She would do anything to save this chimp’s life…Animal trafficking happens everywhere. Traffickers can sell a range of animals, even exotic animals are not spared from this unfortunately. Thankfully, there are rescue organizations out there who would do anything to rescue these animals from their fate, even going undercover.
A woman named Jenny Desmond and her husband, Jim, runs the Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection organization and have their own sanctuary for the chimps that they have rescued. Jenny would do anything to save these poor chimps, even going undercover! Earlier this year, Jenny had received word about a trafficker who was trying to sell a baby chimp named Ella in Monrovia. Ella, like the rest of the baby chimps, are stolen from the wild by traffickers, who usually kill their families in the process.
Ella had lost her family to traffickers and was being sold as a pet to people. Both Jenny and Jim immediately took action when they heard the news. As they were not in Monrovia at that time, the only way to stop the trafficker was for the authorities to arrest him. So the authorities went there on their behalf but unfortunately, they missed her. At first, Jenny was sad that they have missed Ella. Not long after, she heard of another baby chimp being sold and was even more determined to save its life. Jenny and Jim soon came up with a plan to get the baby chimp to safety. Jenny posed as a potential buyer and called the seller and asked to meet with him personally.
When Jenny met the seller, she was accompanied by an FDA wildlife officer and asked for the price of the chimp. The seller replied Jenny that he was selling the chimp for $400. Jenny then proceeded to tell him that its illegal to sell a chimp and that he needs to let her go. Jenny then asked how long he had the chimp, to which the seller stated that he had the chimp since November last year. She also told the seller that chimps live for 50 years. The seller was shocked, obviously not knowing that chimps actually live for so long. He was eventually forced to surrender the baby chimp to Jenny, who took her back to the sanctuary.
When Jenny got back to the sanctuary, she compared this baby chimp to a photo of the chimp that was being sold last week. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it was indeed Ella that they have rescued! Ella is currently living in the sanctuary, where she plays with the other rescued baby chimps and has made plenty of friends. Even though these baby chimps can never return to the wild, they now have a place to call home.
Share this story!
