Since 2009, the J.A.C.K. rehabilitation center has benefited from invaluable support from the Zoo de la Palmyre. Thanks to this solid partnership, the sanctuary has been able to pursue its cause of rescuing, rehabilitating and, at present, preparing certain primates for release. The Zoo de la Palmyre, through its ongoing commitment, has supported several projects over the years, enabling the center to provide the necessary care for apes and primates abused by man.
In 2023, J.A.C.K. faced many challenges. It was not an easy year, especially as the association had to recover from the kidnapping of the three baby chimpanzees and continue its various missions despite death threats and other obstacles…
Hopefuly, the moral and financial support of La Palmyre Zoo, its management, team and donors helped the Congolese NGO to overcome these difficult times. As J.A.C.K. is not just a rehabilitation center for primates, but also a key element in the reinforcement of Congolese wildlife laws, the massive arrival of confiscated primates meant that the sanctuary had to make a number of adjustments in order to provide the best possible care for its large family of primates (180 individuals today!).
And so, in 2023, La Palmyre Zoo, along with other partners and sponsors, decided to take part in these numerous challenges. The French Zoo has therefore indeed
1/ participated in the construction of a nursery, a building adapted to the needs of all these monkeys taken out of the hands of traffickers and who must rebuild themselves both physically and mentally.
The Nursery for small primates was essential to guarantee their well-being. The building includes a kitchen, a mini-clinic, a room for the vet or a keeper in case of emergency, as well as 1o night lodges attached to 10 gardens to allow the newcomers to move around in a natural environment.
2/ enabled to build night rooms for a group of Malbroucks (vervet monkeys) to be prepared for their return to the forest. J.A.C.K. having rescued 13 individuals of this species between 2021 and 2023, and as they were living in three separate groups, it was important to have the necessary structures in place to ensure that only one main group could be prepared to return to the wild. To achieve this, the monkeys needed to be rehabilitated in an isolated area of the site, so that they could become unaccustomed to humans. Two new outside pens and a night enclosure with 6 night rooms were built.
3/ contributed to the rehabilitation of the 24 Congolese monkeys confiscated in Togo last December. Remember all those poor victims destined for the pet trade in Thailand who were intercepted at Lome airport. Bringing them to their home country was one thing. Giving them a new lease on life following the traumas they had endured was quite another. Remember Julia, the baby baboon who had a bullet impact in her head and died in our arms.The invaluable help of La Palmyre Zoo has enabled us to provide the best possible care for all these lives ravaged by man. Some members of the rescue have now completed their quarantine and have been successfully integrated into groups of monkeys of their own species.
These were again great challenges for J.A.C.K., and we’re delighted to have had La Palmyre Zoo and other sponsors and donors on our side to bring them to a HAPPY END.
For THEM, THANK YOU!