Tacugama Chimp Sanctuary

The Sanctuary is situated on a beautiful hill in Freetown, just past Barthurst Village. It is accessible by car and will only take about 30-40 mins from the centre of town. If you want to drive all the way up the camp then you need a 4x4 vehicle, otherwise you can drive to the bottom of the hill and walk the next 40 metres or so against the backdrop of beautiful scenery and birds "tweeting in the woods".

The Tacugama Chimp Sanctuary was set up in 1995, and is committed to the rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned and abandoned chimpanzees. The chimps enjoy a semi-wild life within the 100 acre reserve. The overall aim of the programme is to provide a home for confiscated and rescued chimps, while helping to stop the cruel and wasteful trade of the species - thus securing a future for the wild population.

© Rosalind Hanson-Alp

Aims & Objectives of Tacugama Chimpanzee Santuary

• To integrate orphaned chimpanzees into social groups with a view to gradually rehabilitating them into a semi-wild environment.
• To provide an educational, relaxing and attractive facility to increase public awareness of the plight of Sierra Leone's chimpanzee population. The appeal of the facility will also be important in sustaining the programme through modest entry charges and voluntary contributions.
• Build and maintain a community development programme that will support farmers, hunters, tree-cutters, etc in the surrounding area to the sanctuary to ensure they are able to manage an income without having to misuse the natural resources of the forest.
• To set up an national environmental education programme to sensitise the people of Sierra Leone and increase awareness of the importance of sustaining their wild chimp population.

© Rosalind Hanson-Alp

Please visit the Tacugama website for more information. You can also view more images of the sanctuary in our Sierra Leone image gallery.

If you would like to know more about Tacugama and perhaps assist the sanctuary, please contact the following...