In the video below, you can see the rescue of an adorable baby chimpanzee named Mussa. Unfortunately, this baby’s family was attacked by a poacher and killed, along with his mother. Lucky for Mussa, he will be getting a second chance at life at Lwiro Primates.

Located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lwiro Primates rescues monkeys and chimpanzees from poachers every year. They currently have 80 chimpanzees and over 100 monkeys of various types that live in their sanctuary.

The video shows pilot Anthony Caere bringing the baby chimp back to Lwiro Primates and nuzzling the baby during the trip. Baby Mussa plays with the airplane’s throttle, watches contentedly out the window, and even feels comfortable enough with Caere to take a nap during the ride.

Caere is the head pilot for the park’s four wing Air Wing. He spends his work days inspecting well known poaching sites and providing medical treatment to animals in need. It’s obvious with the tender way he treats baby Mussa that he genuinely cares about the animals he’s trying to save.

Sadly, for baby Mussa, his rescue had just begun when he came to Lwiro Primates. Although he was now safe and in good hands, he had to adjust to his new surroundings without his family, and had to be treated for internal parasites. The staff at the sanctuary says he is a beautiful chimpanzee and they expected him to adapt quickly and grow up healthy and strong.

Mussa is the third baby chimpanzee to be rescued from poachers already this year. He joined Nishuli, Kashebere, Kalima, and Busakara in the baby quarantine area of the Lwiro Primates sanctuary. Updates from the sanctuary say that Mussa adapted well and had been taken in as a part of the family with the other baby chimps.

While baby Mussa and the other chimps at Lwiro Primates are safe, the battle to rescue other chimpanzees is far from over. The videos showing baby Mussa’s rescue have helped raise awareness of the work the sanctuary does, but they still need support to carry on their work. “We are sincerely hopeful that this story will create some awareness about the traffic of these babies from Africa,” said Itaso Velez del Burgo, the sanctuary’s technical director.