Smoking chimpanzee from Iraq finds refuge in Kenya

ol Pejeta (Kenya): Separated from his mother shortly after birth, Manno the chimpanzee was smuggled to Iraq and spent his days smoking cigarettes handed to him by amused zoo visitors and posing for pictures.

The four-year-old would also be dressed as a child and fed soda and sweets – giving him near permanent diarrhoea – before being locked in a small cage every night in a private zoo in the Kurdish city of Dohuk.

Then came help from several conservation groups, and Manno’s days as a spectacle – and smoker – are now over after arriving at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya a week ago.

“On the trip between Dohuk and Erbil airport, the convoy carrying him was, at the closest, about 20km from Mosul, where fierce battles are under way between the Iraqi army and the Islamic State group,” said Daniel Stiles of the Project to End Great Ape Slavery.

After several days travelling in a small wooden box, Manno arrived on Nov 30 at the chimpanzee sanctuary within the Ol Pejeta conservancy at the foot of Mount Kenya, which has been taking in endangered chimpanzees since 1993.

“Before joining the other chimpanzees, he has to remain in quarantine for a while, to ensure that Manno does not have any diseases that could be transmitted to the reserve’s 36 other residents,” said Stephen Ngulu, a veterinarian and the chimp sanctuary’s director.

To avoid unsettling the delicate balance within the troop, and the creation of deadly rivalries, Manno will be slowly introduced to the other chimps before joining them in their one square kilometre of fenced territory.

It cost US$10,000 (RM44,234) to bring Manno to his new life in Kenya.

Vigne said that helping a chimpanzee in a country at war does not mean one is insensitive to human suffering.

“Others have taken the responsibility to help these people. We do what we do, with money given for that purpose.

“There are thousands of chimps across the Middle East and the Far East in the same position as Manno, and by rescuing one chimp we draw attention to the issue.” — AFP

— AFP In safe hands: Manno playing in his transport crate at the airport before his flight to the chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya.