At the entrance to the
sanctuary, students from
Regent’s village community
school entertained everyone
with their traditional
dances and welcome songs.
The ceremony took place
at the resource centre,
over looking some of our
chimpanzee enclosures
and the beautiful hills
bordering Tacugama.
We also had curious spectators
from the trees as the
event took place in full
view of some of Tacugama´s
chimpanzees. Statements
from various governmental
representatives as well
as other national and
international organizations
were delivered. Bala Amarasekaran,
the founder and director
of the sanctuary, gave
an emotional account of
the 10 year history and
emphasised the need to
give better protection
and status for the Western
Area Forest.
The keynote address was
given by President Kabbah
and it covered important
issues on conservation
and sustainable development.
Souvenirs were presented
to some of the distinguished
guests. They included
t-shirts made especially
for the event and a copy
of a documentary on Tacugama´s
ongoing work, titled “Chimps
Under Fire”. The president
was delighted to receive
a special present from
Bala, a toy chimp to take
home.
Some years ago, President´s
son had a chimp at home
named Jido and The President
requested him to hand-over
the chimp to the sanctuary.
Jido is now a confident
member of Bruno’s group.
President Kabbah also
officially inaugurated
our onsite laboratory.
The ceremony came to an
end with a tour conducted
by Bala accompanied by
the President and our
guests, visiting some
of the chimpanzees, and
the newly constructed
facilities.
The whole ceremony was
a great success. Even
for Bruno! Early that
morning he and his group
were supposed to stay
in one of the enclosures,
away from the resource
centre. But he knew that
day was special and didn’t
want to miss out all the
fun. Perhaps he wanted
to see the president too!
Being the alpha male,
he had his say and of
course he wanted to be
part of the celebration.
Bala believes that after
all, Bruno is the true
founder of Tacugama. Bruno
was the first chimp to
be rescued by Bala some
18 years ago!
We had to keep the early
arrivals waiting at the
entrance until Bala managed
to persuade Bruno to enter
his den, below the resource
centre. It was hilarious
as Bruno also joined in
with his own pant-hoots
and banging the metal
doors whenever there was
an applause from the crowd
responding to the speeches.
To read more about the
presidential visit see
http://www.statehouse-sl.org/speeches
