Three young chimpanzees stolen from their sanctuary by a group of thieves are being ransomed for a six-figure sum.
The theft, which happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo, marks the first-ever recorded instance of an ape being kidnapped and held to ransom.
One of the clips showed one of the kidnapped chimps, Monga, aged five, tied in a bare-brick room while two smaller chimps, Hussein and César, were seen to be scampering away from their captives.
The “proof of life” videos were accompanied by a threat that a chimp’s head would follow if demands were not met, the Times reports.
Founder of the J.A.C.K Primate Rehabilitation Centre in Lubumbashi, Franck Chantereau, has said paying the "six figures" ransom is not an option.
Chantereau said that "you can see how terrified they are" but paying the ransom would do more damage.
It "would put all the world's apes at greater risk than they already are,” he explained.
The snatched chimps were rescued orphans of the wildlife trafficking trade for just a few weeks after being rescued from the sick sales market.
Chantereau added: "They had all been given a second chance, but now this fresh horror."
The rehabilitation centre founder admitted that it was unlikely the apes would ever be seen again.
Chantereau also warned that the chimps are quite dangerous, saying: "Monga is strong and probably tried to bite them. A grown chimp can kill a man."
César, a two-year-old chimp, had been at the Jack sanctuary for only a few weeks after he was rescued from a market in remote northern DRC.
He was transported to the 17-acre facility in the Katanga province over the course of three days, first on the back of a motorcycle and then two flights.
Buyers can pay around £10,000 for a baby chimp.
There are 300,000 of the animals left in Africa today, compared with a million at the beginning of the 20th century.
The facility Chantereau currently operates is one of three ape sanctuaries, with the J.A.C.K Primate Rehabilitation Centre established in 2006.
Since then, Chantereau says that the illegal chimp trade has "become a war", with the capturing of Monga, Hussein and César a cause for concern over the ability to protect endangered species.
Florence Teneau, from the Brigitte Bardot Foundation which helps to fund the Jack sanctuary, said: "These shelters receive a lot of aid and funds from international associations, like ours, and the traffickers take advantage of this, because the animals become all the more precious."
