Thursday 22 September 2022 05:23 PM Three orphaned chimpanzees snatched from sanctuary as gang demand ransom and ... trends now
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A gang has kidnapped three young chimpanzees from a Congolese sanctuary and are demanding a six-figure ransom for their safe return.
The animal thieves sent 'proof of life' videos to the central African shelter and are threatening to decapitate them if their demands are not met in what is the first ever recorded ransom case involving an ape.
Footage shared by the kidnappers shows two of the orphaned animals, Hussein and Cesar, clambering over upturned furniture while Monga, a five-year-old female, has her arms tied above her head in the bare-brick room.
Cesar had only been at the sanctuary for a few weeks after he was rescued from a market and taken on a three-day trip on the back of a motorcycle and two flights to the shelter.
The chimpanzees were seized two weeks ago from the Jack primate rehabilitation centre in Lubumbashi in the dead of night, although it
