Chimpanzees, Conservation and Cuddles: Jenny Desmond lets me know about all things LCRP!

Riley Forson
May 8, 2020
9 min read

All photos kindly provided by Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection © .

This week, I had the absolute pleasure (and immense honour!) to receive a video call from Jenny Desmond, co-founder of Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (‘LCRP’). Jenny was joined by one of her rescued orphans, 9 month old Horatius, who has been quarantining with the Desmonds after receiving one-to-one intensive care, which was a beautiful surprise! We talked about all things LCRP, conservation, and just how grateful the Desmonds, their family of caregivers and orphans are for the overwhelming amount of love from around the globe pouring in to their little patch of heaven in Liberia.

Before we dive into all things chimpanzee, I would like to thank Jenny for taking the time out of her extremely busy day to sit down and chat to me, it was a real honour and I am incredibly grateful, it is something I will never forget; so Jenny, thank you SO much!

Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection and the Desmonds: Where it all began:

Jenny and Jimmy Desmond are real life chimpanzee guardian angels. Their work in not-for-profit organisations across Africa, as well as Jimmy’s work as a wildlife veterinarian, has seen them transform the lives of many species for the better. In 2000, Jenny and Jimmy first had the opportunity to rehabilitate an orphaned chimpanzee, Matooke. This encounter saved not only Matooke, but would lead Jenny and Jimmy on a path to save many other orphaned, and wild, chimpanzees.

Knowing that Jenny and Jimmy were the best people for the job of rescuing 66 chimpanzees who had been abandoned by the New York Blood Centre, the Humane Society International US reached out in 2015. Jenny explained to me that what was initially a 5 week mission to save just 66 chimpanzees, has turned in to a 5 year total relocation, a forever home (not just for the Desmonds and their dog Princess, but also for 58 rescued West African chimpanzee orphans), and a journey to encourage change to end the bushmeat and illegal pet-trades. It could not be more apt that LCRP is located on Shooting Star Drive, as Jenny and Jimmy Desmond are the shooting star miracles that these orphans, as well as their wild living counterparts, desperately needed.

Jenny explained that she anticipates that they will have to travel to the US more frequently, to continue their fundraising endeavours to fund their new sanctuary, beautifully named The 100 Acre Wood. However, they have worked “so hard to make the team strong” so that everyone is in safe hands whilst they are away for a short time. You can see just how much they are missed and adored, when they are away from this heart-warming clip here.

With a new sanctuary in development, LCRP is just getting started!

Encouraging change to the bushmeat and pet trades to give chimpanzees a chance:

As a previous blog (found here) explains, the bushmeat and illegal pet trade is a real threat to the West African chimpanzee population. I asked Jenny what she thinks has been going well since they arrived in Liberia and her answer was candid, honest and shows incredible dedication to create seismic cultural changes.

Jenny explained that they have 58 orphans, likely this will grow, and that some argue that this reflects a lack of progress due to the 58 families lost to poaching. But, having a negative outlook doesn’t seem to fit with Jenny’s personality, so she flips this perception on its head when talking to me. She said that having 58 chimps means 58 successful rescues and 58 lives transformed. What has allowed this in such a short space of time? Jenny said that they were lucky that legislation was pre-existing and that the authorities have been so open to working with them and to start enforcing this law.

Now the Desmonds and LCRP work alongside law enforcement, a Taskforce has been established alongside an enforcement committee which meets monthly and is made up of local and international organisations based in Liberia assisting their work; regional groups also help to combat the issue of smuggling chimpanzees over the borders. In her own words: “I’m really impressed with people’s knowledge versus when we first got here, now we just have to spread this out to other species, because all of the work we do is for all wildlife, not just the chimps”. Jenny proudly told me that their entire team is Liberian born and bred from the caregivers, to those who help with their education programmes and will help make the food at the new sanctuary; their sanctuary is also on Liberian community land. The Desmonds want the people of their new homeland to love their wildlife just as much as they do and going from the roots up is the way forward.

But this does not mean that everything has changed over night and that Jenny and Jimmy, as well as their incredible team, are still searching for the chimpanzees they know are out there needing their help. Jenny explained to me that Liberia as a country has a cultural preference for bush-meat; this is a challenge, but the Desmonds are not deterred by a challenge. “Of course you have to be respectful of a culture, but I also say hey just because it’s a culture doesn’t mean that it is ok and we don’t have to stop it, or that it is just your culture, it’s mine too” explained Jenny. It also helps that the Desmonds are Liberian residents now, meaning that they are fighting to change a culture which they are now fully immersed in.

I asked Jenny whether showing videos of Princess with the orphans could help people to understand the sentience of the chimpanzees and to change their perception. Jenny emphatically responded that helping people be able to see their connections or to watch them play like children, makes an impact and she laughed and told me that the caregivers (who previously worked at the NYBC) now tell everyone “wow they are just like real humans!”. For Jenny this is just the icing on a big cake, because for that 360 degree perception change to take place means that they are making a difference. What Jenny hopes is that every person who does see videos and photos can “start thinking, just like you and I did as kids, that if I can see a chimp as a human, well maybe a monkey is like a human, and a dolphin and so on, so I think we are part of big chain, that we are trying to complete and it starts from people being able to relate”.

