A gang has abducted three juvenile chimpanzees from a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is seeking a six-figure ransom for their safe release.
The animal thieves submitted ‘proof of life’ recordings to the central African refuge and are threatening to decapitate the apes if their ransom demands are not satisfied. This is the first ransom case involving an ape that has ever been documented.
Hussein and Cesar, two of the orphaned animals, can be seen in kidnappers’ footage climbing over overturned furniture, while Monga, a five-year-old female, has her limbs bound over her head in a bare-brick chamber.
Cesar had just been in the sanctuary for a few weeks after being rescued from a market and transported via a three-day motorcycle journey and two flights.
The chimpanzees were abducted in the dead of night two weeks ago from the Jack primate rehabilitation center in Lubumbashi.
A gang has abducted three juvenile chimpanzees from a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is seeking a six-figure ransom for their safe release.
Franck Chantereau, the company’s founder, said of the clip, “You can see how afraid they are.”
He stated that his family had been threatened and that he would not pay the six-figure ransom.
He is collaborating with law enforcement to locate the chimpanzees and secure their safe return.
The chimps are already orphaned due to animal trafficking, a £20 billion per year industry.
“They had all been granted a second opportunity, but now this fresh misery,” Chantereau stated.
In Asia and the United Arab Emirates, collectors of body parts and live animals fuel the underground market.
A young chimpanzee costs approximately $10,000, but capturing one in the wild requires killing its entire family.
Hussein and Cesar, two of the orphaned animals, can be seen in captured footage climbing over overturned furniture.
Africa’s chimpanzee population has decreased from one million at the turn of the 20th century to approximately 300,000 presently.
In 2006, Frenchman Chantereau established his facility, which is one of three in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is home to approximately 40 chimpanzees.
It aids with the rehabilitation of animals rescued from traffickers by giving them with food, housing, and medication, as well as bringing attention to their condition.
The kidnapping has raised concerns about a new sort of criminal activity that targets sanctuaries.
He told Mongabay, “We have experienced numerous obstacles for the past 18 years.” However, we have never encountered anything quite like this: the abduction of apes. In addition, they threatened to abduct my children and wife.
Florence Teneau from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which helps to fund the Jack refuge, stated: ‘These shelters receive a great deal of aid and funding from foreign organizations, such as ours, and the traffickers take advantage of this, as the animals become more valuable.’
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