"Chimpanzee Kills Baby"... Angry Residents Set Fire to Research Center

Mother "Chimpanzee bites baby and drags into forest"
Food shortage in protected area... Increase in human attack incidents

Photo unrelated to the article. [Source=Pixabay]

Residents of a region in West Africa looted a research center in anger after a chimpanzee killed a baby.

On the 21st (local time), Reuters reported that residents living near the Nimba Mountains Nature Reserve in southeastern Guinea stormed the chimpanzee research center building. According to the center's administrators, they destroyed equipment including drones, computers, and over 200 documents, and set fire to the facility.

The residents were reportedly enraged after hearing that a baby's body was found 3 km away from the Nimba Mountains Nature Reserve, which is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The deceased baby's mother, Seni Jogba, said, "While working in the field, a chimpanzee approached from behind, bit the baby, and dragged it into the forest." It has been confirmed that there have been a total of six incidents this year in which chimpanzees attacked humans within the reserve. Local ecologist Ali Jiwoo Silla explained, "Due to a decrease in food supply within the reserve, animals are frequently leaving the area, and the likelihood of attacks on humans is increasing."

Forests in West African countries Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are home to many endangered Western chimpanzees. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the population of Western chimpanzees decreased by about 80% between 1990 and 2014. Environmental activists have identified iron ore mining in the Nimba Mountains as influencing the behavior of chimpanzees.