Release Project

The release site in the park has emerged as the most suitable location for the release, a pre-release enclosure with a containment cage (for veterinary purposes) has been built. A local camp for staff will be built across the river prior to the move of the chimpanzees at the site.

News (as of February 28th 2009)

On June 27th 2008, 12 orphans, wild born, rehabilitated adult chimpanzees, were released in the core area of the Park National du Haut Niger (PNHN) in Guinea, West Africa. The core area is of 55,000 hectares of full protection. This release has been planned and worked on for over a decade following the 2002 IUCN guidelines for reintroduction.

The release was planned as a soft release but the delay in getting funding for the radio collars postponed the release by a year and made the soft release methodology inapplicable - because, while waiting for a year, the electrical fence built at the release site, where the chimps were supposed to be housed, got burned by a bush fire. A new soft methodology was put in place for the males. Prior to the release, four adult males were moved to the release site where they were housed at the release cage. Later a fifth male joined them and they stayed together for three months to strengthen their ties. The females stayed at the CCC until the day of their release. The release date chosen was June, because it's during the rainy season and the highest fruit season.

The chimpanzees had been rehabilitated for years, living as a group in large forested enclosures and going on bush walks once to twice a day in the PNHN until at least ten years old. During their time at the CCC they learned to feed themselves, defend their territory and themselves, and nest. Behavioral studies were conducted for a year prior to their release to evaluate their behavior and attachment to humans. Apart from one individual that was pulled out from the release group, all chimpanzees were judged suited for release. A year before their release they were mostly fed with wild fruits gathered by villagers in the buffer zone of the Park National du Haut Niger.

All the released chimpanzees were tested for parasites, bacterial infections and virus. None of the chimpanzees had been vaccinated and all the release chimpanzees were healthy. Deworming medicine and a broad spectrum antibiotic was administrated two weeks prior to their release.

In order to track them after their release, the chimpanzees were fitted with VHF radio tracking collars and for the males, VHF radio tracking collars and Argos ballast. In 2006, the releasable chimpanzees were fitted with dummy collars, so when they were fitted with their real, very expensive collars, they didn't try to remove them. A safety was created by using thick rubbers and duct tape, so that the collar could be removed in case of applied strong force. Five females were fitted with store-on-board GPS tracking and VHF radio transmitters. The VHF system can only work up to 3-4 kilometers depending on the habitat. Four males were fitted with the satellite tracking collars and VHF transmitters. The male collars were programmed so that each collar store GPS points 6 times a day. During 6pm and 6am, the collar tries to connect with one of the 6 satellites programmed in the collar. If there is a hit, the collar downloads the GPS points. There is also a built in mortality function. The GPS information is then available on the company web site that runs the program. They need to be converted into excel format to be read. We've received geo referenced spot image of the PNHN where we place the GPS points. We don't get GPS points everyday, but we do regularly, depending on the thickness of the habitat.

The chimpanzees didn't behave as planned, as they didn't stay together as a group. We had to retrieve some of the chimps who went very far from the release point and brought them back together. One male had lost his collar, but it was found thanks to village's fishermen who were keeping an eye on him and warned us. All the chimpanzees have avoided contact with human population even when they were near population. Once they had established their territory, they almost don't travel, and their territory is quite small (a couple of square kilometers at most). All the males have avoided contact with wild chimpanzees, as far as we know - or contact went well! One female is currently living with a group of wild chimpanzees. The youngest female, 10 years old, who was released with her mother - she had been born at the CCC (a birth control pill accident!) - came back to the CCC a month after her release . . . with a wild female. We've been trying since September to have them go back to the forest, but they are still at the CCC. We're planning to "release" them again next year with the second releasable group, or to bring them to Albert and Rappa in 2009.

Protection of the PNHN had to be increased tremendously and extended to area of the PNHN far from either the CCC or the release site, but still in the full protected area of the PNHN, where two males have established their territory. Education and sensitization campaigns have also been increased; we can see that they are successful by the reaction that we had with the chimpanzee who removed his collar (Robert) and with the community living across the Niger or the Mafou river (two of the PNHN boundaries).

