Meet gorilla champion Jo Gaweda

Bobo the gorilla (c) Ian Bickerstaff, Ape Action Africa

With your help, since 2022 our Guardians of Dja programme in SE Cameroon has been devoted to protecting rare gorillas living in the vast rainforest. We work with the local community, to reduce both deforestation and unsustainable hunting, in the forests bordering the Dja Faunal Reserve.  

As part of our conservation education programme, school pupils have the incredible opportunity to visit the Ape Action Africa sanctuary. Since 2024, Born Free has further developed this partnership by supporting Ape Action Africa’s important great ape rescue and rehabilitation work.

With your donations, we’ve been helping Ape Action Africa in their mission to protect, rescue and rehabilitate primates in Cameroon. Now home to over 300 individual great apes and monkeys, their sanctuary in Mefou Park provides a livelong safe home to these primates in need.

To get to know Ape Action Africa better, we sat down with Jo Gaweda, Ape Action Africa’s Assistant Manager, to find out more about their work. ⬇️

Thank you for taking the time to chat with us, Jo. We’re sure you’ve got a busy schedule, caring for so many primates. Can you tell us how Ape Action Africa began?

Jo Gaweda

Our organisation was founded in 1996 (under the name Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund) to help improve conditions for primates living in a zoo in Cameroon. After a couple of years, we were able to open our sanctuary in Mefou Park and start transferring gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys to the forest park. We started with less than 100 individuals and that number has grown to almost 300 rescued primates today. 

What are some of the biggest challenges facing wildlife in Cameroon today?

The main challenges faced by primates in the wild in Cameroon are habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict. As the forest is destroyed, poachers gain access to previously untouched areas and at the same time, wild animal and human populations end up living in closer proximity. 

This can create conflict and also increases the risk of disease transmission. Though these threats continue, we have seen some positive changes. For example, more people are aware of the importance of primate conservation and stricter wildlife laws have been put in place. 

What are the toughest parts of working at the sanctuary? 

Barbie is recovering from being shot in the head (c) Jo Gaweda

For us as an organisation, the biggest challenge is finding enough funding to keep the sanctuary going and to expand our facilities, something which is unfortunately a necessity as we continue to receive new rescues every year. Our running costs alone for caring for all of our rescued individuals are around £360,000 a year and we rely solely on donations and grants. 

In terms of working on the ground, it can be emotionally draining at times. New rescues are often physically in very poor condition when they arrive – they may have bullet wounds, snare wounds or injuries from where they’ve been tied up. They’re often malnourished and can be suffering from infections.  

And psychologically they are usually very traumatised after having seen their families killed in the wild. It’s incredibly sad to see them in this condition. Plus, with nearly 300 primates in our care, there always seems to be somebody to worry about. So everyone here has to be quite resilient.

That must be really tough. What’s your favourite thing about working at Ape Action Africa, that helps keep you going on the harder days? 

The best thing about working here is watching the recovery of rescued individuals. As I mentioned, they can arrive in very poor physical condition and they’ve been through a lot of trauma. Recovery can take a long time but there are certain key moments in their rehabilitation journeys which are incredibly joyful to observe.  

Like the first time an infant laughs, or when you successfully introduce a young orphan to a surrogate mother or to a family group. Seeing them back in the forest with a new family is definitely my favourite thing! 

Born Free is honoured to work with your organisation. How does our support help? 

It costs a lot just to keep our sanctuary running so Born Free’s support is really important. You help us to buy food for the primates, to purchase medication, pay salaries and maintain our facilities. 

It’s wonderful you welcome pupils from a local school supported by Born Free’s Guardian of Dja programme to your sanctuary. Is this form of education important? 

Baby moustached guenon, currently in quarantine before being introduced to a new family (c) Ape Action Africa

Education programmes like this are essential. Children from the Dja area live in close proximity to wild primate populations, but have often never seen them in the forest. Trips to our sanctuary encourage empathy, raise awareness, increase knowledge and hopefully mean that these pupils will understand the value of their natural heritage and be motivated to protect it throughout their lives. 

And just a few weeks ago, an educational tour here led to the rescue of a baby moustached guenon after a participant in the tour reported that the young monkey was being kept in a village in her area. She was able to educate the community in the village, and they surrendered the baby to eco-guards, who transported him here. 

That’s fantastic to hear. Education is such a powerful tool and this really highlights how one individual can make a huge difference to a primate’s life. Is there a particular rescue’s story that has stuck with you?

Daphne’s (a chimpanzee) story will always stay with me. I wasn’t involved with Ape Action Africa when she was rescued but I saw a photo on social media from when she was discovered during a wildlife trafficking raid.  

A tiny, terrified baby chimpanzee in a room with seven chimpanzee heads and 30 chimp hands and legs – the body parts of her family. That image will stay with me forever. When I first came out to Cameroon and met Daphne, I was amazed at what a confident, playful and very caring chimp she had grown into. 

Besides Daphne, do you have a favourite individual at the sanctuary?

It’s impossible to choose a favourite, but there is one chimpanzee, Ndongo, who had the biggest impact on me. When I first came to Ape Action Africa in 2018, I only planned to stay for three months. During that time, Ndongo was rescued – he was in an appalling condition both physically and psychologically and would likely have died within a few days if he hadn’t been rescued.  

He received intense care and made an incredible recovery. I saw firsthand the importance of the work being done in sanctuaries like Ape Action Africa for individuals like Ndongo, and I ended up changing my career and moving to Cameroon. So Ndongo made quite a difference in the course of my life as we did his. 

I’m sure the whole Ape Action Africa team, primates included, are thankful that this experience convinced you to stay. What’s one thing you wish more people understood about protecting primates and wildlife? 

I wish more people understood that protecting primates, other wildlife, and their habitats is vital not just for the sake of the animals, but also for the future of humans.  

Primates play a key role in the ecosystem, and they are very important for a healthy forest – they are gardeners of those forests helping to disperse seeds through their dung. As we destroy more wildlife and more forests, we worsen the climate crisis, and we ultimately make survival more difficult for our own species.

We were delighted to hear Bobo’s group – Born Free’s adopted Gorilla Family – was recently introduced to Kit and Buddy, the guenon monkeys. Do you have plans to do this with more gorilla groups?

This new method of shared housing will really benefit both the primates and available space at the sanctuary. This integration worked because gorillas, being herbivorous, pose no predatory threat to smaller primates. 

Their compatibility allows for peaceful coexistence that mirrors certain natural encounters in wild ecosystems. Bobo’s group is actually the second group of gorillas where we have introduced guenon monkeys. We previously successfully introduced another two of these medium-sized, long-tailed monkeys into Shufai’s gorilla enclosure. We don’t have any immediate plans to introduce monkeys to our other two gorilla groups, but it’s something we might look at in the future. 

Do you have any last words to say to Born Free supporters who adopt Bobo and his family? 

We really appreciate you all! It takes a lot of funds for us to be able to care for our rescued individuals and to carry out important education and community programmes. So, a big thank you to every Born Free supporter who takes action to help us by adopting Bobo and his family. We couldn’t do what we do without the generosity of people like you! 

Thank you, Jo, for taking the time to tell us more about Ape Action Africa’s work and the challenges faced by Cameroon’s primates. We’re proud to partner with organisations such as Ape Action Africa who, like us, are on the frontline of conservation and dedicated to protecting primates. 

Your continued support and donations help us support organisations such as Ape Action Africa and protect primates. You can get involved by adopting Bobo and his Gorilla Family today.