As news of the program spread, so did reports of more captive chimpanzees in Freetown. Some chimpanzees were handed over to the sanctuary and others were confiscated under the provisions of the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1972. For the next two years, chimpanzees continued to be rescued from desperate situations and by 1997, there were 24 chimpanzees at the sanctuary.

The next objective was to build electrified enclosures, to ensure the chimpanzees cannot escape. Chimpanzees are social animals with a complex hierarchical structure within each family. With so many individual chimpanzees at the sanctuary, the idea was to integrate them together as one large family.

WSPA arranged to visit the sanctuary in June 1997 with the intention to assess the rehabilitation program and to consider support for the building of the chimp enclosures.