Nanga, the infant chimpanzee that I have written about recently (see Nanga's Recovery), is increasingly settling into his new home at the Limbe Wildlife Centre (LWC), the sanctuary in Cameroon that has been looking after him since he was confiscated by the government of Cameroon from an animal trader.

Jody, a volunteer with the LWC who comes from Colorado, has been looking after Nanga for 24 hours a day since his arrival. About a week ago, he was integrated with the other infant chimpanzees and sleeping with them at night. Jody told me, " Nanga did really well his first night. I was worried that he would cry for me, but the keepers found him quiet in the morning, cuddled up with the other babies in a hammock. When he saw me coming round the corner he started to cry and spent the next two hours in my arms. This transition is difficult for both of us, but a necessary one."

It has been fascinating to see the relationship develop between this little chimpanzee, who not only had seen his mother killed but had three shotgun pellets lodged in his body, and Jody, who has been looking after Nanga around the clock

Jody said, " The best part of the day was to be woken by a soft ooh-ooh-ooh at 6:20 every morning. A large bottle of milk formula preceded the following play session in my room with a variety of everyday objects that I'd collected for him: a small mirror, an old book to tear up, some empty bottles. But nothing was quite as entertaining as the container itself, which he would sit on, stand on, and purposefully fall into." Later on, they'd go to the Wildlife Centre, where Nanga was slowly getting to see other animals in the quarantine areas. By 7:30 p.m., Nanga would be rubbing his eyes, ready for bed.

This was the daily routine for the month that Jody looked after Nanga. At the beginning of week five, Nanga had his second TB test. All the animals that arrive at the LWC have to have regular TB tests to limit the possibility of them passing the disease on to other animals, but also, potentially, to humans. Equally, it is possible that Nanga could have contracted a disease from the many people who have handled him since he was taken from his mother, and so regular health checks are a vital part of life at the LWC, as in all other sanctuaries and zoos.

Once Nanga had cleared the TB test he was free to enter into the "baby enclosure' with the four other infant chimpanzees that have been rescued over the past year or so. At first, Nanga was with the other infants for just half an hour each day, and gradually the time increased until Jody was able to hide in the enclosure without any major incidents. On the second day, he embraced Gabon, a young female chimpanzee. Jody said, " It was so wonderful to see him play with the others and receive hugs from them when he needed comfort."

Caring for Nanga over the last few weeks has been an incredible experience for Jody, who left Cameroon last week. Nanga is still doing fine and has moved on to spend all his time with the other infant chimpanzees that will become his surrogate family.

Dr. Bethan Morgan is a Conservation Research Fellow for the San Diego Zoo's CRES.

Here's more information about Bethan's project.

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