Limbe Wildlife Centre: Second Quarter Report 2022

Limbe Wildlife Centre: April June 2022

Cover page: Bakossi the chimpanzee

Published in November 2022

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)

The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife oversees 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

Pandrillus Foundation is a non profit making NGO specialised in the protection, rehabilitation, and reintroduction of primates, as well as management and sustainable financing of conservation projects in Africa

info@limbewildlife.com limbewildlife.org limbewildlife

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All our previous reports are available on issuu

Accreditations & awards

In February 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 organisations in 13 countries that demonstrate exceptional commitment and the highest standards of animal welfare and conservation practices, to securing a future for Africa’s primates and their habitat.

In April 2018, the Limbe Wildlife Centre was voted Best Volunteer Abroad Project and chosen tofeature in 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 daily caregiving activities, offering the opportunity for volunteers to experience 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.

Foreword

Dear friends and supporters,

After the dusty heat of the dryseason, the arrival of the 2nd quarter saw rain return to Limbe, freshening and renewing the atmosphere, and all of us

At the LWC, April started with a major event the arrival of our first infant chimpanzee for over 5 years. Little Bakossi was seized by MINFOF authorities in Bakossi National Park and arrived on the 3rd of April. This was both a memorable and challenging event for us all poor Bakossi was exhausted and likely traumatised by the journey and probable murder of her mother and family group prior to her rescue. For LWC, it required a rapid reaction to ensure her immediate needs were catered for, crucially attentive care and reassurance, milk, and rest. The weeks which followed saw our dedicated quarantine and vet teams working flat out, and she rapidly improved both physically and psychologically, and started to climb around in her new surroundings. She has become a happy, healthy, and energetic young chimp, particularly attached to our incredible Head of Quarantine, Killi, who has ensured her every need was met. She is developing a very distinctive and charming personality and loves nothing better than being tickled repeatedly!

In June, with the wet season approaching, and having completed her necessary health checks, Bakossi was placed in a specially designed nursery and play area, with climbing frames both outside and inside (for those rainy season storms). After taking some time to explore

and become familiar with her new surroundings, she now seems delighted and content, learning and developing as naturally as possible.

Rescued orphans such as Bakossi are always a bittersweet story. Her background is a tragedy, her family probably illegally hunted and sold as bushmeat. But, at least, in LWC she will get a second chance at life, to be introduced in due course, when she is big enough, to a chimpanzee surrogate mother and then a group of her own. Hopefully, in years to come, she will get the chance to be released into a large semi wild enclosure, or even eventually into the wild, within a protected area in the region, with less illegal and destructive activity.

In the meantime, she brings all of us daily joy and provides a powerful symbol of awareness, education, and hope, that this devastating destruction of the forests and their wildlife can be stopped, if only enough human beings decide they care enough to make it happen.

Other exciting news came from our friends at Ebo Forest Research Project. They generously decided to donate 2 of their vehicles to us for this we are incredibly grateful! We shall now be able to use our own vehicles for browse collections on our Green Project (rather than renting one) and much else besides. Our hard put upon construction team are particularly happy!

The water supply at LWC has been deteriorating for some time. As 2022 has progressed the situation has become

unsustainable. The municipal mains supplied water is almost never available, and so we have been forced to send a pick up around town with barrels on the back, collecting water from whatever municipal taps they can find flowing, and bring it back. This makes providing enough clean drinking water for the 250+ animals a daily and uncertain challenge, and the tough work of cleaning the enclosures is that much harder for staff.

The generosity of our supporters, particularly the kind people at PASA, means that we can now drill a borehole, to supply our own water independently. The first survey has been done and we wait in anticipation, and with fingers crossed, for the drilling to start and fervently hope for a good result!

May saw our annual graduation event for the school children who took part in our conservation education outreach programme. This was the first one for a few years without most of the COVID restrictions and we were unsure how many kidswould turn up. In the end, more than 2,000 filled the ‘Jungle Village’ amphitheatre in the Limbe Botanical Gardens to bursting point and created a raucous and deafening celebration of the hard work they put in during the school year. Thanks must go to the Conservator of the Limbe Botanical Gardens for hosting and especially Ateh Wilson (our long serving Head of Education), and his team for making such a success of both the outreach programme (especially given the extra complexities due to COVID) and the graduation event. It was truly a glorious celebration of Conservation Education!

