Sign the letter against chimpanzee hunting and trafficking
Put an End to Hunting Chimpanzees, Selling Their Meat, and Trafficking Infants
Sign the Letter – End the Crisis
Ask the government of Cameroon to crack down on the illegal slaughter of chimpanzees.
More than 3,000 people have signed.
Help us reach the target of 5,000 signatures.
S.E. Monsieur Jules Doret Ndongo
Minister of Forests and Wildlife, Cameroon
Honorable Minister:
We respectfully ask that the government of Cameroon take all necessary actions to stop the illegal hunting of chimpanzees and the open sale of chimpanzee meat in markets.
Cameroon is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife in its vast national parks and reserves. This wildlife includes the chimpanzee, an iconic species which is humanity’s closest relative. Chimpanzees are highly intelligent and social animals, and the killing of one member of a family can disrupt an entire social group, causing stress and conflict.
Tragically, due to widespread poaching and selling of chimpanzee meat in Cameroon, these animals are enduring unthinkable suffering and are at risk of disappearing from the country altogether.
You, more than anyone else, have the ability to put an end to this cruel trade.
As you know, killing chimpanzees, as well as buying, selling, and possessing chimpanzee meat, is illegal in Cameroon. Possessing live orphans is also illegal. Any of these are punishable by up to three years in prison. You can save Cameroon’s chimpanzees by simply enforcing the existing laws.
The sale of chimpanzee meat has been documented in many outdoor markets in Cameroon, some of them only a quarter mile from offices of your Ministry. It should be a priority to identify and arrest the people illegally trafficking chimpanzee meat, and to then encourage prosecution by the justice system.
We respectfully urge you and the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife to enforce the laws against poaching chimpanzees and selling their meat in markets, before it is too late and Cameroon forever loses an invaluable part of its environment and heritage.
As you read this, a tragedy is unfolding in Cameroon. Chimpanzees are rapidly disappearing from the forests because of rampant illegal hunting. Even in national parks and reserves, hunters travel freely with their rifles and shoot these incredibly intelligent and social animals, destroying families.
Baby chimps fall to their deaths when their mothers are shot out of trees. Those who survive become orphans, often doomed to live in cages as illegal pets or smuggled abroad to disreputable zoos.
Most of the killing occurs to fuel widespread trafficking in the meat of chimpanzees. This isn’t survival food for those who can’t afford to feed their families – chimpanzee meat is prized as a delicacy.
Even worse, chimp meat is sold openly in markets for all to see. Although it’s illegal, law enforcement is severely lacking.
Today, you have a unique opportunity: you can help put a stop to this slaughter and illegal trade. By adding your name to this letter to Cameroon’s Minister of Forests and Wildlife, you will join thousands of others and make your voice heard.
Will you take a stand against the cruelty?
