Travel Guide Tchimpounga

The 555 km² Tchimpounga sanctuary, located some 50 km north of Pointe-Noire on the way to Madingo Kayes, is one of a series of complexes across Africa run by American primate biologist Jane Goodall. Since 1992, it has been a refuge for orphaned chimpanzees whose mothers have fallen victim to hunting. It is home to almost 200 chimpanzees, but due to poaching, this number is rising all the time. It is not uncommon for the Congolese authorities to bring in baby chimpanzees, taken from hunters who try to sell them as pets or otherwise. The center also cares for other trafficked animals, such as cercopithecines, pangolins and mandrills. The sanctuary has been surrounded by a nature reserve since 1999. The Institute is implementing a long-term program to reintroduce certain chimpanzees into the wild and to take in those that cannot be released because they are too sick or too old. A new, more suitable site on three islands in the Kouilou River (Tchindzoulou, Ngombe and Tchibebe) is home to chimpanzees living in semi-liberty. The sanctuary is also working to improve the living conditions of people living in the vicinity of the reserve, and has a policy of combating bushmeat (monkey meat). For further information, visit the Jane Goodall Institute website: janegoodall.fr