One of our senior vets, Mr Akih Emmanuelle, left us for 6 months to

attend expert primate veterinary training in The Democratic Republic of Congo with Dr Luis Flowers we shall miss him here but wish him well and that he comes back full of knowledge. He also attended the annual PASA Vet Conference in Kenya on our behalf, which he reports was incredibly useful, both in learning more about infectiousdiseases and in the contact with other vets with similar challenges at othersanctuaries. Akih is an ambassador for LWC while he is away, and I know he will make us proud. He is also an example to our staff here that we highly value their knowledge and will always look for opportunities for their development and training.

The construction team has, as always, been extremely busy. This quarter saw them addressing much needed maintenance and the addition of extra climbing structures and shade provision in the tantalus and patas monkey enclosure. This involved the sourcing of more palm fronds again we thank Limbe Botanical Gardens for allowing us to harvest from there and bamboo. Following this, they addressed the drill enclosure. Our incredible drills are also incredibly destructive! They like nothing more than the challenge of destroying climbing structures, and much maintenance work has been carried out there. Our plan is to source far stronger solid wood poles, not easy to come by, and build a far denser, extensive, and structurally robust climbing frame (modelled on our sister project in Calabar, Nigeria).

One of our main collaborators in Cameroon is AMMCO, the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation, and June saw their annual ‘Street Whale’ festival and symposium

being held in Kribi. LWC attended, well represented from our education and management groups. The event draws people and organisations from all over Cameroon and was an inspiring and highly educational experience, not just regarding marine issues but the environment and wildlife protection in general.

A touching moment for all of us involved in their rehabilitation, came when our lovely and lively baby mandrill and drill pair had to be separated. Ekema (mandril) and Malika (drill) came to the LWC a month apart in Q4 2021 and have since formed a strong bond as playmates as they have grown up here. But they are of course different species, and it was time they started the process of integration into groups. It was decided the best option for Ekema would be for him to go to Ape Action Africa, to be introduced into a group of their mandrill in large, forested enclosures in Mefou National Park, near Yaoundé, and within the natural mandrill range. This provided the opportunity for Arend van Blerk, the new deputy director at AAA, to come to Limbe and meet us all, which was a great pleasure and I’m sure the start of many successful collaborations with him and AAA. He took little Ekema back with him and through regular updates we understand he is doing well and starting to integrate into one of their groups.

For Malika, the female drill, it was time to start introducing her to surrogate ‘mothers’, protective drills she can bond with in the calm of our special animal care unit, and who will look after her once she is introduced into the main drill group On June 2nd , two female drills were moved to be with Malika to start this process Malika, being ever the self confident and energetic character, has so far taken all this in her stride and we will continue to monitor carefully as the introduction progresses.

Life seems to proceed in ‘fast forwards’ here in Limbe, with a constant programme of activity and unexpected events! But that is the beauty of the challenge at LWC, and we will all continue to meet it energetically.

I will report back to you soon on how the wet season treated LWC, and all our infrastructure and animals. In the meantime, please stay well and healthy.

Thank you all for your wonderful and dedicated support, which is so crucial to our efforts we really could not do it without you!

All the very best,

Jerry Aylmer Project Manager

Our priority financial needs

Help us continue to protect our rescued animals during COVID-19!

Over two years have passed since the first cases of COVID 19 were reported in Cameroon (March 2020), and the country has faced four waves of infection. As of the end of June 2022, over 120,000 cases have been confirmed with 1,931 deaths in Cameroon (World Health Organisation). Since the fourth wave, which peaked in January 2022, the rates of infection have progressively decreased, although sporadic outbreaks are still occurring in Limbe.

The COVID 19 virus presents a considerable threat to non human primates, which are very likely to be susceptible to infection. Therefore, we endeavoured to protect our primates from COVID 19 by taking the necessary precautions to limit their exposure to the infection. We made the difficult decision to close our doors to visitors and volunteers during the worst of the pandemic. Crucially, this meant that we lost a significant source of income whilst our operational costs were rising to deal with the pandemic.

We were pleased to finally reopen our gates to visitors in December 2021, with new updated sanitary protocols to ensure the biosecurity of the LWC. This included hand washing stations and mandatory mask wearing for anyone at the wildlife centre.

