BY ESTHER QUI
A one and a half year old female chimpanzee rescued by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with Last Great Ape (LAGA), has died despite efforts by veterinarians of the Limbe Wildlife Centre to keep it alive.
The rescue team apprehended four persons on the night of September 18 around the Nkongsamba area, after they had killed the mother chimpanzee and carried her young.
Expert veterinarians of the Limbe Wildlife Centre were alerted and by midday of September 19, they got to Nkongsamba and applied first aid measures before bringing the chimpanzee over to their centre for proper medical attention.
According to the Manager of the Limbe Wildlife Centre, Guillaume LE FLOHIC, opined that such a situation will go a long way to show how conservation has failed.
“We will like to draw the attention of the population of Cameroon and the World how conservation has failed locally and globally. We had been informed about the operation on September 18 and our team was already set and waiting for the poachers to be arrested”, Guillaume noted
The Manager also made a loud cry for funders, especially Cameroonian locals, to get involved in the conservation of endangered species. He added that the larger the funding, the more proactive their intervention will be in areas like Mamfe and Nguti.
Meantime, the Veterinary Superintendent and Head of Rescue Brigade, Emmanuel Akih, revealed that the chimpanzee was dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted and diarrhoeic.
“The temperature of the animal was 35°c and It could not vocalise nor cry because it was too weak. We put it under strict surveillance from the time we got to the centre. We took turns that night, keeping a close eye on it. But by 5:00 am, it went into a coma. It was even more difficult since we could not carry out any test because it was completely anaemic. It was completely emaciated and depleted. When it was coming out of the coma, we could feel it battling with life. It was gasping and struggling. At about 3:45pm of September 20, it breath its last.”
Emmanuel Akin used this opportunity to call on the government and LAGA to double their efforts in protecting endangered species: “This incident is a call for government and her partners to intensify their fight and sensitisation against poaching activities in Cameroonian forests. All poachers must be seriously judged and punished.”
On his part, Wilson Ateh, Education Officer, opined that financial challenges, increased rate of poaching and lack of interest in conservation, are some of the setbacks they have been facing over the years.
He equally called on journalists to get involved in the sensitisation campaign against the hunting of endangered species, by creating wildlife conservation related programmes and reports. This, he added will go as far as boosting the tourism sector of the Region and Cameroon at large.
