A Life Devoted to Caring for Sierra Leone’s Chimpanzees

August 2, 2025 at 6:40 PM
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In the forests of Sierra Leone, Bala Amarasekaran has spent three decades building a sanctuary, and a life, around orphaned chimpanzees whom he calls family. What began with the rescue of a single malnourished chimp tied to a tree grew into a lifelong mission to protect one of humanity’s closest relatives. Thanks to Amarasekaran’s campaigning, the chimpanzee became Sierra Leone’s national animal in 2019.

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