When the pandemic began, we chose to provide additional supplements to our primates to boost their immune systems. The threatfromCOVID 19 remains, and therefore we continue to provide additional protein rich and nutrient rich foods, such as rice, beans, soya cake, multivitamins, minerals, cod liver oil and medicinal plants. By boosting the immune system of our vulnerable rescueanimals, they will be better equipped to fight off the clinical symptoms of notjustCOVID 19 but other viral infections. This will alsoenable us toput our energy into isolating and providing special care to our more vulnerable individuals if ever an outbreak should happen.

We must continue to boost the immunity of 14 critically endangered gorillas, 40 endangered chimps, and 67 endangered drills and maintain biosecurity measures vs. COVID 19!

All these precautionary measures are essential toprotectour rescue primates, yet they continue to put daily financial pressure on the wildlife centre. You can help us to protect them if you donate now!

New putty-nosed enclosure

Tensions increased last year within the putty nosed monkey group and led to serious fights among the individuals. This has resulted in wounds and after thorough observations, it was decided the best solution was to urgently increase the space and re enrich and diversify the enclosure to reduce tensions. That will result in improving every individual's welfare and the group will also have access to a larger grassy area, hence contributing to stimulating natural foraging and feeding behaviours.

Please donate to make a difference in the lives of our putty nosed monkeys!

Maintenance of the chimpanzee night enclosures

The comfort and health of our animals in paramount. The sleeping areas of the chimps are showing signs of age rust and damage Many sleeping platforms are now bare metal. Please help us provide our adorablechimpswith a good night’s sleep, and the warmer surfaces they need as the cooler wet season approaches, by contributing to the funds required to give them wooden sleeping platforms and make repairs to the corroded areas of their den.

Help us make our chimpanzees more comfortable and donate now!

Second quarter highlights

The incredibly kind donation of two beloved 4x4 vehicles from Ebo Forest Research Project. In photo, Ekwoge Abwe, PhD, (centre left) Manager of Ebo Forest Research Project, hands over the keys to our Head Vet, John Kiyang, in front of one of the vehicles.

Collaboration with Ape Action Africa to enable the safe transfer of infant mandril Ekema (pictured on the left), rescued and nurtured for half a year at LWC, to Mefou for a new life in the forest with many other mandrils

School’s out!

Our 2021 22 Education Outreach programme came to an end with a fantastic graduation event in the Limbe Botanical Gardens with over 2,000 children from 9 schools taking part in activities and receiving awards

The first orphan chimpanzee to arrive at the LWC in five years came in April More details below…

Arrival of young orphan chimpanzee, Bakossi

Meet our newest orphan at the Limbe Wildlife Centre, Bakossi. Bakossi arrived on the 3rd of April, estimated to be only a year and a half old. She was seized by MINFOF after they had received information about this young chimpanzee being kept illegally by a farmer in Bakossi National Park. She is the first infant chimpanzee the LWC has received in a long time, but the team were quick to spring into action to ensure all her needs were met.

After a few days of acclimation, the veterinary team proceeded with Bakossi’s first health check. She was found to be in good health, and despite her traumatic experience, she was eating and drinking well. It is very likely that Bakossi saw her mother and much of her troop being killed for bushmeat. The sad reality is that she will not be able to grow up in the wild like she should do.

Each day, she will be provided with milk formula, enrichment and fresh fruits and vegetables. Most of all, she will receive care and attention from a few dedicated LWC carers as she begins her rehabilitation. We rely on donations to take care of young orphans like Bakossi, so please donate today

Our institutional funders

Achievements and objectives

1. Pandrillus-Government partnership and public relations

→ Visit to LWC by delegation from Programme for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (PSMNR) in the South West Region, Cameroon, a MINFOF and German development bank, KfW, venture. Senior staff from KfW and MINFOF including the Regional Delegate did us the honour of visiting for the first time since the COVID pandemic started (Image 1)

→ Visit from the Ebo Forest Research Project for the handover of donated vehicles for the LWC and to spend some time seeing the LWC and how the women involved with the Green Project harvest the browse (Image 2). This will make such a difference to us carrying out all the various programmes, for example picking up the lovely browse for our Green Project or procuring materials for our construction and maintenance team.

