Chimpanzees

Several members of the Tchimpounga staff are deeply involved in caring for the infant and younger chimpanzees. The babies, Zola, JeJe and Anzac were with Antonette for a few days but now, Angel has taken over their care. Before working at Tchimpounga, Angel worked in neonatal care in a hospital and has a special gift of finding veins on young and very sick individuals. This skill has saved a number of the chimps at Tchimpounga, because Angel has been able to get a vein to give lifesaving medication and fluids when no one else was able to do it.

This post is the first of a two-part story about the development of three islands in the Kouilou River as part of the expansion of JGI's Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in the Republic of Congo.

Zola is recovering gradually from a serious respiratory infection. Thanks to the attention of his caregiver Antonette and the supervision of the veterinary team at Tchimpounga, each day Zola is getting better and better.

It is currently the dry session in Congo. At this time of year the sky is almost always overcast and the temperature, especially at night, drops. The added humidity makes the nights unpleasant. Young chimpanzees such as JeJe, are still very small and dependent. For him, it is absolutely necessary to be embraced by a warm body and to hear a heartbeat. Therefore at Tchimpounga, chimpanzee orphans of this age are never alone and always spend the night with a caregiver. While these baby chimpanzees sleep, they sometimes have nightmares, gas in their belly, feel cold or appear restless.