Congo: Even animals are no longer safe from kidnappers, in a unique incident in Congo, three chimpanzees are being kidnapped and a ransom of millions is being demanded from the administration.
Three endangered chimpanzees were abducted from a sanctuary after a video of them sitting in fear in a brick room was sent to the authorities as evidence, according to the abductors. It has been undermined that in the event that their requests are not met soon, the heads of these chimpanzees will be sent next time.
The founder of the Jack Primate Rehabilitation Center has received several such messages since the young chimpanzee was taken 15 days ago, including threats to kidnap his wife and children, but the center’s founder does not intend to pay the ransom. That, they say, would put all of the world’s monkeys at greater risk than they currently are.
Black market buyers pay around £10,000 for baby chimpanzees.
Sixty years prior, an expected 1 million chimpanzees meandered the woodlands of West and Central Africa, yet in only 40 years their numbers have dwindled to somewhere in the range of 172,000 and 300,000, of which 40% Live in Democratic Republic of Congo.
