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The
10th Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)
Management Workshop took place in Columbus,
Ohio, in the USA in May this year.
We were hosted by
the Columbus Zoo and Ohio State University. The
meeting was held in the USA as this was the 10th
anniversary meeting of PASA.
16 of the 18 African
sanctuaries were represented and it was great to
meet up with colleagues. It was also a return to
familiar ground for me as I had visited this
area 20 years ago and in fact met some folks
from the distant past.
This year’s Workshop was
largely taken up with many hours spent reviewing
and updating the PASA operational manual. This
has become a very comprehensive document and
will be a great asset to all sanctuaries. Time
was also spent discussing PASA and its future
direction.
There was also an open day,
well-attended by the general public, with
lectures on the work of PASA and the
sanctuaries. The keynote address was given by
Harvard primatologist Dr. Richard Wrangham.
People were also able to meet all the sanctuary
managers - something most of us are not used to,
but it was great to experience as many folk
could now put a face to the name at last.
The
sanctuaries in Africa still face the uphill
battle of providing homes for displaced primates
and the 18 sanctuaries in Africa look after more
chimps than all the Zoos in America together.
There have been some releases
of chimps, and the pending release of Bonobos
was a much talked about topic as well. There was
also some discussion around the upcoming CITES
meeting, where PASA will be represented, as well
as the role that Egypt was playing in the bush
meat and primate trade.
The PASA management meetings
are always a great opportunity to catch up with
fellow colleagues, hear what is happening in
their neck of the woods, share experiences and
learn from each other.
I wish to thank PASA for
sponsoring my costs to the USA and making the
trip possible.
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