→ Visit from the new Deputy Director of Ape Action Africa, Arend van Blerk, to visit the LWCs facilities and collect Ekema, the young mandrill for transfer to AAA (Image 3)

→ LWC Education team visited Kribi to attend the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation’s 2022 Street Whale event (Image 4)

o The event included a symposium with speakers from across Africa giving scientific presentations and sharing conservation experiences

o LWC Project Manager, Jerry Aylmer, and Head of Education, Wilson Ateh, both stood up to speak about the work of the LWC and how it links to marine conservation

o The event also premiered a video made by the Manta Trust, featuring Wilson Ateh and LWC Head Vet John Kiyang

→ LWC Project Manager, Jerry Aylmer, visited the British High Commission in Yaoundé for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II

Image 1. Visit from PSMNR, KfW, and MINFOF representatives

Image 2. Bethan Morgan from Ebo Forest Research Project, Green Project Batoke community coordinator Zipporah and Project Manager Jerry Aylmer joined a browse harvesting group in the field.

Image 3. LWC Conservator Mr Mbelen A Rim Serge, LWC Project Manager Jerry Aylmer, LWC Head Vet Dr John Kiyang and Deputy Director of Ape Action Africa Arund van Blerk stand together with the vehicle holding Ekema the mandrill before his transfer to AAA

Image 4. The LWC team attended the Steet Whale event in Kribi to support our partners at AMMCO and learn more about marine conservation

2. Population management and animal welfare

Funders

Ongoing activities

→ Maintained frequency and diversity of enrichment in each section

→ Continued to replace expired contraceptive implants (Image 5)

Specific activities

→ Due to a failed implant, we had the birth of one male drill (Image 6)

→ Young male mandrill, Ekema, transferred to Ape Action Africa to continue rehabilitation with a group of juvenile mandrills (Image 7)

→ Vet care

o Boosting primate immune systems: providing additional vitamins, plants, protein, and nutritional enrichment to all primates daily

o Total individual treatments (primate, parrots, and others): 213

o Primates: 60 individual treatments (anaesthesia, samples, ultrasounds, contraception, minor surgery, and drug therapies)

o African grey parrots: 144 individual treatments (general health checks, extra care, and nutritional supplements)

o African rock python: a health check was performed on our resident python who was showing signs of deterioration (Image 8). It was decided to begin a course of antibiotics, but unfortunately the condition of the python did not improve, and she sadly passed away in June. A necropsy discovered an ulcer on the stomach which was the likely the cause of death. She had arrived at the LWC in 2005 after being rescued from a market vendor who was using her for entertainment and was the favourite of many of our visitors.

Image 5. Female baboon Ndonga received a health check and had her implant replaced

Image 6. Emilia the drill gave birth to Emil on the 28th of May after a failed implant

Image 7. Ekema was transferred to his new home at Ape Action Africa

Objectives for next quarter

Continue with the ongoing activities

Image 8. Our veterinary team did all they could to help our resident African rock python, but sadly she passed away in June

African grey parrots: continue to provide special care for individualswith difficulties improving their body conditions

Gorillas: dental intervention for Abby to improve welfare

Continue to replace expired contraceptives

Recruit new Animal Care Manager

3. Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release

Funders

Arrival and quarantine

→ Rescued 1 Home’s hinged tortoise

→ Rescued 1 young female chimpanzee (suspected Nigeria Cameroon chimpanzee), Bakossi (Image 9)

→ Rescued 1 falcon

→ Rescued 2 terrapins

Rehabilitation and social integrations

Chimpanzees

→ Completed successful introduction of Ntui to Mayos and Ngambe in the Special Care and Rehabilitation Unit (Image 10)

→ New arrival Bakossi was moved to a special nursery to continue her rehabilitation once her mandatory quarantine period and health checks were completed

Monkeys

→ Began the introduction of young drill, Malika, to two female drills to facilitate her move to the main drill group

African grey parrots

→ 6 parrots moved fromquarantine to the flight aviary for further rehabilitation after they were given a general health check

Release

→ Two rusty spotted genets

→ One falcon

Image 9. Young chimpanzee Bakossi began her rehabilitation in our quarantine section with her dedicated carers

