Arcus Grant Benefits Overseas Sanctuaries and IPPL

September 2007

Six overseas ape rescue centers will share a one-year $184,000 grant award, thanks to the Arcus Foundation's Great Apes Fund, as announced by the foundation this past June. IPPL applied for the funding on behalf of the six partner sanctuaries and is grateful that the Arcus Foundation has chosen to continue supporting the important ape protection work being done in Africa and Asia. This grant marks the fifth consecutive year that Arcus has helped support rescue work in ape-habitat countries via IPPL. This longterm financial commitment is vital for sanctuaries that not only are trying to plan for the well-being of long-lived animals but are also attempting to do so under the unstable political and economic conditions typical of developing countries.

In addition, this year Arcus has generously awarded $50,000 over two years to IPPL directly. These funds will be used to support IPPL's own ape advocacy work, including the thrice yearly production of IPPL News. In previous grant applications, IPPL had not asked for any funds for overhead expenses or special projects but had sent the entire grant amount overseas. This new arrangement will enable IPPL to more effectively educate and advocate on behalf of apes—thereby (one can hope) leading to increased numbers of people who are informed about the rights and value of apes as individuals.

The six well-established sanctuaries with which IPPL has partnered for this grant award all have fine reputations. Many are using innovative approaches to the problem of apes orphaned by the bushmeat and pet trades, including extensive educational outreach to local youth and people in neighboring communities. The six participating organizations are:

• The Endangered Primate Rescue Center, Vietnam, where 22 gibbons belonging to three endangered species have found sanctuary in their native land.
• The Friends of Bonobos Association, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which runs a unique rescue center that now cares for 53 confiscated bonobos (or pygmy chimpanzees) and welcomes many school groups for educational tours.
• HELP Congo, Republic of the Congo, which has been monitoring a group of previously-orphaned chimpanzees since 1996, (when they were released into a protected park), especially the females as they mature and begin to reproduce in the wild.
• Highland Farm Gibbon Sanctuary, Thailand, which is home to 42 gibbons, about 25 percent of whom have need of special care.
• Kalaweit Gibbon Sanctuary, Indonesia, which cares for about 200 gibbons and 60 siamangs while actively doing outreach by broadcasting pro-wildlife messages via “Kalaweit FM” radio and (coming soon) television.
• Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Sierra Leone, which houses nearly 90 chimpanzees rescued from the bushmeat and pet trades and which engages in country-wide sensitization efforts to encourage people not to keep chimps as pets.

The Arcus Great Apes Fund provides grants to support conservation efforts that promote the survival of great apes in the wild and sanctuaries that offer safety and freedom from human exploitation. In keeping with this mission, this year's Arcus grant funds will be used to provide continued quality care for apes that have been rescued from illegal trafficking and to promote the appreciation for apes by all people, both within and beyond the apes' native countries.

The Arcus logo is proudly displayed at the entrance to Lola ya Bonobo (“Bonobo Paradise” in Lingala, a local language), the sanctuary run by The Friends of Bonobos Association in Kinshasa, DRC. This is the only sanctuary in the world dedicated to the rehabilitation of orphaned bonobos. Through IPPL, the Arcus Great Apes Fund has helped support the Association's rescue work since 2002, when there were only 22 bonobo orphans to care for, fewer than half the current number of residents.