So, share LCRP social media widely, because you never know who might change their way of thinking about chimpanzees and all animals from a very small act, an act that would be greatly appreciated by all at the LCRP.

The highs and the lows: caring for 58 orphans:

Whilst we talked, Jenny had her eye on the gorgeous Horatius who was all smiles and cheekiness, despite his one-eye. He looked a world away from the sad, terrified and injured orphan he was when the Desmonds came to his rescue. Just a quick glimpse at the LCRP gallery (found here), Instagram , Facebook or via the BBC documentary which is definitely a must see if you haven’t already (link below) can show you the beautiful photos of chimpanzees in utter bliss, relaxed, playing, laughing. Jenny told me she feels ‘so honoured” that these orphans come to love and trust their new human families, despite what they have been through to arrive in their care.

She explained to me that the ones who stand out the most are those who overcome so much trauma and blossom in to happy chimpanzees. Jenny told me about Chancey, who arrived with the Desmonds beaten on the head leaving her with fluid on the brain, now she said “if you see her in the forest videos she is one of the most rambunctious chimps!”. Then she told me about Georgia who arrived at 4 years old and was so traumatised that she couldn’t leave the upstairs of Jenny and Jimmy’s home, couldn’t sleep with the other orphans in the house and wouldn’t even be cuddled. However, after some time to heal and to feel safe, Georgia transformed “she overcame this crazy trauma and then she suddenly got to this point where she wanted to move forward, because she is a survivor”. If you watch the BBC Documentary you will see Jimmy and Jenny rescue 10 year old Jonny, who was tied to a tree his whole life and left to drink gin, it is harrowing viewing, I’m not ashamed to say that I sobbed and I am tearing up just remembering the scenes I saw. Jenny explained “he was scared and upset, he was terrified and terrifying”, but with the love he so desperately deserved now “Jonny is just so sweet and happy and he just loves laughing and being tickled!”. It is clear that Jenny loves all of her orphans equally and each will always be special.

But, I asked her about the other side of her role as a caregiver, because these chimps are with Jenny, Jimmy and their team because they have been rescued, often from circumstances that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Jenny told me: “I certainly don’t take for granted the great parts of it and I feel very lucky to be able to do something that is my passion. But when people tell me they’d love to do my job, I tell them you wouldn’t last a week! It is stressful, it is tiring and it is a lot of responsibility, which is of course completely worth it to me.” The Desmonds witness some awful scenarios, which Jenny very aptly described to me as comparable to war-zones for the chimpanzees who have lost everything and everyone they love and are now left to survive, rather than live. Only recently, they rescued 3 chimps, including Horatius, one despite Jimmy’s best efforts passed away and Horatius lost one of his eyes, something Jenny said used to make her very sad when she looked at him (she knows he knows how she feels though, so now she looks at him and smiles, it is just one of his quirks, “he’s cute with it” she said, and she was so very right!).

What keeps the Desmonds going when times get tough, when it seems too unbearable and too sad? “The energy that comes from everyone (donations, kind messages, likes on social media) makes a huge difference to us over here, because you can be having a really tough day and you read something that someone has taken the time to send you which is just so nice and that really helps to get through stuff”. Jenny also explains in the heartbreaking and inspiring book Rescuing Ladybugs, “once you have witnessed cruelty and abuse, it can’t be unwitnessed. Taking action is what gets you through. Taking action is what will empower you.”

Jenny’s message to the world: A Great Big Thank You!

Jenny explained to me that since they filmed their documentary (link below), that they have been overwhelmed by support from around the world, something that they had not expected, “our inbox went wild, it was just wow. All of a sudden Jimmy was like “wow there are donations, oh my gosh it’s gone up to here, wow it has gone up even more!””. LCRP has some fantastic partner organisations and is supported by big private donors, as well as thousands of remarkable people who each contributed a little which turned into a lot.

Jenny’s message to all of those people is one of complete heart-bursting gratitude: “We are really grateful, it is just a huge support, not just donations, but everyone’s thoughts and positive energy, it really goes a long way for us and everyone is a part of our big family. It is just really beautiful to see these little guys and to think of all that they have been through and to see all of the love being poured towards them and we feel it. So please keep up with what we are doing, even a like or a little note, we feel that love all the way over here, we couldn’t do it without you guys.”

So please continue to follow, or start following, LCRP on social media (all links in the article and set out below), contribute donations to help with the development of the 100 Acre Wood (link below), send a nice message or like a photo, it all means so much to the Desmonds, their team and their chimpanzees.

Final thoughts:

Talking to Jenny was surreal for me, or as Jenny said “that is kinda crazy!”, when I explained that what got me started on my journey in animal law and animal rights was being sent a petition to release the 66 chimpanzees that Jenny and Jimmy initially went to Liberia to save. So talking to one half of the team who was a part of this rescue mission was a humbling moment. Jenny, Jimmy and their team are doing amazing work and they are so grateful for the love they have received from around the world and I am so grateful that I can share their work and their message.

So Jenny, Jimmy, all of LCRP, you are amazing, and on behalf of everyone who loves animals, I want to say thank you, we are grateful!