Image 10. Ntui (left) was successful integrated into the Special Care and Rehabilitation unit with Ngambe (right) and Mayos

Objectives for next quarter

→ Continue with the ongoing rehabilitation activities

→ Carefully continue the care and social rehabilitation infant Malika (drill) in preparation for introduction to the drill group

→ Gorilla: ongoing social integrations, monitor the modified groups carefully and increase enrichment

→ Continue to release animals where possible

4. Infrastructure and development

Funders

Activities

→ Investigations carried out to find best location for borehole → Drill enclosure sliding door maintenance (Image 11) → Mandrill fallow land area moved (Image 12) → Chimpanzee electric fence and night den maintenance (Image 13) → Drill bamboo enrichment maintained and strengthened → Palm leaf shade for patas/tantalus improved and more bamboo ledges and structural enrichment placed below shade and within enclosure (Image 14-15) → Climbing frame set up for the new baby chimpanzee arrival (Image 16)

Image 11. Repair of the broken sliding door in the drill enclosure

Image 12. Moved the fence in the mandrill enclosure to section off an area which will grow wild for later use as enrichment

Image 13. Maintenance on fence in the chimp island to improve security Image 14. New palm frond shelter installed on the patas/tantalus enclosure

Image 15. New structural bamboo enrichment installed within the patas/tantalus enclosure

Objectives for next quarter

Image 16. New climbing structure built for young chimpanzee in rehabilitation

→ Begin drilling a borehole to provide a safe and reliable supply of water for the centre and our animals

→ Install new and more comfortable wood sleeping platforms for our chimpanzees and gorillas

→ Install new climbing and play structures in gorilla enclosure

5. Community conservation, education, and outreach

Funders

Activities

Conservation education

→ Congratulations class of 2021-2022!

On Friday 13th of May, we held our annual graduation ceremony for all the children that took part in the school outreach programme. The event took place in the Limbe Botanical Gardens’ (LBG) Jungle Village. This year we saw more than 2,000 children attend to celebrate their achievements. The goal of this programme is to educate future generations and inspire passion for the habitats and wildlife in Cameroon. As well as learning, it is important to have fun, so the day was also celebrated with music, dancing, and games (Image 17) Every child was presented with a certificate, with additional prizes of t shirts and conservation books for those that came top of their class.

We heard words from the LWC Project Manager, the conservator of the LBG, the LWC Head of Education, our LWC educators, and also Bantu Freeman of Da Nzimbistic Cultural Centre who presented the event (Image 18). Thank you to all those that took part and for your hard work over the past year. Funding was provided by PSMNR and the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO) (Image 19). A special thank you to Annelies Begas for helping to provide the certificates for the event (Image 20).

Image 17. There was lots of music and dancing from the children during the event

Image 18. A crowd of over 2,000 children heard a speech from the LWC Project Manager, Jerry Aylmer

Thank you

all

Image 19. The graduation was a success thanks to the collaboration of many individuals and organisations

Image 20. Thanks to a generous donation from Annelies Begas, all the children received personalised certificates

Images 21 24. There were over 2,000 children in the Jungle Village in the Limbe Botanical Gardens, enjoying music, dancing, and free lunches

to

who got involved in the organisation and execution of the fantastic 2021/22 graduation event! We are looking forward to doing it again next year.

→

School outreach programme

o Completed the 2021 2022 programme: 9 schools, 30 classes, and 1,800 school children

o Held a graduation ceremony for children that took part in the outreach programme

o Received Pan African Conservation Education (PACE) Project educational materials from TUSK and Siren Conservation Education (Image 25)

→ Saturday Nature Club

o Postponed until the beginning of the 2022/23 school year

→ Art4Nature

o Billboards continue to be displayed around Limbe promoting wildlife conservation

o Preparations began for the new mural by Cameroonian artist Toh Bright in the entrance of the LWC

o Preparations and designs started for the display of new educational signage around the LWC visitor trail

Green Project

LWC continued to receive harvested cultivated and wild plants from the Batoke community to provide nutritious browse for our primates. The community members benefited from this project during the second quarter of 2022; 15 ex hunter members sustainably harvesting wild herbaceous plants: 7,999 kg of Aframomum stems and 1,409 kg of Costus stems; 70 women involved with harvestingcrop by products: 3,356 kg of cassava leaves, 13,198 kg of papaya leaves, 10,055 kg of potato leaves, 428 kg of invasive Trumpet wood shoots, corresponding to 96 trees hand cut; 3,148,330 FCFA (€4,807) paid directly to the local community association this quarter and contributing to alleviate local poverty and increase gender equity in 2022. LWC Manager, Jerry Aylmer, also went to visit the community in April to personally thank them and observe their hard work (Image 26).

