I’ve just returned from Cameroon after an exhausting but incredible three weeks!
I spent my first week living in the Mefou National Park, the sanctuary run by Ape Action Africa, where 300 gorillas, chimpanzees and other primates live in vast, forest enclosures, having been rescued from the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.
At Mefou, I worked closely with Samburu, a four year old chimpanzee, and Maggie, a two year old mandrill, as well as several human patients from the surrounding villages.
Samburu contracted meningitis a few months ago and had made good progress but was still unable to use his right arm.
One of the difficulties of working with wild animals is that it’s impossible to introduce yourself and jump straight in with an assessment, as per human physiotherapy. So, my first day at Mefou was spent sitting outside Samburu’s enclosure, allowing him (and the rest of his group) to watch and familiarise himself with me.
I met Samburu properly on day two, when his keeper introduced us inside a satellite cage. Ape Action Africa’s manager, Rachel Hogan, had warned me that Samburu was likely to either love me or hate me. If he hated me I was likely to find myself on the receiving end of a full-blown chimp punch… Luckily, as soon as Samburu saw me he raced over to me to give me a full-blown, one-armed chimp hug!
For a week, I spent up to four hours each day with Samburu assessing and treating his right arm. The neurological damage caused by the meningitis had left him with a lot of weakness in his right arm and some problems with reduced sensation and spasticity. Samburu’s keeper, Franklin, and I worked on stretches, splinting, sensory re-education and exercises to encourage him to use his right arm more. By the end of the week Samburu was making fantastic progress and was using his arm to climb, walk and feed himself – the first time he had done this since his illness.
Two-year-old mandrill Maggie was rescued from a zoo in Cameroon and had suffered a severe and disabling reaction to a worming drug used by a volunteer vet, resulting in extremely frequent fitting, problems with balance and reduced sensation.
When I met her she was unable to climb or to feed herself properly – this meant that she was picked on by the other mandrills in her group and had to be put into an enclosure by herself, for her own safety. This is obviously not ideal for a sociable animal, such as a mandrill. I worked with Maggie each day to try and improve her sensation, balance, climbing skills and upper limb function. Maggie made some great progress and began to use her hands to eat her favourite food (hardboiled eggs!).
However, she was still experiencing regular fits which made it very difficult for her to mobilise or climb effectively. I am in regular contact with Babs Tafon (a Cameroonian vet working for Ape Action Africa) and Dr Sheri Speede who are both working hard to try and control Maggie’s fits with medication. Watch this space for further news of Maggie’s recovery!
At the end of my first week I travelled to IDA‘s Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Centre in Cameroon’s Eastern Province. This part of West Africa can be quite dangerous so I travelled with my own armed guard whose job it was to keep me in one piece for the duration of the trip – something which he thankfully succeeded in doing! My reason for visiting Sanaga Yong was to work with Arvid, who I have been working with remotely for the past year.
I was incredibly excited to finally meet Arvid face to face – unfortunately the feeling was not mutual and Arvid introduced himself with a nice deep bite to my elbow within the first five minutes of meeting each other! Thankfully, our relationship improved somewhat over the next week (or at least I learned to move more quickly when Arvid was feeling ‘bitey’!)
The main aim of my time at Sanaga Yong was to work with Arvid’s carers and the volunteers to train them to be able to carry out appropriate physiotherapy techniques with Arvid to enhance his recovery. At the same time Arvid’s keepers and the volunteers taught me a huge amount about chimpanzee behaviour and their social norms – including how to speak chimp! The week was tiring but incredibly rewarding and we all learned a huge amount from each other. Also, by the end of the week Arvid was able to sit up by himself for the first time since his illness – fantastic progress!
My last few days in the country were spent back at Mefou running a ‘drop-in’ clinic for people from the local villages providing free physiotherapy assessment and advice. Many of these people had never even heard of physiotherapy before and were more used to consulting witch doctors for their medical needs – it was incredibly rewarding being able to work with them to help them to understand their own bodies better and to be able to self-manage some of their symptoms. Many of them were fascinated by this ‘new’ therapy and very keen to learn – my tatty old anatomy books that I had taken with me were a constant source of entertainment and intrigue!
Visiting Cameroon and treating the primates and people there was an absolute privilege and I am keen to return next year.
Kirsty Godwin-Pearson