Chimpanzee Community
- Main Information
Monday - Saturday (10am - 4pm)
The Chimpanzee Community project and exhibition, by Drawing for the Planet in partnership with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP) and Born Free, raises awareness of endangered chimpanzees, and LCRP’s vital work caring for over one hundred critically endangered western chimpanzees, orphaned by the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.
Led by Jane Lee McCracken, artist and founder of Drawing for the Planet, over 500 children from the UK, the USA and Liberia participated in workshops organised by Jane, Born Free and LCRP. The children learned about chimpanzees and their pivotal role—as gardeners of the forest— while creating Biro drawings of LCRP’s orphan chimpanzees.
The Chimpanzee Community exhibition features artwork by children from Belsay School and Ponteland Primary School (UK), Top of the World Elementary School and El Morro Elementary School (USA) and Charlesville Town and Nimba County schools in Liberia. It includes Jane McCracken’s original drawing, Gardener of the Forest, and photos of orphaned chimpanzees by Jenny Desmond, LCRP Co-Founder.
Gallery Two displays a film about the Chimpanzee Community project and photographs of orphan chimpanzees by Jenny Desmond, co-founder of LCRP.
More information...
Drawing for the Planet is a global art and environmental education charity founded by Jane Lee McCracken. Through art, education, exhibition and conservation fundraising projects it gives children, communities and wildlife a voice.
Born Free works tirelessly to ensure that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs.
Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection is dedicated to improving the lives of chimpanzees, both wild and rescued, through rehabilitation, protection and conservation. LCRP’s sanctuary provides the highest standards of care and welfare for chimpanzees who are victims of the bushmeat and pet trades.
Jane Lee McCracken constructs intricate, multi-layered Biro drawings, sculptures, installations as well as product designs. Her work represents the beauty of life and its brutal realities.
Chimpanzees share nearly 100% of our DNA, making them our closest living relatives. They not only share many of our physical traits but also many of our psychological and emotional ones too, including happiness, sadness, kindness, anger, and so much more.
They live in large communities and have complex communication methods made up of sounds and body language such as hand gestures, facial expressions, and numerous vocalisations, including hoots, grunts, screams, and laughter.
Chimpanzees are one of the few species who use tools, using rocks to crack open nuts and sticks stripped of leaves to fish insects out of nests and logs.
However, it is estimated that only 150,000-200,000 chimpanzees remain in the wild and populations are rapidly declining due to habitat loss, hunting, extractive industries, and capture for human use as pets, or in zoos, circuses, and medical research.
Known as ‘Gardeners of the Forest,’ chimpanzees eat over 200 types of food and travel large distances each day, dispersing the seeds through their dung, promoting forest growth, rejuvenating ecosystems, and playing an important role in forest restoration.
You can help chimpanzees by telling others how amazing and important they are and supporting the efforts of rescue centre’s and chimpanzee conservation organizations. You can report the harm or suffering of chimpanzees in captivity via Born Free’s Raise the Red Flag campaign or by contacting Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection through their Contact Page or via WhatsApp at +231 776147565.