The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to approximately 90% of the world's eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Chimpanzees are an endangered species. Since the mid-1990s, the chimpanzee population has declined by 40%, primarily due to illegal hunting and habitat loss. If this trend continues, the remaining population will be cut in half over the next 30 years.

Established in 2003, the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center (LPRC) serves as a sanctuary for orphaned primates, victims of the bushmeat trade and the exotic pet industry. For more than 20 years, LPRC has rescued hundreds of chimpanzees and monkeys. LPRC is located just 4 kilometers from Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP), designated by the IUCN as one of the world’s most crucial sites for eastern chimpanzee conservation. Lwiro is ideally situated for the rehabilitation and conservation of chimpanzees and monkeys.

LPRC also serves as a hub for local conservation education and outreach efforts. LPRC runs “Roots & Shoots” programs, developed by Jane Goodall, reaching scores of children each year. It also delivers lessons at schools in villages surrounding KBNP and educates visitors to the sanctuary, including government officials and traditional leaders. LPRC reaches over a thousand people each year with its message about the dangers of poaching and animal trafficking, and the importance of wildlife conservation to Congo’s future.

LPRC spends thousands of dollars each month on food for the nearly 300 animals in its care. LPRC buys all of this food directly from local farmers or at local markets. LPRC injects thousands of dollars of sorely needed hard currency into the local economy each month. These purchases (and LPRC's full-time employment of more than 55 Congolese staff) provide a pathway for area residents to make their livelihoods by sustaining the animals, rather than by bushmeat hunting or wildlife trafficking.

To learn more about LPRC and its vital work conserving chimpanzees and other primates, browse the Annual Reports below and visit the sanctuary’s website.

LPRC is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, and the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.