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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French 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. #
Dan Kitwood / Getty -
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Spanish 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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Local 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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Keeper 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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CCC 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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Hawa 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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