The Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Guinea is a sanctuary for orphaned and rescued primates, and is well along in careful planning for the reintroduction of some of its chimpanzees. The Center’s director, Estelle Raballand, is firmly committed to post-release monitoring of the reintroduced chimpanzees through the use of radio telemetry. Telemetry is rarely used with great apes, and Ms Raballand wanted to observe the chimpanzees’ responses to the neck collars on which the radio equipment would be mounted, well before the apes were released.

In 2006, Great Ape Trust contributed $2,000 for the purchase of “dummy” collars (without radios) for testing. Ms. Raballand reported some initial discomfort with the dummy collars, and the apes fiddled with their own and others’ collars for several days. They soon began to ignore them, but collars became quite the fashion among the chimpanzees, with some of the uncollared apes fashioning necklaces of leafy vines and stalks.

The Trust contributed $5,000 in 2007 toward the purchase of a reliable vehicle for use during the reintroduction as well as for food shopping trips and other more routine sanctuary operations.