This is Mbam. I cared for him at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. He is named after the forest from where he was taken – Mbam.

A man paid 50,000 CFA (75 euros) for Mbam. He told the Wildlife Centre that it was not the first time he had seen a young chimpanzee in the forest for sale. The first time he had not bought the animal and when he came back a few days later the animal had died. He felt he had to buy this chimpanzee to save its life. The Limbe Wildlife Centre never buys animals because it encourages hunters to get more animals from the forest. The man understood this, but he had felt like he had no choice. Just as they were listening to the man’s story, his phone rang. It was the man from the forest, saying that he had another chimpanzee for sale. This is a very sad illustration of the fact that buying animals really creates.

Taken with Nikon D50 using 80-400mm lens

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