There is a distinct moment when the tranquillity of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary envelops our car as we drive higher up the mountain.
The buzz of Freetown gives way to the hushed calm of this pocket of pristine rainforest reserved for critically endangered western chimpanzees rescued from across Sierra Leone.
The quiet is necessary. These bright primates – closest related to humans in the animal kingdom – are easily disturbed and the ones living in Tacugama are particularly sensitive.
The more than 120 chimpanzees brought here are traumatised survivors of mistreatment, hunting and violent separation from their families in the wild.
They are now facing another existential threat. Illegal encroachment is eating away at the edges of the conservation area. Despite wildlife laws, forest has been cleared to make way for houses being constructed closer and closer to chimp enclosures.
Image: Forest has been cleared to make way for houses being constructed closer and closer to chimp enclosures
“We’ve been issuing several warnings over the last year,” says Tacugama founder Bala Amarasekaran. “Four months ago – again – we gave a warning. Then we had presidential intervention say that some of this encroachment will be stopped. It started very well for the first month then everything stopped again and we are back at square one. So, we are very tired and very stressed.”
Thirty years ago, Mr Amarasekaran appealed to the government to donate land and partner with him to create a sanctuary for the protection of the abused orphaned chimps he was finding across Freetown. Today, land in the Western Area Forest Reserve is being grabbed right under the government’s nose.
“The government has been very good in terms of helping us in every way – however we expect the leadership to be more firm,” says Mr Amarasekaran.
“When we talk to them, they are all with us. They all want to help. But when it comes to action it looks like some of the departments that have the mandate to institute certain laws and take the necessary law enforcement action are not acting.”
Image: Tacugama founder Bala Amarasekaran
Sanctuary closes its doors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research
Tacugama has grown to become Sierra Leone’s most popular tourist attraction over the last three decades. But in a stand against the fast-approaching illegal encroachment, the sanctuary has closed its doors to visitors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research.
“It is not a tourist attraction – we made it become a tourist attraction. It is supposed to be an orphanage for rescued chimpanzees,” Mr Amarasekaran says.
“They are used to us and some visitors but they will start to see strangers come and that is where the problems start. They are not comfortable with strangers – don’t forget it is the stranger who killed their mother. It is the stranger that wiped out their group.”
‘A complex problem’
We asked Sierra Leone’s government spokesperson and minister of information and civic education, Chernor Bah, about the illegal encroachment.
“It is a complex problem. You have a city that is growing. People need places to stay and we have not done the best job in terms of enforcing all these limitations,” he replied. “Some of our agents seem to have been complicit in allocating and giving people land in places they are not supposed to stay. So, I don’t think I can sit here and say we have done enough – there is much more we can do.
“[Tacugama] is probably our most cherished and significant wildlife asset in the country.”
A national symbol for tourism
In 2019, the government designated the western chimpanzee as the national animal and national symbol for tourism. The image of a chimp is now etched in Sierra Leonean passports, a result of Tacugama’s advocacy Mr Amarasekaran and his team hope will entrench a love and respect for chimps that will curb the need for intervention.
“We wanted something more – that is how the national animal bill came through,” says Mr Amarasekaran.
“We thought if the agencies that are mandated to do all the law enforcement are not active and effective, then maybe we need to create a synergy between the people and the animals.”
Chimpanzees hunted for bushmeat
But chimpanzees are still being hunted as bushmeat for food across Sierra Leone and baby chimps are being torn from their families to be kept as illegal pets. Tacugama’s latest rescue is only eight months old.
Baby Asana is frail with thinning hair and is being nursed back to health by his chimp mum, Mama P, when we meet him. He was rescued after an informant sent a video of Asana wearing human clothes and being mistreated as an illegal pet in Bo, Sierra Leone’s second largest city.
“For me as the founder of the sanctuary, I feel defeated,” says Mr Amarasekaran with Asana being cared for behind him.
“These chimps shouldn’t be arriving here if we have done enough work outside – there shouldn’t be any killings, there shouldn’t be any rescues. That is the time when I can say that I achieved something.”
Research from the Jane Goodall Institute identified that between five and 10 chimpanzees die for every surviving rescued chimpanzee. And with the sanctuary closed, much-needed public advocacy work will take a hard hit.
