibiotics, 31% dietary supplements, 19% anti-inflammatories, 7% fluid therapy, 2% expectorant, 4% others, 2% topical disinfectant; 0 death: (Images 5-10) o African grey parrots: 0 general health checks; 0 health checks before release; 0transferrals to the soft-release aviary, 0 transferrals to the rehabilitation aviary; 8 individuals received extra care and nutritional supplement to boost feather regrowth; 0 deaths
Image 1 a&b. Creation of new enrichment areas is always a challenge because it’s unpredictable how the animals will react to it. All enrichment needs to be adapted to the species to increase the difficulty and be related to their strength!
- 11 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 2. Aggie, aged around 28 years, is the first red-eared monkey who arrived at the LWC. Unfortunately, she began to go blind, and was no longer able to live on a daily basis with her group. Recently we decided to transfer her to her new cage in quarantine. Killi Matute, the head of the quarantine, enriched her new cage with lots of palm tree leaves to reduce her stress as she can see the shadows. A special ladder was made to help to climb on the platform and keep her active.
Image 3. Sarah, aged around 30 years, was transferred to the quarantine area to be able to relax and enjoy. Our priority is the well-being of the animal at any age, adapting our enrichment and care according to the age. As we can see, Sarah is relaxing in her new hammock.
Image 4 a&b. Mbigou is finally integrated into his new group in the Drill enclosure. After a few months during which he was introduced to many individuals, we decided it was time we let him meet all the rest of the group. He took some time before he had the courage to go outside, but a playful young male came to meet him for play. He gave Mbigou enough confidence to go out and join Nala, his playmate since the beginning of his social rehabilitation.
- 12 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 5. LWC has a strict no- breeding policy. We implanted 3 females’ chimpanzees with contraception. Every 2 years and half we have to change the implant to be sure no pregnancy will happen! Here, Akih Emmanuel, our vet assistant, is putting the implant in the arm so we can remove it easily when it’s depleted and we need to put in a new one.
Image 6. If we anesthetize an individual for any procedures (here for the implant of the females) we always take the opportunity to do a complete health check and take important measures such as weight (necessary to calculated the food necessary and the body mass index (BMI))
Image 7. The baby male Preuss Monkey, Camfor, got his 2nd& 3rd health check. Now, he had finished his quarantine and he will be able to start his social rehabilitation the next step of the complete process of rehabilitation.
Image 8. During the health check, we performed various tests such as the tuberculosis test which came out negative for the 3 past tests. We also took various measures to promote growth, as evident here with the weight (on the 3rd health check he was already 700g)
- 13 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 9. Zulu, our old Putty-nosed monkey, had a health check. The blood sample and the health check shown that he is healthy. As he’s an old male, we decided to give some extra food in order to help him stay stronger.
Image 10. Male Drill, Dogo, had skin cancer that needed to be removed. It’s important to remove the cancer before it starts to grow too much and will become inoperable.
August 2021 objectives: □ Continue with the ongoing activities □ African grey parrots: Continue to provide special care for the last individuals with difficulties improving their body conditions □ Vet cares: Contraception: Drills (3); Health check: African Grey Parrot (2)
3. Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release programme Funders
Arrival & quarantine □ 2 African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) (Image 11)
- 14 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Behavioural rehabilitation □ Preuss Monkey: Continued behavioural rehabilitation Social rehabilitation □ African grey parrot: Continued to maintain the care and enrichment of the 39 African grey parrots in the large aviary Release (ecological & environmental rehabilitation) □ None
Image 11. Chico & Wax are two African Grey Parrots who were ex-pets. They will have their first health check and will start their social rehabilitation with the others parrots after the second health check. August 2021 objectives: □ Continue the ongoing rehabilitation activities □ Preuss Monkey: Continue the behavioural rehabilitation process
- 15 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
4. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment Funders
Activities □ Chimpanzee: Maintenance of sliding door (Images 12-15) □ Duikers: Complete the renovation of the duiker enclosure (Images 16-17) □ Mona monkey: Complete of the maintenance of Saker enclosure (Images 18-23) □ Mona monkey: start of the maintenance of Mantum enclosure (Images 24-25) □ Pandrillus Office: Installation of a metal door for the security of the office materials (Images 26-29) □ Putty nosed monkey: start of the maintenance of Zulu enclosure □ Red-eared monkey: Complete of the maintenance of Idenau enclosure (Images 30-32) □ Western lowland gorilla: Installation of a new hammock in Benito’s Group (Images 33-35)
Image 12. View of damage of the metal Image 13. View of damage of the wheel plate of the sliding door cause by corrosion of the sliding door cause by corrosion. and chimpanzees.
- 16 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 14. Crafting a new sliding door.
Image 15. View of the finished & installed new sliding door.
Image 16. Finished view of the surrounding Image 17. Refurbishing of the shelter inside of the duiker enclosure. the enclosure for the duikers.
Image 18. Some damage on the main Image 19. Some cracking on the wall of door of the Saker’s enclosure. the Saker’s enclosure.
- 17 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 20. Some damaged metal which Image 21. Cement work maintenance on need to be replace. the inside enclosure to fix the craking.
