Two Chimpanzees reportedly escaped from Sierra Leone’s Tacugma Sanctuary three days ago, according to the management of Tacugama.

The chimps, according to the management, escaped due to some wild chimps that invaded the Tacugama area and managed to bend a tree into their electric fenced enclosures, leading to the two chimps escaping from the Sanctuary.

The wild chimps are said to have come from the western area national park which had been their traditional range before recently when they were forced to move close to Tacugama due to the human encroachment in that area, causing lots of damage to the forest.

The Tacugama management has assured of managing the situation well, noting that they had put their security and retrieval protocol from the onset and have been monitoring the chimps movement as well as sensitised everyone that there is no danger from these two young chimps.

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According to Tacugama, the chimps are scared of and her harmless to humans. It noted that it had been able to catch one of the two and had brought him back to Tacugama.

“No harm done to any human but unfortunately the chimp suffered some injury by some individuals stoning the chimp to drive his away or to kill it.” Reported the management.

It added that it’s currently tracking the second chimp and hopefully it will bring him in soon .

Enlightening about the wildlife park, the management said: “Now ,everyone needs to understand that there is always some degree of danger when working with wildlife. We cannot develop ecotourism  and wildlife tourism if we cannot stand up to such challenges and handle issues very professionally! Which we did. All wildlife parks , preservation and zoos undergo some issues like this and it’s all about having professionals equipped with what it takes to address such accidents.”

It furthered that this is also the very reason for them to plead with the government authorities and all stake holders to ensure a proper buffer zone to be established around the sanctuary that can be fenced and further protected.

“When western area forest reserve was upgraded to a National park status some 12 years ago , a one Km buffer zone was guaranteed to safe guard Tacugama and two major water catchments ( Congo and Tecuyema) that we continue to protect for the past 30 years !  All our buffer zones are being destroyed and Human settlements are fast approaching our gates ! ” the management noted.

It therefore called for more  Space between the sanctuary and human settlements, noting that without it , it will get more and more difficult to track and retrieve in case of an escape.

“We cannot be proud of having created a world class and well run sanctuary that has become the number one tourist destination for Sierra Leone, if we can’t give the necessary protection to the sanctuary and the western area National Park.” It ended.