The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has staunchly denied claims circulating that a chimpanzee had raped a child.
The FDA also clarified that it did not authorize the killing of any chimpanzee in Nimba County.
False claims were made that a chimpanzee raped a young girl around the Saclepea belt but the FDA said there is no truth to this claim rather this is a premeditated fallacy designed to cover up a potential crime committed against the child by a human male.
“These claims are damaging to the proper investigation of this crime. They also serve as defamation against the FDA and against the chimpanzee species,” the FDA stated.
The FDA asserts that such false claims raise serious threats to the survival of Liberia’s critically endangered chimpanzee population and that these false claims also obstruct justice in finding the true HUMAN perpetrator in the case of the actual alleged rape of the child.
“False claims and accusations put Liberia in disrepute related to implementation of multilateral agreements such as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) and CMS (Convention on Migratory Species) among others,” the entity noted.
The FDA has however dispatched a trained investigative team including FDA staff, LNP Officers and professionals from the Women and Children Protection Unit has been dispatched to fully and honestly investigate this crime and find the true perpetrator.
Meanwhile, a FDA staff earlier visited the hospital to check on the status of the child and chimpanzee behavioral expert from Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection has also been consulted and is providing guidance and factual data on an ongoing basis.
FDA management said it also has an investigation team on standby from its Head Office in Monrovia to proceed to Nimba and conduct fact finding exercises into the matter.