‘Until I came to the sanctuary, I didn’t see a chimpanzee’
“I’m really concerned because I only even started to experience chimpanzees when I started working here. I knew that we had chimps here. But until I came to the sanctuary, I didn’t see a chimpanzee,” says 25-year-old Tacugama communications officer, Sidikie Bayoh.
“Now, we are at a situation where we are closed indefinitely but what if this becomes something wherein we can never open the sanctuary again for people to visit? Then you will have all these young Sierra Leoneans never fully understanding what their national animal is.”
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said Gaza is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of an Israeli blockade on aid to the enclave.
Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference that the population of Gaza is “facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets – starvation”.
The WHO said a “deadly surge” in malnutrition has caused the deaths of at least 21 children in 2025, but stressed this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
Centres for treating malnutrition are full of patients but do not have sufficient supplies for emergency feeding, it added.
In July alone, 5,100 children have so far been admitted to malnutrition programmes, said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative for the occupied Palestinian territories. Some 800 of those children were severely emaciated, he said.
Image: A child faces life-threatening malnutrition in Gaza. Pic: Anadolu/Getty Images
Image: Crowds struggle for food at a charity kitchen in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Mr Ghebreyesus said: “I don’t know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it’s man-made, and that’s very clear.”
“This is because of [the] blockade,” he continued, adding that 95% of households in Gaza are also facing severe water shortages.
He said the UN and its humanitarian partners were unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days between March and May, while an aid blockade was in place, and that the resumption of deliveries has been insufficient.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:55
‘Gaza’s doctors treating influx of malnutrition’
There is no famine in Gaza, says Israel
An Israeli government spokesperson told Sky News the food shortages have “been engineered by Hamas”, before stating: “There is no famine in Gaza.”
Speaking on the News Hour with Mark Austin, David Mencer continued: “There is a famine of the truth and Israel will not stop telling it.”
He said aid is “flowing” into the enclave but Hamas “loots the trucks [and] deliberately endangers its own people”. The fighters deny stealing food.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:00
Sky News challenges Israel on Gaza starvation claims
Mr Mencer said Israel has allowed more than 4,400 aid trucks to enter Gaza since it lifted the blockade in May, adding that more than 700 are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the United Nations.
That is an average of around 70 trucks a day, which is the lowest rate of the war and far below the 500-600 trucks a day the UN says is needed.
“The problem is not Israel,” he said. “The problem is Hamas.”
Supplies in Gaza ‘totally depleted’
The comments came after more than 100 aid and rights groups warned of mass starvation in Gaza on Wednesday morning – saying supplies have become “totally depleted”.
Large amounts of food, clean water and medical supplies are sitting untouched just outside Gaza, but the groups blamed Israel for its “restrictions”, which they say is creating “chaos, starvation, and death”.
The situation has become so bad, aid agencies warned they were seeing even their own colleagues “waste away before their eyes”.
Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, has denied it is responsible for shortages of food and other supplies.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
In a statement signed by 111 organisations, the groups said: “As the Israeli government’s siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families.
“With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.
“The government of Israel’s restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death.”
The groups called for governments to demand the lifting of all restrictions and for the restoration of a “principled, UN-led humanitarian response”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
10:43
Gaza: ‘My colleagues are getting thin’
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which backed the statement and is one of the largest independent aid organisations in Gaza, said it has no more supplies to distribute and some of its staff are starving – and accused Israel of paralysing its work.
“Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left,” Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the council, told the Reuters news agency.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
4:10
Gaza is a ‘horror show’, says UN’s Secretary-General
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said “starvation is knocking on every door” in the Palestinian territory, describing the situation as a “horror show”.
Officials in the Hamas-run strip said at least 101 people are known to have died of malnutrition during the conflict in Gaza, including 80 children, most of them in recent weeks.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:22
Israel wants to ‘finish off’ Gaza
Some food stocks in Gaza have run out since Israel cut off all supplies in March and then lifted the blockade in May with new measures it said were needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has accused the organisations of “echoing Hamas propaganda”.
The UK and several other countries have condemned the current aid delivery model, which is backed by the Israeli and American governments.
