July 14th, 2018, was the first-ever World Chimpanzee Day - and marked 25 years of Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Established in 1993, the Sanctuary was founded as a result of an agreement between Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Jane Goodall Institute. The aim of the sanctuary - to provide lifelong refuge to orphaned and abused chimpanzees from West and Central Africa.

At first, there were just three chimpanzees - Mbaruk, Charlie and Judy - who came to their new, grassy, spacious enclosure from the Animal Orphanage in Nairobi. In time, two of them passed away from natural causes, but we still have Judy who is a sweet and gentle character. Sweetwaters is still the only place in Kenya where you can see chimpanzees, and now there are 39 of them.

Almost all of them have been rescued from highly traumatic situations all over the world - mostly victims of the bushmeat or illegal great ape trade. The newest members of the Sweetwaters family are Bo and Bella, two young chimpanzees from Guinea Bissau whose families were viciously killed for bushmeat. They are have almost completed their mandatory quarantine period, and we feel sure they will love their new life at the Sanctuary, especially when they are able to join the others.

Sweetwaters has played an active role in raising awareness worldwide about the ills of illegal great ape trafficking through its advocacy arm, the Project to End Great Ape Slavery (PEGAS). Chimpanzees still face significant threats in the wild. Aside from escaping the bushmeat and illegal ape trades, they suffer hugely from habitat loss.

“Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary has seen tremendous growth in the 25 years since its inception. This would not have been possible without the thousands of people who have visited over the years and our partners. We look forward to having an even bigger impact on chimpanzee conservation in the coming years.” Said Ol Pejeta Head of Wildlife Conservation, Samuel Mutisya