Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage is a world renowned orphanage and sanctuary for Chimpanzees, the only one of its kind in the world, located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. The sanctuary was started by David and Sheila Siddle in 1983, when a badly wounded Chimpanzee was brought to the farm, having been rescued from poachers in DR Congo. The Chimpanzee wasn't expected to survive but the pair nursed it back to health. Since then the orphanage has expanded to house over 100 orphaned Chimpanzees in 1,150 acres (4.7 km²) of forest savanna and fruit groves.

The orphanage is now home to numerous other types of animals including peacocks, which roam freely around most of the grounds, an assortment of birds, many of which were brought there to be reared back to health, and a hippopotomus, which was brought there as a baby and now has little trouble getting through the electric fences.

Located 60 km west of Chingola on the banks of the Kafue River, the orphanage is a tourist attraction for those living in the Copperbelt towns and for international visitors to Zambia. Chimpanzees are not found in the wild in Zambia, the nearest populations are about 500 km north of Chimfunshi, but wildlife smuggling routes out of the Congo pass through Zambia.

In 2002, Sheila Siddle published her autobiography, In My Family Tree: A Life With Chimpanzees to widespread acclaim. The Siddles were awarded the Jane Goodall Award for establishing Chimfunshi.

[edit] References and links

• Chimfunshi's homepage