Zena Tooze (born 3 May 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and conservationist who has worked in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the area of

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

since 1991. She received a master's degree in Biology from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

in 1987. In 2005 she received a Whitley Award for excellence in leadership in nature conservation.

CERCOPAN

In 1994 Tooze founded the Centre for Education, Research and Conservation of Primates and Nature (CERCOPAN) which is a non-profit,

non-government organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

based in Cross River State, Nigeria. CERCOPAN is a rehabilitation and conservation project for threatened and endangered forest

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s. Much of its work involves the rehabilitation of young monkeys orphaned by the trade in

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...

. The mission of CERCOPAN is to conserve Nigeria's primates through sustainable

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

conservation, community partnerships, education, primate rehabilitation and research. The host community of CERCOPAN is Iko Esai which is involved in the collaborative protection of 200 km² of forest contiguous with the Cross River National Park. At least six species of monkey are involved in the rehabilitation and conservation program, including the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sclater's guenon Sclater's guenon (''Cercopithecus sclateri''), also known as Sclater's monkey and the Nigerian monkey, is an Old World monkey that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1904 and named after Philip Sclater. It is an arboreal and diurnal ...

Preuss's guenon The Preuss's monkey (''Allochrocebus preussi''), also known as Preuss's guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives terrestrially in mountainous (up to 2500 m) forests of eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. It was forme ...

and

red-eared guenon The red-eared guenon (''Cercopithecus erythrotis''), also called red-eared monkey, or russet-eared guenon is a primate species in the family Cercopithecidae. It is native to subtropical and tropical moist lowland forests in Cameroon, Equatorial G ...

. Following acting as CERCOPAN's Director since 1995, Tooze handed over to a new Director in January 2009, from which time she took on the official title of 'Founder and Trustee', heading up the board of trustees for the UK registered charity which she founded to support the conservation work in Nigeria (registered charity 1116955).

References

External links

CERCOPAN

WFN entry on Zena Tooze
Canadian conservationists Primatologists 1955 births Living people Dalhousie University alumni Canadian expatriates in Nigeria Canadian biologists {{Zoologist-stub