Obasanjo hands Patience over to zoo

A chimpanzee christened Patience belonging to the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Wildlife Park has been donated to a wildlife non-governmental organisation called Pandrillus.

The NGO has been running the Drill Ranch Afi Mountain, a rehab centre for drills, a species of monkey, since 1988 in Calabar—and another park in Cameroun.

The three-year-old chimp had a new lease of life when Liza Gadsby, co-founder of the zoo, and her husband visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta recently.

“We convinced him that Patience will be better off at our facility, which he agreed to, because he has visited the Drill Ranch Afi Mountain, and impressed with what we have done,” Liza said in a Facebook post.

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She said Obasanjo recognises the special care needs of chimpanzees and therefore decided to place Patience with Pandrillus so she can grow up in the forest as part of the large chimpanzee group at Drill Ranch Afi Mountain.

“Patience is a fantastic chimpanzee who has been well cared for by the staff of the OOPL Wildlife Park.”

According to her, as soon as Patience completes her medical screening in Calabar, she will join the group at the newly completed Nigerian Chimpanzee Center – located at Drill Ranch Afi Mountain in Boki LGA of Cross River State.