Lola Ya Bonobo

Category: the sanctuary | Date: Nov 16 2007 | By: admin

Field report from Claudine and Florent who recently returned from another exploration of the Equateur, near Basankusu.

‘We were on our great quest for the next Grand Lola that will be the next stage in the reintroduction of bonobos into the wild. After floating up the most beautiful rivers whose waters were pitch black, Maringa, Lopori, and Lulonga, we identified a site that wasn’t covered by the annual floods from October to mid December.

The site is 20,000 hectares, a perfect triangle with natural borders, the only occupants being local fishermen. We left to meet the cheifs of the “Pô” tribe and we asked them if they would accept the role of being guardians of bonobos in the future.

We would use the Po people as 60% of our staff in our new Lola, and we would help raise their incomes as well as helping their schools. The people of the forest are very poor, they only have three primary schools and one secondary school in the whole area!

We had a great response from the people. They are excited about the idea of a Grand Lola. The war is still very real here, it’s quite near the front line of a number of past combats. We have found many orphaned children in the region. But nearly everyone goes to school - a Congolese miracle to be sure!

At the moment, we hope to participate in a census of the area to see what kind of wildlife is around and if there are any bonobos. While the census happens, we want to find a base camp in Basankusu so we can get started on the island of GrandLola!

Dominique is raising the funds. I must contact the local, regional, and national authorities to create our dream, an intermediary site for releasing bonobos back into the wild! We are all very excited about creating another world of paradise for the bonobos!’