Gaza deteriorating by the day – but what will be done?
Analysis by Lisa Holland, in Jerusalem
The urgency of the call for action by aid and human rights groups screams out from the words in the letter.
It feels like the situation is deteriorating by the day – the letter comes hours after the United Nations secretary-general described aid distribution and food shortages in Gaza as a “horror show”.
There is certainly momentum in the demands for a ceasefire and for aid supplies backed up in neighbouring countries to be allowed into Gaza.
But will it have any impact?
Israel acknowledges there has been a significant drop in the amount of aid reaching Gaza.
But the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – now in charge of almost all aid distribution in Gaza – has fiercely hit back about its handling of the situation.
However, Israel has given no public sign that it plans to do anything to alleviate the plight of hungry Gazans any time soon – instead shifting blame to the door of the UN.
The UN used to run most aid distribution, but Israel stopped that in May claiming aid was falling into the hands of the militant group Hamas.
So if there’s – as yet – no sign of the aid chain being unblocked, what of the calls in the letter for a ceasefire?
People say watch for movement by Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.
He is currently in Europe and if he goes on to Doha, where indirect talks are taking place between Hamas and Israel, that could signal some sort of progress towards a ceasefire.
It has reportedly resulted in Israeli troops firing on Palestinian civilians in search of food on multiple occasions.
More than 800 people have reportedly been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centres.
A former US soldier who was employed to work within the Gaza aid system approved by Israel has claimed he saw security personnel shoot at Palestinians at a distribution centre.
The unnamed American man, who served for 25 years in the US army, has alleged he witnessed force being used against unarmed innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip.
“There is no fixing this, this needs to be put an end to,” he said in a video aired by Israeli free-to-air TV station Channel 12.
Image: A former security guard has spoken about what he witnessed. Pic: Channel 12
It comes as the United Nations criticised an aid distribution scheme run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that has been supplying aid in the Strip since late May, claiming it is a “sadistic death trap” where “snipers open fire randomly on crowds”.
The unnamed American claimed that as Palestinians were finishing getting their aid, security personnel “began shooting in their direction, shooting at them, shooting at their feet… to get them to leave”.
In another incident, he said a man was on his hands and knees picking up individual needles when security personnel wanted Palestinians to leave the site.
More on Gaza
Related Topics:
He alleged a contractor “sprayed an entire can of pepper spray into his face – that’s lethal”.
He also recounted a third incident, describing how he was standing next to two women when a contractor threw a stun grenade and it landed between him and the women.
“This thing hit her and she just drops, just lifeless, collapsed to the ground. It looked like she had been killed”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:55
‘Over 100 die of starvation in Gaza’
He said it was at that point that he decided he could no longer be part of the distribution system.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press (AP) reported that it spoke anonymously to two US contractors guarding aid distribution sites who said their colleagues regularly threw stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians.
They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open licence to do whatever they wished, the AP reported.
Videos provided by one of the contractors and taken at the sites showed hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets and stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray, the agency added.
The unnamed American man speaking to Channel 12 said the centres are in remote areas.
“The sites were not set up in locations, nor were they set up in a way that was conducive to distributing or delivering humanitarian aid to a needy population,” he said.
Residents are not allowed there by car and so people are on foot, he added.
“Most of them don’t have shoes, no water, going through active warzone areas.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
4:10
Gaza is a ‘horror show’, says UN’s secretary-general
He also said that if the United Nations method of aid distribution had the support, security and coordination that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is getting, then the UN process would be very successful.
UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Gaza, has criticised the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by GHF that has been supplying aid since late May, when Israel, which controls supplies into the territory, lifted an 11-week blockade.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said: “The so-called ‘GHF’ distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a licence to kill.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:00
Israel: ‘There is no famine in Gaza’
The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies and largely bypasses a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.
Journalists are not able to access GHF sites, which are located in Israeli military-controlled zones. When the AP ran its allegations earlier this month, it said it could not independently verify the contractors’ stories. Sky News has not been able to independently verify the latest allegations.
