July 28, 2026

“It was a little girl’s dream to save chimpanzees:” Dr. Rebeca Atencia wins Animal’s Health Sustainability Award

Photos: Animal’s Health

For more than two decades, Dr. Rebeca Atencia has worked tirelessly and selflessly to protect endangered chimpanzees and the ecosystems that they depend on. And for all that hard work, Dr. Atencia was recently awarded the Animal’s Health Sustainability Award.

Professionals, institutions, academia, and industry came together last month in Spain to recognize the individuals who contribute to the progress of veterinary medicine, animal health, and public health.

And as the head veterinarian at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga Sanctuary, who performed the first known chimpanzee-to-chimpanzee blood transfusion in African history, Dr. Atencia has certainly helped contribute to the progress of veterinary medicine and animal health.

When she accepted the award, Dr. Atencia spoke about how this work started when she came to Congo to pursue her childhood dream: “As a veterinarian, it was a little girl’s dream to save chimpanzees in the middle of the jungle.”

With time, she was “lucky enough to meet many chimpanzees, even to become friends with them” — and they then “taught me how beautiful the jungle is, how beautiful the trees are, and the other animals that live with them.”

Dr. Atencia also spoke about the fact that African ecosystems are constantly threatened by hunting, deforestation, and resource exploitation — and how the consequences extend far beyond the borders of Congo.

This was why she expanded her work with time, and started to support environmental protection initiatives and work with communities that live near, and with, wildlife.

“It all depends on us, on humans. Just as we destroy, we rebuild,” she said. “That’s what’s incredible about being human — we are capable of rebuilding and recognizing our mistakes.”

Some of the ways that each of us can make an impact, Dr. Atencia said, include avoiding products with palm oil, choosing wood from sustainable sources, and more.

“These are the small things that can save chimpanzees in the Congo,” she said. And they can be done from anywhere. “I went to the Congo to save chimpanzees, but they can really be saved from anywhere on this planet.”

Want to learn more about how you can help save chimpanzees from your own home? Go to JaneGoodall.ca/Adopt to adopt one of three chimpanzees at Tchimpounga Sanctuary.