“We have had chimps coming in to us wearing a t-shirt and pants and a Rolex watch, having been a family pet his entire life, knows not a single thing about what it means to be a chimpanzee, to live in trees, swing around and across on his feet, make a nest in the tree,” said Oosthuizen.

He said a close second in threats to the chimpanzee is massive deforestation all across the continent, wiping out their natural habitat, something he noticed while on a recent rescue mission to Central African Republic.

“The level of deforestation has been so apparent. I keep referring it to, ‘God has shaven the earth with a big razor,’ because there is just no more forest left. You know, what was probably 20 or 30 years ago an absolute lush prime primate habitat has now made way to massive deforestation where the forest has just given way to smaller local towns and communities,” said Oosthuizen.

Chimpanzees looking for something to eat in Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Ol Pejeta, Kenya, March 2012. The sanctuary houses and rehabilitates 41 traumatized chimpanzees from West and Central Africa.

Shrinking natural habitat

Chimpanzees, classified as being an endangered species, are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. It is estimated that there are 175,000 chimps remaining on the continent, mostly in West and Central Africa, with some in East Africa. Ol Pejeta Conservancy quotes scientists as predicting chimpanzees will be extinct in 50 years if current rates of decline continue.