Image 22. Bamboo enrichment ladder Image 23. View of installing bamboo installed to develop playing and agility. screen around the enclosure wall.
Image 24. View of some damaged area in Image 25. Installation of the new sliding Mantum’s enclosure. door in Mantum’s enclosure.
- 18 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 26. Crafting of the new security Image 27. Installation of the new security door for the Pandrillus office. door (outside view).
Image 28. Final view of installed security Image 29. New security door inside the vet door of the Pandrillus office. clinic link to the Pandrillus office
Image 30. New wooden Idenau’s enclsoure.
platform
in Image 31. New mobile bamboo platform in Idenau’s enclosure.
- 19 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Image 32. New tree branch holders Image 33. Crafting of the new hammock installed in various places in Idenau’s frame for the gorilla night den. enclosure. It allows us to change the position of the branch enrichment every week.
Image 34. Assembling of a fire hose and Image 35. View of finish and installed bolting. hammock. August 2021 objectives □ Finish Zulu’s and Mantum’s group maintenance □ Start the preparation for the Gorilla’s splitting enclosure
- 20 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
5. Community Conservation, Environmental education & Ecotourism Funders
Activities □ School outreach programme: 2021-2022 programme will start in September 2021□ □ Saturday Nature Club: Postponed until the 2022 □ Art4Nature: Continued to produce a series of animated videos, billboards, posters, and radio podcasts to promote forest ecosystem preservation. □ Green project: 75 community members benefited from the Community-based Green Economy; 15 ex-hunter members sustainably harvesting wild herbaceous plants: 1660.5 kg of Aframomum stems and 638 kg of Costus stems; 60 women members harvesting crop by-product: 1461 kg of cassava leaves, 13560 kg of papaya leaves, 7892 kg of potato leaves, 318 kg of invasive Trumpet wood shoots, corresponding to 71 trees hand-cut; 2,504,410 FCFA (€3,824) paid directly to the local community association this month; 7,156,070 FCFA (€10,925) contributed to alleviate local poverty in 2021.
August 2021 objectives □ Continue with ongoing programs
- 21 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
6. Wildlife conservation research & Health monitoring Funders □ None
Ongoing activities □ Recovery monitoring of the rescued endangered African grey parrots: Continued to collect data during health checks and through direct observation □ Monitoring the soft-release of endangered African grey parrot: Continued the collection of daily data on the parrot movement and use of the environment □ 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. Achieved activities □ None
August 2021 objectives □ Continue with the above ongoing activities
7. Capacity building, staff empowerment & Mentorship □ Workshop new staff and volunteers: Training on the procedures and operations of the LWC □ Start the training of the new physiotherapist working with one of our female adult gorillas (Image 36) □ Designated the 4 best and motivated workers of the Limbe Wildlife Centre for the second trimester 2021 (image 37)
- 22 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
Q2 2021 Cyrille TAZEM, Animal Keeper
Motivated
Wilson ATEH, Head of Education
1st
Johnathan KANG, Head Keeper
2nd
Johnson MATUTE, Animal Keeper
3rd
Image 36. Jessica WILLEMSE training longterm volunteer Cyril TAZEM on physiotherapy under the supervision of Johnathan KANG on the head section of the gorillas. Cyril has worked at the centre since 2019 and is assigned mainly with the apes. He wanted to learn more about medical training.
Image 37. The new animal care & rehabilitation Manager, Marie-Claire, rewards Cyrille TAZEM for his motivation and good work during the second trimester of 2021. Cyrille is volunteer since 2019 and has shown a lot of interest to work at the LWC.
August 2021 objectives □ Continue with the above ongoing activities □ Staff workshop: Presentation of the project to splitting gorilla enclosure by Vallarine Aforlica, Head of Construction (postponed)
8. Communication & Visibility □ Digital communication (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter): In the month of June and July, all of our social media platforms have seen a positive increase on reach and followers. Facebook in particular, had an increase of 12,523
- 23 -
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
followers in just two months, and our overall followers increased by 42.1%, amounting to a total of 42,050 followers. Instagram has also seen a 50% increased reach after posting a video for father’s day of Jonathan and gorilla Twiggs playing (15.6M reach!), a true success for our communications this month, to help us spread the conservation message of the LWC even further. □ Special project: A film crew from England for Sky Television came to the LWC to make a documentary for the COP26 climate change ("In Your Hands”). The documentary speaks to people all over the world who have been affected by climate change and who want to talk about their situation. It gives them the opportunity to give their thoughts and opinions about the current climate crisis.
August 2021 objectives: □ Continue advocating the missions of the LWC within the Central African Conservation Landscape in Cameroon
9. Revenues generated □ Entrance fees (June-July 2021): FCFA 0 (0 visitors; 0 % children, 0 % Cameroonians) due to the closure of the Limbe Wildlife Centre to visitors 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Adult Nationals
Children Nationals
Adult Foreigners
Figure 1. Visitor statistics July 2020 - July 2021
- 24 -
Children Foreigners
Monthly Report
June-July 2021
- 25 -
