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http://www.shoutwire.com/viewstory/10967/Police_On_the_Hunt_for_Killer_Monkeys
Police hunt killer chimps
Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:33 AM ET
By Christo Johnson
FREETOWN (Reuters) - Armed Sierra Leonean police are hunting up to 20 chimpanzees which killed a local taxi driver and injured three American visitors after they broke out of a wildlife sanctuary, officials said on Tuesday.
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in forested hills outside the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown where the incident happened, has been closed since Sunday's attack by the screaming and excited apes, which mobbed and mauled the four men.
"Some people had turned up at the gate before normal opening time, and before staff could react, they realized somebody was being attacked," the sanctuary's director, Bala Amarasekaran told Reuters.
The animals killed local taxi driver Issa Kanu and bit and mauled three U.S. employees of a construction company helping to build the new U.S. embassy in Freetown.
The three Americans, Gary Morris, Paul Gregory and Donald Ford, were flown to the United States on Monday to receive medical treatment for their injuries.
Amarasekaran said the attack was the first incident of its kind since the sanctuary was set up in 1995 to give shelter to orphaned and abandoned chimpanzees. It is billed as one of Sierra Leone's leading eco-tourism attractions.
Amarasekaran said sanctuary staff and armed police were still trying to round up about 20 of the runaway chimps, including two adult males called "Bruno" and "Philip".
He believes the males may have led the attack on the visitors after more than 30 of the apes managed to break out of their enclosure in the sanctuary.
"We humanize them but we're referring to wild animals here. Some chimps are highly territorial and can attack and kill. They may have seen these people as intruders," he said.
"Maybe the visitors panicked and threw sticks and stones. Chimps mob people. If you try and defend yourself you can get hurt," he added. He advised any humans attacked by chimpanzees to "be submissive, lie on the ground".
Local villagers were keeping their children at home. "We're not letting our children walk on the forest road because these chimpanzees could get hold of them and kill them," Regent Town village elder, Jonathan Harding, told Reuters.
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary had nearly 70 apes living in a semi-wild environment in which they had access to fenced enclosures of rainforest as well as large cages where they spent the night.
Amarasekaran said he hoped to reopen the reserve for public visits when security precautions had been tightened.
"Accidents can happen, you can't guarantee that they won't where wild animals are involved," he said.
"You can go into the Maasai Mara (Kenya's most famous game reserve) and be killed by a leopard," he added.
(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
http://www.shoutwire.com/viewstory/10967/Police_On_the_Hunt_for_Killer_Monkeys
Police hunt killer chimpsTue Apr 25, 2006 11:33 AM ET
By Christo Johnson
FREETOWN (Reuters) - Armed Sierra Leonean police are hunting up to 20 chimpanzees which killed a local taxi driver and injured three American visitors after they broke out of a wildlife sanctuary, officials said on Tuesday.
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in forested hills outside the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown where the incident happened, has been closed since Sunday's attack by the screaming and excited apes, which mobbed and mauled the four men.
"Some people had turned up at the gate before normal opening time, and before staff could react, they realized somebody was being attacked," the sanctuary's director, Bala Amarasekaran told Reuters.
The animals killed local taxi driver Issa Kanu and bit and mauled three U.S. employees of a construction company helping to build the new U.S. embassy in Freetown.
The three Americans, Gary Morris, Paul Gregory and Donald Ford, were flown to the United States on Monday to receive medical treatment for their injuries.
Amarasekaran said the attack was the first incident of its kind since the sanctuary was set up in 1995 to give shelter to orphaned and abandoned chimpanzees. It is billed as one of Sierra Leone's leading eco-tourism attractions.
Amarasekaran said sanctuary staff and armed police were still trying to round up about 20 of the runaway chimps, including two adult males called "Bruno" and "Philip".
He believes the males may have led the attack on the visitors after more than 30 of the apes managed to break out of their enclosure in the sanctuary.
"We humanize them but we're referring to wild animals here. Some chimps are highly territorial and can attack and kill. They may have seen these people as intruders," he said.
"Maybe the visitors panicked and threw sticks and stones. Chimps mob people. If you try and defend yourself you can get hurt," he added. He advised any humans attacked by chimpanzees to "be submissive, lie on the ground".
Local villagers were keeping their children at home. "We're not letting our children walk on the forest road because these chimpanzees could get hold of them and kill them," Regent Town village elder, Jonathan Harding, told Reuters.
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary had nearly 70 apes living in a semi-wild environment in which they had access to fenced enclosures of rainforest as well as large cages where they spent the night.
Amarasekaran said he hoped to reopen the reserve for public visits when security precautions had been tightened.
"Accidents can happen, you can't guarantee that they won't where wild animals are involved," he said.
"You can go into the Maasai Mara (Kenya's most famous game reserve) and be killed by a leopard," he added.
(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Dakar)
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
