Ebola retreat brings cheer to Sierra Leone chimpanzees

© by Rod MacJohnson | Chimps play at the on Tacugama Sanctuary in Sierra Leone which is under threat of closure

FREETOWN (AFP) -

In the rising afternoon humidity 30-year-old Tom sits in the shade, picking fleas off his neighbour, unaware of how close he came to losing his home to Ebola.

Tom is a chimpanzee -- one of around 5,500 in Sierra Leone for whom the tropical fever poses as deadly a threat as it does to humans.

His rainforest sanctuary in the verdant hills around the capital Freetown suddenly found itself forced to close in August last year as the virus overwhelmed the human population, killing thousands.

With money running out and only a skeleton staff looking after Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Tom and around 85 companions were facing homelessness as the closure began to look permanent.

One positive outcome of the Ebola crisis, as far as the sanctuary is concerned, is that it has curbed the traditional practice of killing chimpanzees for bushmeat.

The Jane Goodall Institute estimates that around a third of the worldwide population of chimpanzees has been killed by Ebola since it first emerged in the 1970s.

http://www.france24.com/en/20150421-ebola-retreat-brings-cheer-sierra-leone-chimps/