The Brazzaville Zoo is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

located in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. It has been in existence since at least 1944, as this is the most widely accepted date of assembly. They are known to be a very unsanitary zoo, and have extremely low

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

ratings, although this is common across zoos in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. They house a number of species including crocodiles,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es, and numerous

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 ...

s including chimpanzees. During the Congolese Civil War, many animals were evacuated from the zoo to numerous zoos, sanctuaries, and preserves across Central Africa.

Gregoire the Chimpanzee

2006-12-09 Chimpanzee Gregoire D Bruyere

Gregoire the chimpanzee was the record-holder of the oldest chimpanzee in the world. He was first exhibited in the zoo as early as 1944. His first documentation came when

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

visited the zoo in 1990, and saw that Gregoire was suffering from dire

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...

and severe

skin infections Skin and skin structure infections (SSSIs), also referred to as skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), or acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs), are infections of skin and associated soft tissues (such as loose connective ti ...

. After this encounter, Dr. Goodall intervened, assigning a special caretaker for Gregoire and implementing a diet program. In 1996, Gregoire enclosure received two new chimpanzees in order for him and the other primates to enjoy company. Soon after, in 1997, the Congolese Civil War escalated, and due to the zoo's proximity to the

Brazzaville International Airport Maya–Maya Airport is the international airport of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. Facilities In 2010, a new long runway and a new terminal with three air bridges were opened. The older runway was repaired and now ...

, shelling and gunfire could be heard loudly. Gregoire was known to dive under his sheets as each shell fired. Staff hastily transported many of the zoo's primates to

Pointe Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before ...

, and later to a special preserve area in

Tchimpounga The Tchimpounga Sanctuary, also known as the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, for primates is located on a coastal plain of savanna and forest in Pointe Noire, Republic of the Congo, and was built in 1992. The site covers an area of ...

. At his new home Gregoire found sanctuary, and lived the rest of his life with other chimpanzees and with human love and care. He died in 2008 of old age.

References

{{reflist, 30em Organisations based in Brazzaville