Chimps butchered for bushmeat and babies smuggled from Africa for illegal pet trade

mirror.co.uk:

The cheeky bundle of fun on the left couldn’t look happier – but life hasn’t always been easy for four-year-old chimpanzee Lucy.

The orphan is just one victim of a “conservational disaster” in which adult chimps are butchered for bushmeat and their babies are smuggled out of Africa and sold into the illegal pet trade.

Lucy was a severely emaciated six-month-old when she was rescued from a villager trying to sell her in 2016. She now resides alongside 44 other saved chimps in a sanctuary in Liberia, set up by Jenny and Jimmy Desmond four years ago.

The husband and wife team have dedicated their lives to caring for the victims at the Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection – and say it wouldn’t have been possible without the influence and help