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["Damian Chadwick" <monkey AT drc.mail-page.com>]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4938620.stm

Police hunt Leone 'killer chimps'

Police in Sierra Leone are on the hunt for a group of chimpanzees, who
escaped from their wildlife sanctuary after a fatal attack on
construction workers.

Armed reinforcements are combing the area after a Sierra Leonean died
and four people were seriously injured.

Security personnel said the five men were attacked on Sunday after
entering the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

Angry chimps killed and mutilated the driver. Three North Americans are
in a hospital in the capital, Freetown.

Another Sierra Leonean was also badly injured - and reportedly needed to
have his hand amputated.

A worker at Tacugama told the BBC that some 24 chimpanzees had escaped,
while six had already returned.

The violent attack was instigated by Bruno, the first chimpanzee taken
in by the sanctuary and its alpha-male, along with two other primates,
police said.

Villagers warned

Armed police arrived after the attack and fired shots which caused panic
among local people.

Tourism Minister Okere Adams visited the scene just outside Freetown and
said police were searching the area to find the chimps and bring them
back to the sanctuary.

"We are combing the area and beyond to bring the chimpanzees back but
would not harm them," a police officer told AFP news agency.

The authorities have warned residents of the mountain villages around
the sanctuary not to approach any chimpanzees they come across.

The sanctuary was set up a decade ago to give shelter to orphaned and
abandoned chimpanzees.

Across West Africa, chimpanzees are under threat from hunting, logging
and human encroachment.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4938620.stm

Published: 2006/04/24 17:11:27 GMT

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