Follow the World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The GHF said in a statement: “This is a disgruntled former contractor who was terminated for misconduct a month ago. GHF launched an immediate investigation as soon as these allegations were brought to our attention. Based on time-stamped video footage and witness statements, we have concluded that the claims made are categorically false.
“At no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF, which was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF site.
“The gunfire was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured. We take the safety and security of our operational sites extremely seriously. When behaviour falls short of our standards, we take action. The contractor seen shouting in the video is no longer part of our operations.
“We remain focused on our core mission – delivering food to the people of Gaza in a safe, direct, and uninterrupted manner, as we have done since launching operations on 27 May. Since then, we have distributed nearly 85 million meals to residents of the Gaza Strip.”
Arturo Suarez cries as he hugs his family for the first time in months.
His sister’s modest home in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, is decorated with red, blue and black balloons and banners to welcome him back.
Friends and neighbours fill the living room and the street outside.
Image: Mr Suarez reunited with his family
He video calls other family members elsewhere in the world. This is the first time they have heard his voice since March.
“I hadn’t felt so safe for a while,” Arturo tells Sky News, “when I hugged my brothers, my uncle, my aunt, that’s where I felt that the nightmare was over, that I had made it home.”
Then the story of what he had endured begins to pour out of him.
The 34-year-old was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, despite having no criminal record in any of the four countries he has lived in.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Image: Mr Suarez speaks to Martha Kelner
Last week, he was released as part of a prisoner swap with 10 American citizens and permanent residents detained in Venezuela.
But he is scarred by the four months he spent at the CECOT prison, a terrorism confinement centre, in El Salvador, alongside some of the world’s most dangerous men.
Image: Arturo Suarez back with his family in Caracas
“We were constantly beaten,” he says, “we suffered physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.
“There wasn’t a day the wardens didn’t tell us that the only way we’d leave that place was if we were dead. In fact, the first words the head of the prison said to us after the first beating was ‘welcome to hell’.”
Arturo is an aspiring singer. He had moved to the US to escape Venezuela’s authoritarian regime and set up home in North Carolina.
Image: Mr Suarez is an aspiring singer
He had a feeling when Donald Trump became president for a second time that there would be a crackdown on immigration, as promised in his campaign.
But, because Arturo had followed all the legal channels to enter the country, he didn’t think he would be caught up in the deportation policy. He was wrong.
While he was filming a music video in a house in North Carolina in March, he was arrested by immigration agents and accused by the White House of being a gang member, although they have provided little evidence publicly to support that claim.
Image: His family had not heard from him since March
He was then flown to El Salvador – a country he had never even visited – and put in a maximum security prison. His ordeal was under way.
“We were sleeping 19 people to a cell,” he says, “if we spoke loudly, they would take away our mattresses, if they found us bathing more than once a day, they’d take away the mattresses from us.
“The punishment was severe. It was beatings and humiliations and they took away our food.
“I remember we were exercising and a cellmate, very politely, asked the prison head if we could bathe a second time that day, since we were doing exercise.
“His words were ‘that’s your problem, it’s not my problem if you exercise’. We were also made to eat with our hands.
“They tried to take our humanity away from us. They tried to make us lose everything.”
The Trump administration paid El Salvador millions of dollars to detain the 252 Venezuelan men, claiming they were part of the notorious Tren De Aragua gang.
Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, visited the prison for a tour and photoshoot in March and Arturo saw her.
“Obviously they did a show of this,” he says, “they had cameras. When she came in, my cellmates and I began to make the help sign, which she disliked a lot. We began to shout freedom.”
Arturo was denied due process to appeal his extradition to El Salvador and was not allowed to speak to a lawyer or any family or friends during his time in prison.
When he applied for asylum in the United States, Arturo had hoped to be reunited eventually with his wife, Nathali, and their 10-month-old daughter Nahiara, who are currently in Chile.
“When I was given the opportunity to go to the United States, I was going to go with my wife,” he says, “we found out that she was pregnant but I went anyway because it was for the future, for my daughter’s future.
“Unfortunately, this decision led me to one of the most brutal prisons. What I most long for, is to be with my daughter and my wife.”
He’s now being supported by other family members in Venezuela, but he will never return to the US.
He went for a better life but instead was labelled a criminal. Now, he says, he just wants to clear his name.