Destination Cross River

Drill Breeding and Rehabilitation Centre (Pandrillus) Buanchor, (Boki Local Government Area) and Calabar: With the Calabar facility located at Nsefik Eyo Layout and a forest facility at Buanchor, the Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre is Nigeria’s first primate rehabilitation project. Here the animals are rehabilitated into family groups living in natural rainforest enclosures secured by electric fences. The captive animals serve as a flagship for the regional wildlife conservation as well as stimulate ecotourism and research. Illegally held drills orphaned by hunting are donated or handed over after seizure by authorities; no animals are purchased or removed from the wild.  Over 60 drills have been recovered, and rehabilitated to life with members of their own species, after thorough medical screening. In international zoos drills have reproduced poorly, but the Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre has recorded over 120 births to rehabilitated wild born parents and their offspring, making the Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre the world's most successful captive breeding program for an endangered primate. We therefore have at these facilities some animals that are semi-wild in the sense that they have never been touched by humans. 174 drills live in 6 family groups, each in their own natural habitat electrified enclosure of up to 9 ha.  There are plans to release the first group back to the wild in 2005, and breeding loans to international zoos are a possibility. The Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre is also home to 23 orphan chimpanzees.  As man's closest relative, the chimps add considerably to educational opportunities by stimulating interest and sympathy for wildlife.  The facility is managed by Pandrillus an environmental NGO.