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Nature and Environment

Chimp's new home

February 21, 2017

Poaching and disappearing habitat are threatening chimpanzees with extinction. But a sanctuary in Zambia is giving orphaned and injured chimps a second chance at life.

https://p.dw.com/p/2XwHp
Tierärztin untersucht Schimpanse – Schimpansenwaisenhaus – Sambia
Image: J. Schneider

Taking care of chimpanzees in Zambia

Project goal: Providing orphaned chimps a new home in a safe and natural environment 
Project size: More than 4,200 hectares 
Project budget: $600,000 a year 

Chimpanzees are threatened with extinction, and poaching and a disappearing habitat are to blame. But a sanctuary in northwest Zambia is offering rescued and orphaned chimps a chance to thrive again. Most of the 119 chimps living at Chimfunshi are victims of hunting and the illegal wildlife trade. They cannot go back to their home in the Congo Basin, where they are mercilessly poached. At the sanctuary, activists care for the chimps in an environment as close to their natural habitat as possible.  

A film by Jürgen Schneider