
A chimpanzee research centre in Guinea was stormed by local residents on Friday after a woman claimed one of the animals had killed her infant, according to centre officials.
The enraged crowd vandalized the facility, setting fire to equipment such as drones, computers, and over 200 documents, the managers reported.
Eyewitnesses described the violent reaction after the mutilated body of a baby was found approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) from the Nimba Mountains Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Seny Zogba, the child’s mother, told Reuters she was working in a cassava field when a chimpanzee suddenly attacked, biting her and snatching her infant into the forest.
Ecologist Alidjiou Sylla explained that food shortages within the reserve are forcing chimpanzees to leave their natural habitat more often, leading to increased human-wildlife conflict.
The research centre disclosed that six chimpanzee attacks on humans have been recorded within the reserve so far this year.
The forests of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are home to the largest population of critically endangered western chimpanzees, whose numbers have plummeted by 80% between 1990 and 2014, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Only seven chimpanzees remain in Guinea’s Bossou forest, part of the Nimba Mountains Nature Reserve, located near farming communities in the Nzerekore Region.
Chimpanzees are traditionally respected in Guinea and often receive food offerings, which has led some to venture into human settlements, occasionally resulting in attacks.
Environmentalists have also expressed concern over the impact of nearby iron ore mining on chimpanzee habitats in the Nimba Mountains.