A life devoted to caring for Sierra Leone's chimpanzees | AFP

In the forests of Sierra Leone, Bala Amarasekaran has spent three decades building a sanctuary, and a life, around orphaned chimpanzees whom he calls family. What began with the rescue of a single malnourished chimp tied to a tree grew into a lifelong mission to protect one of humanity’s closest relatives. Thanks to Amarasekaran's campaigning, the chimpanzee became Sierra Leone's national animal in 2019.