This photo was taken at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Chingola, ZAMBIA.

Like us, chimpanzees are a highly social animal. Chimpanzee babies will learn how to be chimps by mimicking the behaviours of their mother and other members of the family group. And thus crucial survival skills will be passed down from generation to generation. That is the chimpanzee culture. So a poached chimp does not only represent the brutal death of an individual, but also the compromised survival of that individual’s offspring, the whole family group and its future generations.

In the 1900s there was estimated to be over a million chimpanzees in the wild. But now, due to the unfathomable rate of habitat destruction as well as the unsustainable pressure of the bushmeat and pet trade, there is thought to be less than 150,000 chimpanzees left.

Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga (young animals confiscated in Katanga) or “J.A.C.K” is a refuge centre for orphaned chimpanzees. Based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, JACK is an independent, self funded NGO that also works to slow and then to stop the dreadful haemorrhage of forest wildlife. Donations can be made by contacting Mr. Franck Chantereau (founder) at jack@lub.gbs.cd or visiting the (french) website at www.littlejak.fr

South Africa is also currently waging a war against the illegal poaching of rhino’s for their protein horns. The LEGEND RHINO ORPHANAGE is South Africa’s first not-for-profit specialist centre, dedicated to the care of baby rhino’s orphaned by poaching. Please help support this rhino orphanage and make a contribution today, in order to ensure a rhino’s tomorrow.