MBOMBELA – Time is still on the side of Nikki and Amadeus, two chimpanzees that are facing possible euthanasia. The primates, who live at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Chimp Eden, were removed from their troop more than a month ago, following an attack on the assistant sanctuary manager, Mr Andrew Francis, on April 25.
An ethics committee, comprising the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MPTA), Jane Goodall Institute of South Africa (JGI SA) and the NSPCA, recommended in April that the animals be put down, since this was the second attack on a human involving the same animals.
According to the Jane Goodall Institute Global (JGIG), it had requested that the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) conduct a review on and an investigation into the matter, and that it make recommendations for a way forward. JGI SA is cooperating and assisting in this process. Unless otherwise compelled to by law, JGISA said, it does not expect to have to take any drastic action with regard to the chimps prior to the completion of PASA’s and JGIG’s own investigations.
A total of R15 100 was raised toward constructing a more secure enclosure for Amadeus, the alpha male of his group and Nikki, also a young male. This fell short of the expected R2,6 million that this would cost. At the time of going to print, JGI SA had not yet responded to questions about the nature of the investigation, the duration or the possible outcomes.
Read more about the attack on Francis and the 2012 attack on Andrew Oberle.
