According to reports, a gang of criminals kidnapped three chimpanzee babies from an animal sanctuary in Africa – who are now demanding a ransom for the young primate.
The chimpanzees named Caesar, Hussein and Monga were taken from the genus Animox confisces au Katanga, located near the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s border with the Zambia border, on 9 September.
“This is the first time in the world that apes were kidnapped for ransom,” said Sanctuary co-founder Frank Chantero, told CNN,
Chantero said the chimps entered the sanctuary around 3 a.m., and took away three of the five young apes rescued by the sanctuary this year. The remaining two adorable creatures were later found hiding in the kitchen.
An hour after the kidnapping, Chantero’s wife Roxanne received three messages and a video of the chimpanzee. The kidnappers claimed that they had drugged the animals and threatened to hurt them if the ransom was not paid.
“They told us they planned to kidnap my kids because they were about to come here on vacation,” Chantero explained.
“But they didn’t come so the kidnappers took these three kids hostage and demanded a huge ransom from us.”
Frank Chantero worries that paying kidnappers could set a precedent for future kidnappings.
“Obviously, it is impossible for us to pay the ransom,” he said.
“Not only do we not have the money, but you need to understand that if we go their way, they can do it again in two months, and we also have no guarantee that they will deliver the baby.” Will return us.”
The media adviser to the DRC environment minister, Michel Coycapa, agreed with Chantero’s assessment.
“We will not give in to such demand,” he insisted.
,[The kidnapping] Inhuman and unnatural.”
Officials are reportedly still trying to identify the hijackers, whom Chanterius hasn’t heard from in more than two weeks.
The kidnapping of a chimpanzee isn’t the first time Jack, who is located with Major Smuggling route from DRC to South Africa, was targeted. In 2006, a few months after its opening, two chimpanzees died in a fire in a sleeping area.
Seven years later, in September 2013, the education center was set on fire.
But when Franck Chantero admits that he is “absolutely devastated” by the kidnapping, he is also determined to continue protecting the chimpanzees from smugglers.
“To catch the babies, they have to kill entire families in the wild, usually between 8 and 10 individual apes, and a lot of baby apes will die before they reach their final destination,” he laments.
Chantero also thinks that chimpanzee kidnapping will become more common, As smugglers look to sell exotic animals to wealthy buyers.
“All these animals are becoming rare in the wild. We in sanctuaries, we have animals, they are healthy. It is clear that it is very easy for these people to attack us,” he said.