Crazed chimpanzees attack Texas man, 3 others

04:51 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 26, 2006
From KHOU-TV Staff Reports
Police in Sierra Leone are searching for 20 chimpanzees that attacked several people including a Texas resident.
The incident happened at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the West African rain forest on Sunday.
Officials said Pflugerville resident Gary Brown, taxi driver Melvin Mammah and two other Americans were touring the facility when the chimpanzees charged their station wagon and attacked the group.
"This thing was on a rampage and it acted as if it wanted to kill everyone of us," said Brown. "It had hatred in its eyes."
Brown said one of the primates cornered his group and began swinging at Mammah.
"It must have bitten his hand because he was sitting with his hand dangling," he said.
Brown said he hit the chimp with a stick and startled the animal long enough to free Mama and himself, then recruited help from nearby soldiers to go back for his friends.
"The other guys thought I was dead, and I thought they were," said Brown.
Brown's actions may have saved his friends' lives, but Mammah, the taxi driver, died later at a hospital.
"It was a nightmare," he said. "It's something I will never forget for the rest of my life."
Brown, a contractor who had been in Sierra Leone for a project, said he won't be going back to finish his work.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/042706dnmetchimp.73ed2be2.html

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Link to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and others
http://www.wspa-usa.org/pages/39_sanctuaries.cfm