CHIMP ISLAND
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Home to an almost 40-year-old chimpanzee who was the only survivor of a colony after being used as a guinea pig.
Ponso is no more: he probably died of a heart attack on March 3, 2024 at the age of 50, a respectable age for a chimpanzee. Poor Ponso was the sole survivor of a colony of 20 primates relocated here in 1983 after being used as guinea pigs in medical experiments. He lost his partner and two children to humans in 2013, and has since lived alone on 5 hectares of land. He now rests alongside his family on his island. Previously, he could be observed by taking a pirogue ride nearby, without direct contact to protect him from human diseases (a simple cold can be fatal). Since 2015, the association Les Amis de Ponso (Facebook page: SOS Ponso) has been funding his food and helping his guardian, Germain Djénémaya Koidja, a pensioner who considered Ponso a member of his family, as well as the entire village community on the island. The associations considered transferring Ponso to a sanctuary in Zambia and then Liberia, but all were turned down, as Ponso was considered an untransferable Ivorian citizen. In 20 years, the chimpanzee population in Côte d'Ivoire has fallen by 90%. A sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees rescued from poaching, run by the NGO Atiaka, opened in 2017 in Côte d'Ivoire in the Yapo-Abbé classified forest (donations welcome). A sanctuary project with new chimpanzees is due to see the light of day and reopen to visitors (from afar) on the island of Ponso soon. To be continued.
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Si vous voulez lui serrer la main amenez avec vous un masque chirurgical afin de le préserver de vos microbes, le soigneur n en a pas toujour à vous proposer.
Longue vie à toi Ponso.