Making good on a promise: Dr. Sheri Speede saves orphaned chimps in Africa

Nearly 30 years ago, the course of Dr. Sheri Speede’s life changed forever when she encountered three adult chimpanzees—Jacky, Pepe, and Becky—caged as tourist attractions at a hotel in Cameroon, Africa. Working as a volunteer veterinarian for a local wildlife center, Dr. Speede was haunted by the image of the three chimps, who had languished in their tiny cages for decades.

Like countless others, these chimps were captured as infants when poachers killed their mothers for the illegal ape meat (bushmeat) trade, a rampant market in Central Africa. Not big enough to be used for meat, the babies were sold as pets and eventually wound up at the hotel. Looking into their defeated eyes, Speede promised them she would be back for them. 

In August 1999, she made good on her promise. To save Jacky, Pepe, and Becky, she knew she needed to take matters into her own hands.  Those three chimps became the first residents of Dr. Speede’s freshly founded sanctuary, Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue, now in its 26th year.

Today, Sanaga-Yong spans 225 acres in Cameroon’s Mbargue Forest and provides sanctuary to 78 orphaned chimps who’d fallen victim to the illegal bushmeat and live animal trades. The chimps live in tracts of natural habitat forest surrounded by electric fencing, with individual enclosures ranging from 1.3 to 20 acres.

Before deciding to split her time between Africa and the U.S., Dr. Speede spent 13 years living full-time in Cameroon, which did not come without challenges. When she first arrived in Cameroon, she spoke no French, the predominant language of the country. She eventually learned enough to converse. In addition to the early language barrier, Dr. Speede had to get used to the stark differences between living in Oregon and in rural Cameroon. 

“Living in a forest camp without the amenities that I’d considered basic can take some getting used to, but the forest is where the chimpanzees belong,” Dr. Speede said. “And I’ve come to feel a real connection to the land.”

After adapting to life in Cameroon, Dr. Speede's routine in Africa became a deeply ingrained part of her life. A typical day at Sanaga-Yong begins at 7 a.m. with Dr. Speede, the local workforce and international volunteers spending their day caring for the chimps. “The chimps eat four times a day, and so much of the day is devoted to preparing food,” Dr. Speede said. While caregivers, vets and volunteers stay busy providing chimp care, other team members focus on initiatives in the surrounding community, such as conducting patrols to help combat illegal logging, poaching, and the trafficking of chimpanzees.

 In 2024, Dr. Speede was informed about a poacher trying to sell a baby chimp in the nearest town, so she sent a team to investigate. The poacher realized he was exposed and got away, but a boy in the village led the team to the poacher’s hunting camp deep in the forest. There, they found a baby chimp, now named Asha, lying in a pile of ash from a recent fire, abandoned to die. 

Barely alive and riddled with shot-gun pellets, Asha was rushed to Sanaga-Yong, where vets provided intensive care. Although one of her fingers had to be amputated, Asha recovered. She now thrives at Sanaga-Yong with three older rescued juveniles who adore her. The four will be introduced together to a group of adult chimps later this year. 

The illegal bushmeat and live animal trades, along with relentless deforestation from logging and agriculture, are driving chimpanzees rapidly toward extinction. Cameroon is one of the three most important habitat countries for the Central African chimpanzee subspecies, and it’s also home to most of the few thousand remaining members of the most endangered Cameroon-Nigeria subspecies.

“All chimpanzees are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered in every country where they still exist,” Dr. Speede said. “They’ve already gone extinct in four.”

Despite the importance of Sanaga-Yong’s work for chimpanzees, Dr. Speede said that one of the most challenging aspects of running the sanctuary is gaining support in the U.S. Funding comes primarily from the donations of private individuals and at fundraising events in New York City and Portland, Ore. 

“Fundraising for a species that few people have a personal connection with is hard,” she said. “Unlike dogs and cats, not many people have known a chimpanzee.” 

Even when aspects of the work get tough, Dr. Speede stays driven by her personal connection to the chimpanzees. Having worked with them for decades, she has developed an understanding of chimps as a species. 

“Chimpanzees and humans are very much alike in emotional capacity and spectrum of behaviors,” she said. “It’s easy to identify and empathize with them.”

 Jacky, the first chimp she met at that hotel, is just one Dr. Speede has personally connected with over the years.

After spending nearly 30 years confined to a tiny cage at the hotel, Jacky is now around 60 years old and the last surviving member of the original three residents of Sanaga-Yong.

Dr. Speede said that Jacky owns her heart and has come a long way from his days at the hotel. 

“While I wish they were all still living free in the forest where they belong, it has been the privilege of my life to know and work with chimpanzees,” Dr. Speede said. “Seeing them, after they’ve lost and suffered so much, form loving relationships with each other and find joy within adoptive social groups is profoundly rewarding.”

To learn more about the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue, visit sychimprescue.org. “Sanaga-Yong has developed a following of very generous, loyal, amazing supporters, including some of my dear LSU Vet Med classmates, who have kept us going,” Dr. Speede said. “We are extremely grateful.” Sanaga-Yong welcomes international volunteers as well as veterinarians to work in six-month increments. To learn more about volunteering contact Rebecca Pool at rebecca@sanaga-yong.org.