Mission Caita

It took a lot of work – both on-site and behind the scenes – to secure them safely. The process between governments, import and export Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) papers, health checks, and logistic planning took longer than expected but finally, the chimpanzees were rescued. In partnership with Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), we managed to relocate them to Tchimpounga sanctuary in the Republic of the Congo. For the first time in their lives, they are living in the same enclosure and can now have the company of each other. This was the first rescue operation of its kind in this region.

Mission Cristina and Maiombe

In the same restaurant where we found Joana and Riquita, we also found a 6-month-old baby chimpanzee, calling her Cristina. A few days later, during a Maiombe Rainforest patrol, local teams rescued a 7-month-old girl, Maiombe.

For an infant chimpanzee to be abducted, ten from the same family, including the mother, are murdered. The orphan is then sold and ends up as a pet or entertainment animal. Wild at Life e.V. rescues and confiscates these traumatized animals and where they will then go through a long process of rehabilitation. As there is no sanctuary in Angola and setting up is very expensive, Wild at Life e.V. has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JGI where the primates we rescue will be placed to the Tchimpounga sanctuary for rehabilitaion.

Mission Caita

Our team apprehended a car and found a 6-year-old poached chimpanzee tied in horrible conditions. We named her Caita. Poachers struck Caita across her back with an iron pipe, tied her up, and threw her in the trunk of a broken-down car.

Poachers were going to sell her to the market. It’s unknown exactly how long Caita was held captive with the poachers and what other unsanitary conditions she was exposed to. When we took her to safety, she was traumatized. Nevertheless, she made progress by eating and drinking. However, Caita got her hand caught in a rusty snare and as a result, contracted tetanus and had to have two of her fingers amputated. All the vets could do for Caita was to treat the symptoms and hope that Caita’s body is strong enough to fight the disease.

Rest in peace, Caita. After 11 days, Caita went into septic shock and passed away surrounded by those who cared for her. She had the best of the best caring for her; fighting for her and with her. Her burial was simple. She caught the attention of many around the world and she will never be forgotten.

Mission Zizi, Zeze, and Kuxie

Wild at Life e.V. discovered three primates kept in rusty cages in a house’s backyard in Cabinda – Zizi, Zeze, and Kuxie. Zeze had suffered a machete wound that left him blind, a bullet lodged in his testicular area, and was severely malnourished. Zizi, malnourished herself, was trying to tend to him.

We have gotten approval from the Ministry of Environment to rescue all three and bring them back to the base camp where a long rehabilitation process starts. They were terrified, weak and even though we were scared Zeze might not survive, we never gave up. We managed to bring him back to life and then his journey to our sanctuary begun.

The base camp also has Jacka, amongst many others, an infant primate we rescued from a restaurant where he was held as a tourist attraction. We confiscated him swiftly once we found him there.

These primates are proof that wildlife trafficking is prevalent. Wild at Life e.V. has saved countless lives from horrific circumstances where families are ripped apart and taken from their forest homes just so humans can sell these animals. They are sold for their flesh, bones, blood, organs, and basically any body parts that are profitable. They are sold to humans for entertainment, spending their entire lives trapped in tiny, filthy, barren cages. They are sold to zoos and man-made safari parks where humans pay to keep them trapped and away from everything that is natural to them. They are sold to laboratories where they’re tortured in the name of “science”. None of these animals belongs anywhere but in the wild with their families. The ones who are rescued from the evil hands of humans are kept safe and their lives enriched in sanctuaries but make no mistake, there is no replacement for their families and their wild homes.

In memory of Caita, we named the ongoing rescue operations of trafficked primates in Angola “Mission Caita”. Caita might be gone, but with the birth of Mission Caita, dozens of trafficked primates were saved and awareness towards primate conservation has been raised. Caita is the martyr of an important cause and a true heroine.