Chimpanzee waiting for the greatest christmas gift – freedom

With only a plastic football for company, the young ape has been cooped up behind bars for the past year after being stolen from the wild. His pitiful eyes tell a story of how the endangered

creatures are being plundered for the pet trade. Yet now there are hopes the festive season will herald a new life for this three year old chimpanzee. Leading international wildlife charity

Born Free has launched an appeal this Christmas to free Simon from a life of cramped captivity so that he can play and move freely among other chimpanzees at a Kenyan wildlife sanctuary.

Simon was born in a national park in southern Guinea Bissau, West Africa, but found himself being captured and then sold on as a pet. It is the fate of many young chimpanzees, with their

mothers killed by bushmeat hunters and the young left to await an uncertain fate. A recent dispatch from the Natural History Museum looked at the impacts of bushmeat hunting on chimpanzees,

showing how researchers were quantifying the amount of killing by comparing it to the number of young chimpanzees turning up in primate orphanages.  Writing for the NHM, author Josh Davis

said: “It is estimated that for every chimpanzee in a sanctuary between four and nine adults were probably killed. “Even then, this is not the whole picture. Not all infants taken from the

wild will make it to a sanctuary. With the vast majority of orphans dying from wounds or in transport, or ending up as pets, it has been suggested that only one in five will make it to

orphanages. “This means that each orphan could represent 25 adult chimpanzees taken from the wild – and yet this is still most likely an underestimate. With up to 1,000 apes being housed in

sanctuaries, thousands more will have been killed. As it takes up to 15 years to replace an adult breeding chimp in the wild, the result is devastating.” Pressures from bushmeat hunting,

habitat destruction as well as the spread of human diseases such as ebola have taken a heavy toll on chimpanzees, with them currently classified as Endangered on the Red List of Threatened

Species. Studies show there was an 80 per cent decline across their range between 1990 and 2014. Life is also exacting for chimpanzees in their safest haunts. BBC One’s Dynasties series

showed the brutality and violence that can break out among troops in the struggle for superiority. The story of one alpha male called David ended with him being savagely killed by rival

usurpers. While on the ground intensive conservation efforts are vital for safeguarding the species, the fate of individual chimpanzees can be achieved by fundraising appeals. Born Free has

struck an agreement with Simon’s owners for him to be rescued and provided with a lifetime home at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya, which takes in orphaned and abused apes from

West and Central Africa. Born Free’s head of animal welfare and captivity Chris Draper explained: “Sadly, hundreds of thousands of wild animals worldwide are kept as ‘pets’ – and this

number continues to grow. Wild animals are bought and sold in pet shops, trade fairs, markets, direct from breeders, or online. They may be captive-bred, sourced from zoos and circuses or,

like Simon, caught from the wild. “We are working with the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance to rescue Simon and transport him to Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary. The sanctuary is currently

home to nearly 40 chimps who have been rescued from appalling conditions.  “At Sweetwaters, they are given expert veterinary care and enjoy a life free from harm in vast, natural enclosures

in which they can explore, climb and socialise – living the life a chimp should. With the public’s help we can fund Simon’s rescue, relocation and initial care at Sweetwaters. Any additional

funds we raise will be used to help fund the rescue of other chimps in Guinea-Bissau.” For more information or to donate to Simon’s fund at Born Free visit www.bornfree.org.uk