Getty Images photographer Dan Kitwood spent time last year visiting the Chimpanzee Conservation Center (CCC) in the Haut Niger National Park in Guinea, West Africa. Kitwood describes the 6,000-square-kilometer facility as a sanctuary and rehabilitation center for rescued orphaned chimpanzees. The chimpanzees receive care and attention from keepers during a rehabilitation period that may take as long as 10 years, with the ultimate goal being self-sufficiency and a release back into the wild. At the time of Kitwood’s visit, the CCC was looking after 50 Western Chimpanzees.
A Labor of Love: Chimpanzee Rehabilitation in Guinea
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Read moreFrench volunteer Audrey Lenormand, 27, holds ten-month-old Soumba at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center on November 27, 2015, in Somoria, Guinea. Soumba was recently rescued from traffickers by authorities and is the 50th baby Chimpanzee to arrive at the CCC. For the first three months he is cared for 24 hours a day by a volunteer quarantined away from other chimpanzees and staff. #
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Read moreKeeper Daouda Keita collects the baby group from their enclosure for their first bushwalk at the CCC on November 26, 2015. #
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Read moreNoel gets stuck in trees next to the River Niger during one of his daily bushwalks at the CCC on November 28, 2015. #
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Read moreHawa, one of the baby group is fed after a morning bushwalk on November 26, 2015. #
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Read moreShelly stands in a tree in her enclosure at the CCC on November 27, 2015. #
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Read moreTen month old Soumba is left alone momentarily for the first time since her recent arrival at the CCC on December 3, 2015. #
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Read moreDouda Keita, 38, carries Noel during a daily bushwalk on November 27, 2015. #
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Read moreSpanish veterinary volunteer Camille Lemaire (left) performs a health check on new arrival Kandar on November 28, 2015 in Somoria, Guinea. Kanda, a five month old chimp arrived at the CCC after being rescued by authorities from traffickers and will spend his first three moths with surrogate mother Anissa Aidat, 23, from France. #
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Read moreLocal hunter Sekouba, 26, poses for a portrait in the Haut Niger National Park downriver from the Chimpanzee Conservation Center on November 23, 2015. Illegal hunting for bushmeat remains a constant threat to Chimpanzee populations in the park. #
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Read moreA portrait of of Missy at the CCC on November 28, 2015. #
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Read moreKeeper Fayer Kourouma interacts with Labe, one of the nursery group over sugar cane during a forest bushwalk on December 1, 2015. The nursery group are in the early stages of gaining their independence, and look to keepers and volunteers for reassurance during their daily outings. #
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Read moreOne of the baby group swings in trees during a bushwalk on November 25, 2015. #
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Read moreA detailed picture of one Coco's hand at the CCC on November 22, 2015. #
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Read moreCCC member Mamadi Camara conducts monitoring work using satellite tracking equipment on the River Niger at dawn near the CCC on November 23, 2015. A group of chimpanzees released in 2008 are constantly monitored, to prevent conflict with people that live around the park. #
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Read moreNoel gets stuck in trees next to the River Niger during one of his daily bushwalks on November 28, 2015. #
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Read moreKeeper Sekou Kourouma takes the nursery group on a bushwalk on December 1, 2015. #
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Read moreHawa eats in her enclosure after a morning bushwalk on November 27, 2015. Hawa was rescued from poachers by Guinee Application de la Loi Faunique, (GALF). The poachers killed Hawas mother and ate her. #
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Read moreFrench volunteer Anissa Aidat struggles with several of the nursery group during a bushwalk on November 30, 2015. #
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Read moreThe dominant male of the group, Sam, lays in grassland during a bushwalk in the Savanah on December 1, 2015. #
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Read moreKeeper Albert Wamouno interacts with Hawa during a bushwalk, at the Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Somoria, Guinea, on November 25, 2015. #
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