Deforestation in S.Leone national park threatens chimps, humans alike

Tacugama, Sierra Leone (AFP) June 17, 2025

Esther and Rio, two orphaned baby chimpanzees, clung tenderly to their caregiver's chest at a sanctuary inside one of Sierra Leone's flagship national parks, where unprecedented deforestation and illegal urban encroachment pose a risk to both primates and humans. The young apes, who arrived at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary when they were just three months old, listened with wide eyes as