As we begin 2026, we’d like to take a moment to honour someo­ne who devo­ted so much of her life to pro­tec­ting animals.

Our grea­test wish for the year ahead is for pea­ce to return to the Demo­cra­tic Repu­blic of the Con­go, whe­re the ongoing con­flict con­ti­nues to affect CRPL, Lwi­ro Pri­ma­tes, its dedi­ca­ted staff, and the orpha­ned pri­ma­tes arri­ving at the sanc­tuary, inclu­ding Rosie Epu­lu, who sadly did not sur­vi­ve qua­ran­ti­ne, and Elik­ya Busa­ka­ra, pic­tu­red here. We extend this wish for pea­ce to all regions affec­ted by war.

Today we also pay tri­bu­te to Bri­git­te Bar­dot, the French actress and foun­der of the Fon­da­tion Bri­git­te Bar­dot, who­se life­long com­mit­ment to ani­mal wel­fa­re tou­ched countless lives around the world, inclu­ding the pri­ma­tes cared for at CRPL.

The world needs more peo­ple who are com­pas­sio­na­te, com­mit­ted, and willing to stand up for wild­li­fe and nature.

Thank you for everything.