Sorry, nog niet vertaald.....

One of my tasks at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center was to educate villagers about the project, learn them about chimpanzees and other protected animals and conservation issues in general. I visited schools in the region, talked to chiefs and other important villagers. The children were really enthusiastic and will grow up with a sense of protection for the forests around them.

A group of young woman visited the center in November 2001. After the visit, we asked them what they thought of the project. One girl said that she would never eat chimpanzee again, because it would feel like eating one of her relatives. She was going to make sure that her family never hunted for chimps again.

Most people that visited the center see chimpanzees in a different light. They are so much like humans that killing them would feel like killing one of their own.

Talking to the chiefs and the villagers was something different. Some of them were really understanding. Some were aggressive and will never stop hunting. One unfortunate incident happened in March 2002. I had just talked to about 15 people of Abiane II, a 40-minute drive from camp. They were nice and understood the need for a project like ours. They didn't hunt for chimpanzees or gorillas anymore and they were going to make sure that no one else did in the surroundings of their village.

It was a few days after my talk, when an old man from that village came to our camp with his son. A three-hour walk. He had met two commercial hunters in the forest near Abiane II who had two big bags full of bushmeat. He wanted to make clear to them that hunting that way, was not a good issue and that they should leave immediately. They didn't listen and hit the poor man with a machete. He was really badly wounded.

We took him to a hospital in Belabo, but I'm not sure if he could ever use that hand again. And if he would ever stop hunters again……

Bushmeat (a putty-nosed guenon) at the belabo market