The Pandrillus Drill Ranch on the outskirts of Calabar is one of the most important primate conservation operations in West Africa. It takes in drills rescued from the bushmeat trade and illegal pet market, rehabilitates them, and where possible prepares them for reintroduction into the wild. The drill — a large, brilliantly coloured forest baboon — is classified as endangered, with perhaps 4,000 remaining in the wild.
Visitors can tour the ranch and see the drills up close — large groups of animals in semi-natural enclosures, with younger orphaned individuals in socialisation groups. The guides are knowledgeable and passionate. The ranch also holds chimpanzees. It is not a zoo — it is an active conservation facility — but it accepts visitors and the experience of seeing a male drill displaying, with his extraordinary scarlet and violet face, is something you won't find easily anywhere else in the world.