EMERGENCY APPEAL

Rescued Wildlife Urgently Needs Your Help

PLEASE DONATE TODAY TO PROTECT VULNERABLE WILDLIFE

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Help Us Rebuild After the Floods

What happened
On 5 August 2026, unprecedented rains sent two rivers that run through our site over their banks. For a time, it looked like one enormous river pushing directly against our perimeter wall. The pressure eventually pulled sections of the wall down entirely, at points that exposed our chimpanzee island to the road outside. Before we could get temporary barriers up, people could have walked straight in.

Our animals are safe. Our keepers, student interns and volunteers have been working since day one, clearing mud, debris and plastic, patching what can be patched, and keeping watch over enclosures with damaged fencing. But safe for now isn’t the same as secure for the long term. This flood destroyed some sections of the perimeter wall and exposed others which need strengthening or completely rebuilding before we get hit again.

What it will cost
We have assessed the damage and costed the priority repairs at EUR 21,232 (roughly US$24,650). That covers rebuilding retaining walls and bridge fencing at both rivers, replacing a 34-metre section of wall behind our chimpanzees’ night dens that is now too weak from age and flood damage to simply reinforce, and excavating the ground washed out by the flood. It doesn’t yet cover everything. We are still assessing damage to our river embankments, drainage and a second wall near our quarantine area, so the true cost may grow. But this is where we need to start.

Thank you to everyone who gave on Giving Day for Apes on 6 October. Together you raised nearly US$7,000, which is more than twenty metres of new wall around our chimpanzees and gorillas.

But we are not there yet. Our target is US$25,000, the rains will return, and this appeal stays open until the wall is finished. Every gift, of any size, moves us closer to a secure home for the animals in our care.

How to give: please click on the donate buttons below

What it funds:
EUR 250 (about US$300) One metre of new retaining and block wall
EUR 760 (about US$885) Excavating the ground displaced by the flood
EUR 1,275 (about US$1,480) A complete 5-metre retaining and block wall section at our smaller river crossing
EUR 1,940 (about US$2,250) The wall and new gate at our larger river crossing
EUR 5,340 (about US$6,200) Demolishing and rebuilding the 34-metre wall behind the chimpanzees’ night dens
EUR 5,815 (about US$6,750) New mesh fencing along both river bridges at the chimpanzee island
EUR 6,100 (about US$7,085) Our single most urgent repair: the 14-metre retaining wall at the small river
EUR 21,232 (about US$24,650) The complete priority rebuild

At this difficult time, we urgently need your help

How to give: please click on the donate buttons below

Please help us spread the word

Share this page with friends and family, and follow our updates on Facebook and Instagram. We will report back with photographs as each section of wall goes up.

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