Friends of Tacugama
Charity number: 1153204
Website: www.tacugama.com
Description:
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary aims to provide a safe home for orphaned and endangered chimpanzees in Sierra Leone.
Tacugama was established in 1995 to enforce wildlife laws and to rehabilitate confiscated, orphaned and abandoned chimpanzees with the aim to release them back into their natural habitat. Although it is illegal to hunt, capture, kill, trade or own chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, sadly such practices still continue.
The sanctuary therefore continues to grow in size and now cares for over 90 chimpanzees in several forested enclosures. Located close to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, in the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve, the sanctuary covers a total of 100 acres of the 17,688 hectare reserve.
Tacugama also endeavours to help protect and conserve the species in the wild through education programmes, community sensitisation and legal enforcement.
Objectives of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
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To encourage the implementation of existing international and national wildlife laws contained in the Convention of the International Trade in Endangered Species (C.I.T.E.S), which protects endangered species.
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To encourage effective local law enforcement agencies to take positive action against the trading of chimpanzees and other endangered species
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To integrate orphaned chimpanzees into social groups with a view to reintroduce them back into a wild environment
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To provide an educational, research and leisure facility to increase public awareness on the plight of Sierra Leone's chimpanzee population by attracting visitors from all walks of life