FILE PHOTO: The entrance to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, closed to the public, is pictured in Freetown, Sierra Leone June 21, 2025. REUTERS/Hickmatu Leigh/File Photo
FREETOWN (Reuters) -The eco-lodges and tree-covered footpaths of West Africa's largest chimpanzee refuge have been devoid of tourists for more than two months as its founder stages a protest about rampant deforestation in Sierra Leone.
Authorities acknowledge that the country's rich wildlife is threatened by land seizures and illegal logging, but the founder of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Bala Amarasekaran, says they have not yet done enough about it to convince him to reopen to visitors.
