Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Located just on the outskirts of Freetown, in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary was founded in 1995 by conservationist Bala Amarasekaran and his wife Sharmila. Initially established to enforce wildlife laws and rescue and rehabilitate orphaned chimpanzees, Tacugama has grown into a diverse conservation organization.

Caring for close to 100 chimpanzees on-site, Tacugama is also actively engaged offsite in community outreach, wildlife field research, environmental sustainability, conservation education, and alternative livelihoods programs.

Tacugama is also an eco-tourism hub for Freetown – home to 6 eco-lodges, and a variety of activities for both tourists and Freetown residents alike to participate in.

Home to over 90 chimpanzees, Tacugama is actively involved in law enforcement to rescue and rehabilitate chimpanzees into their natural habitat. Chimps are often orphans, victims of the bushmeat trade, human-wildlife conflict, or the illegal wildlife trade. We provide a means for law enforcement to confiscate these animals and a place for these rescued individuals to live out their lives. Chimps at Tacugama undergo 5 stages of rehabilitation, from quarantine to semi-wild habitats where they can roam among the treetops of the Sierra Leonean rainforest.

The work of the Sierra Leone Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Programme at Tacugama is definitely worth seeing. They started with a single chimpanzee and are now rehabilitating for almost one hundred.

There are tour tours at 10:30 am and 4:00 pm, 7 days a week and this can be easily combined with one of our city tours. The tours are timed to coincide with the feeding of the chimps which gives you the maximum opportunity to see the chimps in action. Tacugama is in Bathurst (20mins from downtown Freetown). Should you wish to stay longer, their eco-lodges are one of the most romantic places to spend the night in Sierra Leone.

The best way to experience the chimpanzee sanctuary is by spending a night at the sanctuary and the following Eco-lodges are available to see the link here we will help you make the booking or you can contact us directly however expect a slow response due to the conditions in Sierra Leon.