Eugene Cussons

Eugene Cussons was born in the Transvaal province of South Africa. For generations, the Cussons family has been deeply rooted in the African conservation ethic, and Eugene grew up with a special appreciation for African wildlife. He studied business management and economics at the University of Pretoria.

Cussons had a successful career in the corporate world developing software for financial trading applications before building Chimp Eden. Deciding he did not want to be desk bound for the rest of his career, Cussons returned to the family game reserve to combine his management skills with his love for the outdoors.

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South Africa

South Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres. South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg.

University of Pretoria

University of Pretoria

The University of Pretoria is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johannesburg-based Transvaal University College and is the fourth South African institution in continuous operation to be awarded university status. The university has grown from the original 32 students in a single late Victorian house to approximately 53,000 in 2019. The university was built on seven suburban campuses on 1,190 hectares.

Game reserve

Game reserve

A game reserve is a large area of land where wild animals live safely or are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve is specifically the animals (fauna), whereas a nature reserve is also, if not equally, concerned with all aspects of native biota of the area.

Eugene Cussons helping to treat a chimpanzee

Cussons opened Chimp Eden in 2006 in collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) in South Africa, as the Managing Director of Chimp Eden and the Rescue Director of JGI South Africa. Cussons has focused Chimp Eden's efforts on rescuing chimpanzees from areas no one else is willing to venture, such as war-torn countries like Sudan and Angola. Personally rescuing the chimpanzees, Cussons brings them back to Chimp Eden, where he is caretaker.

In a January 1, 2013, press release, Cussons announced he was resigning as Manager Director of Chimpanzee Eden and that all the responsibilities will be transferred to the JGI South Africa. The Cussons family will continue to provide the essential support services to the sanctuary and the Umhloti Nature Reserve would remain under the guardianship of the Cussons family.

Cussons announced he is looking forward to his new role as Executive Director and ambassador of the "Generation Now" movement.

Eugene Cussons autographing a book

In July 2011, Cussons published his book Saving Chimpanzees.^[3] In the book, Cussons describes some of the ventures he had saving chimpanzees. In January 2013, the second edition of the book was released with an extra chapter where he describes the terrifying incident at Chimp Eden in June 2012, an attack of two chimps on a researcher. Cussons provides insight and describes the events, reasons and consequences of the attack on the student.

Cussons is the Executive Director and ambassador of the "Generation Now" movement. Generation Now is a global movement representing change in mindset towards conservation, education and humanitarianism.

Eugene Cussons and his wife, Natasha, have a daughter named Haley. The family calls Chimp Eden home and their house is located on the family game reserve. Cussons is also a certified pilot, boat skipper, skydiver and rock climber. He's an expert off-road driver and held the position of head instructor for the Land Rover Experience in South Africa. Cussons has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Jay Leno Show and Martha Stewart Living to promote his show Escape To Chimp Eden.