Deforestation displaces chimps, puts water supply at risk in Sierra Leone

Esther and Rio, two orphaned baby chimpanzees, clung tenderly to their caregiver's chest at a sanctuary inside one of Sierra Leone's flagship national parks, where unprecedented deforestation and illegal urban encroachment pose a risk to both primates and humans. 

The young apes, who arrived at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary when they were just three months old, listened with wide eyes as other chimps screeched and played nearby. The park's dense vegetation, stifling heat and the metallic fever pitch of reverberating insects served as a backdrop for the country's spectacular biodiversity, which includes several protected species.

Situated just 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the overcrowded metropolis, the sanctuary lies inside the country's Western Area Peninsula National Park.