EMERGENCY APPEAL: Help one amazing couple save more than 100 chimpanzees. Donate here: https://www.liberiachimpanzeerescue.org/donate.html
In 2015, a group of animal protection groups asked Jenny and Dr. Jim Desmond to go to Liberia to save the lives of 66 chimpanzees who the NY Blood Center abandoned on six islands after using them in biomedical research. The Desmonds planned to spend about a month in Liberia putting systems in place and finding locals to take over their care, but they were unable to leave. Within weeks of their arrival, government forestry authorities began bringing them orphaned baby chimps who were victims of the bushmeat and exotic pet trades. No one else in Liberia had the experience or expertise to take care of them. It has been almost ten years, and the Desmonds now have about 115 chimps in their care and dozens of employees from neighboring villages. During the pandemic, they built the first phase of a permanent sanctuary in the forest. They are very eager to embark on phase 2, which would, among other things, enable the adult chimps to get out of their enclosures and spend time in the forest, but they can’t even consider that because they don’t have enough money to cover their operating expenses. The fantastic three-part BBC series about the Desmonds’ conservation and rescue work, Baby Chimp Rescue, led to donations that enabled them to operate and complete phase 1, but that infusion has ended. Because they are in Liberia and do not have a network of supporters abroad, they are not raising the amount of money they need to function, much less build out the sanctuary and create an endowment. Says TheirTurn founder Donny Moss, "Having visited them twice while working on the campaign to compel the NY Blood Center for pay for the care of the chimps they abandoned, I have seen the extraordinary work they do in the most challenging of environments. And, as one of the few Americans who has been there, I feel an obligation to help them and the chimps." Their charity, Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection, is registered in the U.S. VISIT: https://www.liberiachimpanzeerescue.org/ - PLEASE HELP!