This release is only eight months old, but so far, they have shown very good wild chimpanzee behavior. They are all self-sufficient, capable of defending and protecting themselves - and most important, dehumanized, as they aren't looking for human contact, especially with people they don't know. All the chimps that we've had contact with (infrequently) are healthy and happy. Some have lost some weight but none are sick. They are proving that they can be released and survive happily in the wild.

The collars will stop transmitting in April for the Argos data, and in June for the VHF transmission. If the chimpanzees are still stable and healthy after a year, we will consider the release a success. We are not planning to anesthetize the chimpanzees to replace their collars. We'll try to retrieve the females' collars, from the three females living at the release area, to download the GPS data stored on it. Without removing the collars, they will eventually fall off their neck, as they are only attached with rubber and duct tape.

The released chimps - Where are they?

First group: Robert (male) and Mama (female), Nanou (female) and Lottie (female)    

Second group: Albert and Rappa (males)    

Zira (female) and probably Nana (female) with a group of wild chimps    

We have no news from Orlando since the release, or from Andrew since he was brought back with his mother Lottie in the release area. They haven't been spotted by the local population or by us. It doesn't mean that they are dead, though, per our observations of the other chimps' behaviors: all the released chimps seem to manage their new freedom very well. Andrew was with his mother until November 2008, and could be in the vicinity of Robert's group. He doesn't have a working collar, but we're hoping that he'll reappear soon.

Health and behavioral status

All the released chimpanzees are in good health. Rappa and Lottie are the only ones who have lost some weight. Their weight losses have different causes.

For Lottie, she was with her 9 year old son in an area where food was abundant during the rainy season, but became scare during the dry season. She would let Andrew eat before she herself ate. Since she was brought back to the release area, she's gained back weight.

Rappa is the youngest chimpanzee of the released group (except for the two offspring) as he was twelve years old when he was released. He has kept the same feeding behavior that he had at Somoria, which is insufficient during the dry season. Now that he's living with Albert, who eats all the time, we're hoping that he'll follow Albert's behavior and feed more often.

All the released chimps seem to have chimp lice that they remove from each other via grooming. Their parasite load is normal and their diet consistent with wild chimps' diet. Albert eats a lot of termites and none of the released chimps seem to drink much, even at the highest of the dry season. This behavior is consistent with wild chimpanzees' behavior.

Dr. Humle will analyze the data of the release and will publish it in scientific journals.

2006 Construction

One of the first activities that were completed in 2006, was to reopen the access road to the chosen release site. Every year, after the rainy season, grass grows and trees fall on the road. The clearing of the 30 kilometers that separate the CCC to the release site is a hard job. Once it was done, the fence that had been built in 2005 needed repairs. Posts had fallen and bush fire had burned some isolators…
In the mean time, a welder came on site to finish the cage. It took him more time than was scheduled but both the fence and the cages are now fully operational. The human camp that will be across the river will be built during the 2007 dry season.

Collars Prior to Release

At the end of 2006, all the releasable chimpanzees were fitted with dummy collars that are the exact replica of the collars that they'll be wearing once they are release. In the future, these GPS collars fitted on every released chimpanzee will allow the researchers and staff to follow their routes through the Park over the Internet without the need to physically follow them every day from nest to nest. The GPS collars will not however, be the only means of monitoring. Staff and students will regularly follow them to record their new diet, their cycle, and their adaptation. Such GPS collars, which have been used with bears and wolves, have a battery life of three years and can connect to a satellite to upload stored information at varying time intervals, ranging from every ten minutes to only twice a day. The user can select the most appropriate upload period depending on the need. Between satellite connections, the collar stores the GPS location of the individuals, taking a reading from every two to ten minutes. This system will allow the trackers to collect accurate and regular data on the movements of the chimps throughout the monitoring period. It has never been used for great apes but the CCC management staff is working closely with the company making the collars, VECTRONIC Aerospace GmbH in Germany. Since all the chimpanzees had to be anesthetized, blood was drawn and a TB test performed. The viral and bacterial tests all came back negative. The chimpanzees, especially the females, were not, initially, particularly comfortable with the collars and tried really hard to remove them. Some succeeded and we had to refit them using a stronger security system, a band of rubber that breaks under pressure. They are now perfectly happy with their collars and younger chimps that don’t have them are starting to wear vines or anything they can find to put around their neck! It’s definitely the new fashion in Somoria!