Tchimpounga Sanctuary

The Tchimpounga Sanctuary, also known as the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, for primates is located on a coastal plain of savanna and forest in the Republic of the Congo, and was built in 1992. The site covers an area of 70 square kilometres (27 sq mi).^[1] The sanctuary, part of the Jane Goodall Institute,^[2] is located 50 km (31 miles) north of Pointe-Noire in the Kouilou Department and is the largest chimpanzee sanctuary on the African continent. It has conducted research comparing food-sharing and social inhibition among chimpanzees and bonobos.^[3][4]

Tchimpounga Sanctuary
Young chimpanzees at Jane Goodall sanctuary in Tchimpounga (2006)

The sanctuary is a refuge west of the Congo Basin for chimpanzees orphaned by bushmeat hunters; authorities deliver the young animals after confiscating them from sellers in the pet or entertainment trades.^[5]

The sanctuary is a member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.