Image 25. PACE materials donated by TUSK and Siren Conservation Education for our education department

Image 26. Project Manager, Jerry Aylmer, with members of the community Green Project in Batoke

Objectives for next quarter

→ Continue todevelop the new curriculum in preparation for the 2022/23 school year

→ Continue with the community based Green Project to benefit both people and animals

→ Host a workshop in the Batoke community to strengthen relationships and listen to feedback from participants

→ Finalise designs and plans and find funding for LWC signage around the public trail

→ The mural featuring wildlife of the Mount Cameroon area is planned to be painted by artist Toh Bright

6. Wildlife conservation research and health monitoring

Ongoing activities

→ Recovery monitoring of the rescued endangered African grey parrots: Continued to collect data during health checks and through direct observation

→ Continuing the behavioural studies of space use and social relationships in our gorilla groups (Image 27)

→ Ongoing study of the use of enrichment items by our gorillas (Image 28)

Objectives for next quarter

→ Continue with ongoing activities

Image 27. Long term volunteer, Veronica, carrying out observational studies on our gorillas

Image 28. Enrichment installed on one of the gorilla nightden enclosures, which can be filled with peanuts to stimulate species typical behaviours and promote psychological well being

7. Capacity building, staff empowerment and mentorship

Funders

Activities

→ Dr Akih Emmanuel left in early April for 6 months for training in the Democratic Republic of Congo at Lwiro Primates

→ Dr Akih Emmanuel also attended the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) veterinary workshop at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Kenya (Image 29 & 31)

→ Volunteer vet, Daniel Lopez, who has been part of the LWC team for one year, visited Ape Action Africa to meet with and exchange knowledge with the AAA veterinary team Julieta and Noemi (Image 30)

Image 29. Dr Akih Emmanuel at the PASA veterinary workshop in Kenya

Image 30. Volunteer vet, Daniel Lopez, with Ape Action Africa veterinary team

Image 31. Veterinary staff from across Africa at the PASA veterinary workshop in June

Objectives for next quarter

→ Dr Akih will continue with his traineeship at Lwiro and feedback information to the LWC for capacity building the rest of the veterinary team

8. Communication and visibility

Digital communication

On May 10th, 2022, our new Fundraising and Communications Manager arrived in Cameroon. Laura Praill, from the UK, has a background in primate conservation and marketing and is looking forward to the challenge of taking on this new role at the Limbe Wildlife Centre.

“I have always been passionate about conservation and working with animals, and I am incredibly excited to begin working for the Limbe Wildlife Centre. It is a great opportunity for me to combine my interests in primate conservation and marketing and communication to protect wildlife in Cameroon.” Laura Praill

In the second quarter of 2022, there was a 1.55% increase in followers across all our platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube), showing a steady increase in people receiving our conservation message all over the world. In June, we gained nearly 500 followers across all our platforms. This is a hopeful sign that the renewed focus on our communications is helping us to grow our audience so we can spread our conservation message around the globe.

Media coverage

→ Website article: Saving Apes in Cameroon, Born Free, 12 May 2022

Free, 31 May 2022

9. Visitor numbers

We reopened our gates to visitors for Christmas 2021 so we are pleased to be welcoming visitors into the Limbe Wildlife Centre once again!

The new sanitation methods in place, such as the compulsory wearing of face masks and hand washing stations, will ensure the safety of our animals, while people of all ages can now once again see and learn about some of the incredible wildlife of Cameroon. This experience, with the help of our trained eco guides and information displayed at the centre, will hopefully help all visitors to appreciate just how important it is to care for and protect these wonderful creatures and their natural habitat

*All entrance fees go to the Government of Cameroon

3500

3000 Adult

1500

2000 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP

nationals Child nationals

OCT NOV

2500 DEC Adult

foreigners Child foreigners