In the city of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 4,000 chimpanzees taken from their natural habitat died in the period 1996-2006. This is about 400 chimpanzees annually illegally taken from their natural habitat for reasons such as bush meat, international demand for international trade and local demand for pets. These saddening statistics were presented by Franck Chantereau, co-founded JACK (Jeunes Animaux Confiques au Katanga / Young Animals Confiscated in Katanga) Sanctuary in DRC and the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) board member at an Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group speaker series presentation on April 25, 2017 at Conservation Internation, Arlington, USA.

In the presentation, Franck shared his experiences of working in the JACK Sanctuary and how through interventions such as education, advocacy and law enforcement they have managed to end the trade of chimpanzee trade in DRC.

The JACK sanctuary is a member of PASA the largest association of wildlife centers in Africa that includes 22 organizations in 13 countries. PASA rescues, protects and defend primates under siege. Susan Lutter, Chair of PASA’s Board, and Gregg Tully, PASA’s Executive Director, highlighted the organization’s current programs to protect African primates and their habitat at the presentation.

Event Resources

Click below to watch the webinar from the event.

Featured Speakers

Franck Chantereau co-founded J.A.C.K. (Jeunes Animaux Confiques au Katanga / Young Animals Confiscated in Katanga) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He continues to manage J.A.C.K., which works to stop the illegal wildlife trade and cares for orphan chimpanzee who have been confiscated by law authorities.

Susan Lutter comes to conservation after twenty-five years of general management and business development experience in the US and Europe followed by more than a decade of expanding experience in non-profit operations. After serving the Executive Director of the Gorilla Foundation, she is now the Director of Act for Great Apes as well as the Chair of the Board of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.

Gregg Tully, the Executive Director of PASA, came to the organization from Thailand where he was the CEO of Soi Dog Foundation. Before that he earned a PhD in Evolutionary Biology with a focus on animal behavior, and managed the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre in Nepal.