Ape Action Africa - the new name of Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund - works on the front lines of great ape conservation, where addressing the immediate threats faced by gorillas and chimpanzees is as critical as is developing long-term solutions to protect these endangered species well into the future.

Ape Action Africa is Africa's largest gorilla sanctuary, with more than 250 gorillas, chimpanzees and other endangered primates living in 2,500 acres of lush, safe rain forest.

For more than a dozen years, dedicated veterinarians and caregivers have worked around the clock to save the lives of rescued orphans of the illegal bushmeat and pet trades. Emergency surgery, critical wound care, rehydration and nourishment are just part of the physical and psychological rehabilitation provided to each orphan.

And we work together with our local communities and government to reduce pressures on the forest and to establish suitable habitat so that the primates in our care can on day be released into the wild, where they belong.

Ape...to provide sanctuary for individual, endangered primates orphaned by the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.

Action...to actively rescue orphaned primates, providing rehabilitation and long term care in a protected environment.

Africa...to work closely with the Cameroonian people to protect their natural heritage through education and social support.

Rescue and rehabilitation

It takes direct action to effectively address the immediate threats to survival of gorillas and chimpanzees.

When the call comes in that an illegal camp has been raided and an orphaned primate confiscated, the Ape Action Africa team - under government authorization and in partnership with law enforcement - immediately takes to the road, traveling long distances over treacherous roads, day or night.

Often wounded, ill, starved and traumatized, the infant is immediately wrapped in quiet, calm strength and, as gently as possible, rushed to Ape Action Africa’s facility.

For more than a dozen years, dedicated veterinarians and caregivers have worked around the clock to save the lives of rescued orphans. Emergency surgery, critical wound care, rehydration and nourishment are just part of the physical and psychological rehabilitation provided to each orphan.

As strength returns, each small survivor is carefully reintroduced to others of his or her own kind and becomes a member of a social group living safely in the lush habitat of Mefou National Park.

Community environmental education

No less important is that we take action now to address the long-term survival of these endangered species.
Working together with our local communities - adults and children alike - to reconnect them with their unique environmental heritage allows us to explore alternative sources of food and income that reduce pressures on the forest.

And in partnership with the Cameroonian government and other environmental organizations, Ape Action Africa is committed to identifying and establishing suitable habitat where the gorillas, chimpanzees and other endangered primates in our care can one day be released into the wild, where they belong. These magnificent great apes deserve no less.

More than 250 orphaned infant gorillas, chimpanzees and other endangered primates have been rescued and rehabilitated by the dedicated and skilled staff of Ape Action Africa.

This, in turn, has allowed the Cameroonian government to increase its enforcement of anti-poaching and anti-trafficking laws in support of its policy to protect its natural biodiversity.

Hundreds of children and adults have engaged with primate conservation through Ape Action's community environmental education programs, resulting in measurable changes in attitude and behaviors.

Professor Stuart Carter, Chairman
Mike Johnson, Secretary
Caroline McLaney, Treasurer
Professor Richard Ashford
Dr. Bryan Carroll
Neil Maddison
Paula Searle

Cameroon

info@apeactionafrica.org

555 Bryant St. #862
Palo Alto, CA 94301

http://apeactionafrica.org/index