Chimpanzees are not endemic to South Africa but they are finding a home at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden. There is some fantastic work being done at this institute in preserving these fantastic animals and we at Journey Into Africa are very proud to be a part of it.

Set on a 1000 hectare game reserve, JGI Chimpanzee Eden is a home to chimpanzees that have been misplaced from their natural habitat. The world renowned Jane Goodall Institute has made this tranquil venue their South African sanctuary and has committed itself to the rescue and taking care of chimpanzees in need of refuge. Being the first and only chimpanzee sanctuary in South Africa, this venue will be able to bring the world of chimpanzees closer to humanity through education, tourism and modern technology. Entering the reserve, a mere 15 km from the bustling city of Nelspruit, visitors can expect to be captivated by the beautiful bush surroundings with most of the natural game species roaming the reserve. The reserve is located in a low risk malaria area.

The Chimpanzee Eden

The Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) is the closest relative to humans. In recent years the ‘bush-meat’ trade has grown exponentially as the great wild forests of Africa have become more accessible to humans, largely due to logging which is destroying primate habitats by opening large sections of forest with dirt roads. It is estimated that Chimpanzees will be extinct within their natural habitats in as little time as 10 years. Therefore the Jane Goodall Institute is committed to conserving the primates and has created multiple sanctuaries in Africa. The goal of the Sanctuary is to rescue some of the Chimpanzees that have survived the hunting ordeal but are still misplaced through the lucrative illegal pet trade to zoos, circus performers and medical research facilities. Besides being provided with a home to live out their lives they are also provided with the necessary attention to recover from the trauma that they have experienced. Although Chimpanzees are not endemic to South Africa this sanctuary will allow visitors a unique opportunity to see Chimpanzees in semi-wild surroundings with normal social interaction and behavioural patterns under group members. The Chimpanzee groups live within large semi-wild enclosures that are close to their natural habitat. The enclosures also have viewpoints overlooking the forest and ‘foraging areas’. The ‘foraging areas’ have small fruits and berries mixed in Eucalyptus Tree leaves. These ‘foraging areas’ will provide the Chimpanzees with behavioural enrichment and will also provide visitors that arrive after the feeding time with a better chance to view them in the large enclosures. Chimps like other Great Apes (Gorillas and Orang Utans) are finding an ever growing interest from the public, as they are the closest relatives to Human Kind and they are facing a quick extinction in their natural habitat.

‘Adopt a Chimp’

JGI Chimpanzee Eden is the home of all our rescued orphan chimpanzees, through sustainable income generated by tourism to the sanctuary the well being of the chimpanzees are secured, however your contribution is essential to provide the chimpanzees with special care and rehabilitation activities. JGI South Africa’s rescue and natural range protection programs also depend solely on your contribution. In the past 15 months the organization has relocated 17 chimpanzees to their new home, JGI Chimpanzee Eden. 12 Of these chimpanzees come from natural range areas, these countries do not have the ability to create their own sanctuary and desperately need help to save their great apes. Without your contribution the sanctuary will only provide care and not a solution to the problem in the natural ranges. Adopting a chimp ensures that JGI South Africa can do more rescues more often, can develop technology to assist in determining wild ape numbers, and develop methods of chimpanzee reintroduction and protection in natural ranges such as in Cabinda, Angola.

We at Journey Into Africa Tours & Safaris are proud to be a donor to the above cause and have chosen to adopt a Chimp named Cozy. Please read all about Cozy below and should you travel on a tour with us you will be lucky enough to see Cozy face to face.

Meet Cozy

Age: Approximately 11 years old
Rescue Date:  April 2006
Ranked Position: 3rd Ranking Male - Juvenile Enclosure 1

Cozy’s Story:

Cozy was born in America and sold to an entertainer in Italy. JGI South Africa is not responsible for the rescue of European chimpanzees but felt compelled to rescue Cozy who was in a dilapidated state. Living the life of a Gipsy, his owner travelled constantly in 2 caravan vehicles, the owner drove one and his girlfriend the other. Cozy was made to strike certain poses so that tourists could have their picture taken with him. To make him less aggressive, the owner had Cozy castrated. This did not lead to a reduction in aggression but rather confused the young male. Cozy was at a very young age when his owner died suddenly, leaving his girlfriend stranded next to the road without any plan for the future. Time went past with both of them being stranded where they originally stopped the caravan. His now sole guardian worked at a night club near the location of their caravans and barely made enough money to survive. 10 Years passed and JGI Italy heard of the chimpanzee, JGI South Africa and Dr. Jane Goodall was informed as well and a rescue mission followed suite. Cozy was in dark isolation for the better part of his life and the effects where visible. The mission was an urgent priority as no other sanctuary in Europe could take him at such short notice. Cozy was confined to a 1.5m by 1.5m cage for such a long time that most of his muscle mass had disappeared. Once at the sanctuary, Cozy could hardly walk and had no chance of attempting to climb. A long process of rehabilitation had started and it was decided that Cozy should rather join the infants in their enclosure as he would stand no chance in the adult enclosure. Day by day his human rehabilitator persuaded him to climb a tree, slowly Cozy made progress and after 6 months he could climb any tree in the enclosure. Cozy is one of the biggest success stories of the techniques used at the sanctuary and has given this chimpanzee a life worth living for.

Personality:

Cozy has a colorful personality, constantly entertaining himself, visitors and his fellow chimpanzees. He loves to interact with visitors through the fence by throwing objects in their general direction and enjoys being in the sun. He does have aggressive tendencies and outbursts when exposed to things that remind him of his past.

Summary:

Cozy’s physical rehabilitation has been a great success. He had been deprived of any chance to develop his skills whilst growing up and will therefore have to stay at the sanctuary in a constant rehabilitation programme. When he arrived at Chimp Eden he couldn’t even walk. Today, he runs upright when charging and is even able to climb tall trees. However, the years of isolation have left deep scars and his mental rehabilitation is only in its beginning stages. From the start, Cozy displayed anti-social behaviour towards his group members because he was never taught how to socialise with others. His vocalisations are very different to those of any other chimpanzee but the others have adapted to his special dialect and he his now at least able to communicate vocally. He at first misjudged the body language of other chimpanzees, which used to get him into trouble. Now his social behaviour has improved so much that he knows when it is best to get out of the way. Due to the fact that he has been castrated, other male chimps do not accept him as a male and automatically outrank him. However, Cozy is the star of the sanctuary and people come from far away to see him. He always attempts to interact and is known for having hilarious facial expressions. Cozy is sure to make you laugh with his antics.

Characteristics & Skills (Rated from 0 to 5 with 5 being the best):

Acceptance by the group: 5
Social interaction - grooming: 2
Social interaction - playing: 5
Tree Climbing: 3
Threat identification – snakes, spiders, scorpions etc: 1
Foraging: 5
Tool use - sticks: 1
Tool use - stones: 0

Our tours that take in the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden are: Kruger National Park Tours - KNP4 and KNP6 and the Countrywide Tours CW1, CW2 and CW4. These detailed tour itineraries and costs can be found on the specified links and on the menu structure to the right of this page under the appropriate heading.