An embassy staff member (Right) and the Programme of Tacugama (Left)

The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Sierra Leone has donated four solar lights to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to show China's support to the country's only chimp sanctuary.

Tacugama is situated on 100-acres of land in the Western Area Forest Reserve, a forty minute drive from Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. The Tacugama Sanctuary was founded three years ago with one chimpanzee and is now home to over 100 chimps, serving as a haven and rehabilitation center for chimpanzees that were orphaned by human activities such as hunting and deforestation, as well as those which were sold as pets but later rescued by the authorities.

While receiving the donation, Aram, the programme manager at Tacugama Sanctuary, praised China's support and expressed optimism that the excellent partnership would continue between the Embassy and sanctuary in the future. Aram also extended an invitation to embassy officials to visit the chimps in their Tacugama habitat.

The donation is part of the Chinese Embassy's continuous support to local organizations in the development of Sierra Leone.