'Hippie apes' battle for survival in the Congo
By Errol Barnett and Teo Kermeliotis , CNN
January 4, 2013 -- Updated 1536 GMT (2336 HKT)
CNN.com
(CNN) -- They are known as the hippies of the ape kingdom, a peaceful and
affectionate species that is more interested in making love than killing each
other.
One of the world's rarest apes, bonobos are close cousins of chimpanzees and
share 98.7% of human DNA. But unlike their ape relatives -- and humans --
bonobos shy away from engaging in vicious conflicts. Instead, they share food,
groom each other and use a variety of sexual activities to build relationships,
promote social bonding and strengthen alliances.
It is, then, an ironic twist that the very existence of this affable species
has come under threat by decades of war and deforestation in one of Africa's
most troubled parts.
Found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the bonobos inhabit the
country's lowland rainforests along the south bank of the Congo River.
In recent months, tensions erupted once again in the vast country as rebels
launched a major attack in the violence-riddled eastern part of the DRC.
Although the bonobo habitat is located several hundred miles away from the
epicenter of the crisis, conservationists say that the country's instability
over the years has made it almost impossible to study bonobos and find out
where they are or determine how many are left.
At the same time, the expansion of the commercial bushmeat trade -- the selling
of wild animal meat, such as that of the endangered bonobo -- threatens the
survival of the apes even further.
Conservationist saves endangered apes
Are bonobos our closest relative?
Bonobos: A second chance at life
"The decade of war in the late 1990s resulted in extensive population
displacement, military/rebel movements and a greater availability of firearms
and ammunition, which contributed to increased hunting of wildlife, including
bonobos," says Dominique Morel, of Friends of Bonobos, a group supporting Lola
Ya Bonobo, the world's first and only sanctuary for the endangered species.
Born of necessity from the increasing threat of the bushmeat trade, Lola Ya
Bonobo was founded in the mid-1990s by Claudine Andre, a Belgian-born
conservationist who was working at the time as a volunteer in Kinshasa's zoo.
It was there that Andre, who moved with her veterinarian father to Congo at the
age of three, saw a bonobo for the first time -- an encounter that was destined
to change her life forever.
Andre, a mother of five, fell in love with the bonobos and started to rescue
them one by one by taking them home with her. But soon she found herself
needing a bigger space as the number of bonobos she took under her wing started
to grow. The Congolese government eventually stepped in to help set up a more
permanent home that would become Lola Ya Bonobo.
The sanctuary, which is located just outside Kinshasa in some 30 hectares of
primary forest, is today home to at least 65 bonobos, many of which are young
orphans that have been either rescued from the wild or brought in after hunters
killed their parents.
"Bushmeat never stops," says Andre. "We have no solution and we receive more
and more orphans every year."
An important part of the sanctuary's work is rehabilitating injured bonobos
from the forest and, hopefully, one day returning them to the wild.
"Conservation asks us to make a test for reintroduction in the wild," says
Andre. "So we make this experience two times already since 2009, a group of
bonobos from here, returned to the wild. And for them it was a success because
after two-three months, they are home."
The sanctuary also aims to educate the public about bonobos. Staff at Lola Ya
Bonobo say that some 40,000 people come through its doors each year, including
tourists and local schoolchildren, as well as graduate students conducting
research on everything from bonobo behaviour to the evolution of the human
brain.
Conservationists say stability in the DRC is essential to ensure that bonobo
conservation programs are not jeopardized.
"Advocating for wildlife conservation is always a battle in a country as poor
as the DRC," says Morel. "In times of crisis, when the security and basic needs
of civilian populations are often not assured, it becomes even more
challenging. If eco-guards and staff have to be evacuated from certain areas
for their own safety, equipment, infrastructure and sometimes animals suffer.
"Only with peace and stability can long-term investments in wildlife
conservation -- research, conservation education, community-based habitat
protection and eco-tourism -- be successfully implemented."
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
------------------------------------
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe : [email protected]
Unsubscribe : [email protected]
List owner : [email protected]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
