Chimpanzee embargoIn 1923, the Associated Pressreported that the governor of French West Africa had banned the capture, keeping, sale or exportation of chimpanzees from that colony to protect the chimpanzees from further exploitation. Irresponsible hunters wanted skins for clothing or glands for human rejuvenation.. Permits, restricted in time and number, would be limited to scientific and medical investigators. The chimpanzees had to be netted or trapped without wounding them. As the animal closest to human physiology, they were still being used for such experiments as grafting, or tuberculosis research. Over three decades later, on 2 May 1955, French West Africa issued a 5-franc stamp showing a chimpanzee, titled “Protection de la Nature” as conservation continued.«[Image right: height shrunk to fit space.] |
