On November 23rd, 2013, our long-awaited fencing materials finally arrived at Drill Ranch Calabar from Onne Port in Rivers State. They were shipped from Portland, Oregon USA in May 2012 and had been held up in the port for over a year – we had trouble getting our duty-exemption from Abuja, even though Pandrillus is entitled to it, but in the end a solution was found and the materials are here!! Finally!

Shipping from the USA was paid for as part of the AUSAID grant to complete the Nigerian Chimpanzee Center, the new facility for our chimps at Drill Ranch Afi Mountain. 30 of the project’s 33 chimpanzees already live there but in less than optimal conditions. The new electrified enclosure is nearly 2.5 km around the fenceline with beautiful forest inside and a stream. It should be a large enough area for the current population to live in for the rest of their lives.

Peter and Asuquo with little Ikukoyi after unloading the fencing materials in the Drill Ranch Calabar driveway.

Thanks to AUSAID for the cost of the shipping to Nigeria, Governor Liyel Imoke for assisting with Customs in Abuja, the Cross River State Anti-deforestation Task Force for assisting with vehicles and logistics between Rivers and Cross River States, and Bill McCamman of New Zealand Fence Systems in Clackamas, Oregon USA for cheerfully warehousing the materials for years (!).

Well done, Mr. Peter!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 29th, 2013 at 11:44 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.