The Chimfushi Wildlife Ophanage is the largest Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the world. Founded by David and Sheila Siddle in 1983, Chimfunshi is home to over 108 orphaned Chimps, many of whom have been confiscated from poachers or rescued from dilapidated zoos and circuses.
The orphanage also provides valuable information about the re-socialization and rehabilitation of man's closest relative. It serves as a model for the primate sanctuary movement currently sweeping across Africa.
You can read more about the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orpanage center by visiting www.chimfunshi.org.zm
| Release date | 27/11/2006 |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Nkula Mwanza |
| Geographical coverage | Zambia, Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Luapula, Chingola, Chambeshi |
| Keywords | Wildlife, Chimpanzee, chimps, chimfunshi, ophanage |
History
Chimfunshi was founded in 1983 when a game ranger brought a badly wounded infant chimpanzee to the cattle ranch of David and Sheila Siddle, a British couple who had lived in along the Zambian copperbelt since the 1950s. The Siddles nursed that chimp – nicknamed "Pal" – back to health, thereby establishing a tradition of care and respect that forms the legacy of the sanctuary. Chimfunshi started off as a normal 10,000-acre cattle farm beside the banks of the Kafue River, run by David and Sheila Siddle. It's situated very close to the DRC (formerly Zaire), and in October 1983 Sheila received an orphaned chimpanzee, named Pal, who had been confiscated from Zairean poachers. Pal was sick, malnourished and had been physically abused, yet Sheila eventually nursed him back to health.
It had been known for some time that Zambia was a conduit for the (illegal) export of chimps from Zaire (now DRC). However, as the authorities had nowhere practicable to release any confiscated animals, they had not been over-zealous in trying to stop the trade. Gradually they confiscated more chimps; and, by the middle of 1988, the Siddles had 19 chimps at Chimfunshi. All were kept in cages, but taken out for regular forest walks – which was the best that could be done at the time. Sending rehabilitated chimps back to Zaire, however, wasn't a safe option, and so it was decided to build them a large enclosure at Chimfunshi. With minimal backing, the Siddles sectioned off seven acres of their own forest land, and built a 4m-high wall around it. Then they gradually introduced a group of chimps into the area. Contrary to expectations, these chimps eventually melded into a coherent family-type group – which clearly was a great success.
By this time orphaned chimps were being sent here from many corners of the globe. In 1991 a second enclosure was constructed to accommodate another group of chimps, this time covering 14 acres and using a solar-powered electric fence. By 2003 there were precisely 100 chimps on the property, 15 of which had been born there – and still the numbers were growing.
Once word of Pal’s recovery spread, the Siddles found themselves inundated with orphaned chimpanzees. Although many are confiscated from poachers who attempt to smuggle the infants into Zambia for sale as pets, an equally large number are rescued from dilapidated zoos and circuses from all over Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
The Siddles bestow love and care upon the traumatized apes and gradually introduce them to the extended family at Chimfunshi. Five social groups inhabit the free-range enclosures that span 1,100 acres at the orphanage, including two 500-acre enclosures, the largest area ever set aside for captive primates.
Existance of Chimpazees in Zambia
Chimpanzees are not generally thought to be indigenous to Zambia. Currently the southernmost population of wild chimps is thought to live in a remote (and relatively little-documented) corner of the Rukwa Region of Tanzania – around the Loasi River Forest Reserve on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.
Chimpanzee distribution in the wild is limited by suitable habitat, and especially by the distribution of suitable vegetation and the wild fruit on which they live. Although there are remaining populations in woodland areas, most occur in moister, thicker forests – where the availability of wild fruits is higher. The relatively open, dry miombo woodlands in northern Zambia wouldn't be a typical habitat, although in some areas chimps do inhabit more arid woodland areas.
Sheila Siddle maintains that chimps could have once lived in Zambia. She cites oral evidence, reported from older local people in Mbala, just south of Lake Tanganyika, who refer to a species of animal which is now extinct in the area as socamuntu, meaning 'like a man'.