Archive for the ‘bonobos’ CategoryThank you everyone, for your kind words, they have made me teary all over again and I have sent them to Claudine. Brian and I are just witnesses, like you. We go to Lola once or twice a year to study bonobos and learn about them. It’s the staff who need your messages, Mama Yvonne and Henriette who nursed Malou through her terrible arrival and two operations, and Jean Claude and Amos, the guardians of group three who watched over her with the other juveniles. I will translate your words into French and send them to the sanctuary. Also Claudine, who has an extra halo and pair of wings in my eyes every time something like this happens. I couldn’t do what she does, I just don’t have the strength. All we know about Malou’s death is that she was very sick on Tuesday. Crispin, the vet, called Michel, a French vet in Germany frantically to see if Michel could help. But by the next morning Malou had died. Brian spoke to Crispin yesterday who said the staff are all very sad. I know all of them have a thousand stories of Malou that would break your heart, but I’m going to share one of mine that is a precious memory and at the same time a confession. Brian was totally in love with her. I don’t think it was quite reciprocated - Malou was a little flirt with all young men, Michel the French vet was also one of her favourites. But every time Brian came up to the nursery she would run up to him, climb into his arms and start bouncing. And he would throw her in the air, as high as he could, and she would be squirming and laughing hysterically. When he caught her, she would still be laughing, and she would bounce up and down until he threw her again.
Being very possessive over her beaus, if I came anywhere near Brian in the nursery, Malou would slap me. Seriously hard. And if I still didn’t move away from him, she would jump on my head, grab fistfulls of my hair and then jump off, using my hair as bungee ropes. You can imagine the things I said to her. If you’d asked me last week whether I even liked her that much, I would have called her a little wretch and said no. But I cried all day yesterday when I heard she was gone. I’m still crying. And I’m sorry I didn’t realise how much I would miss her. Or that I loved her. And I would give anything I have, anything, if the next time I go to Lola, she would be there, to climb up my shoulders and thread her fingers through my hair, preparing to jump. Here are some photos of her. The last ones anyone will take.
arriving at the sanctuary. Covered in burns from where she probably stumbled into a fire or tipped a pot of boiling water. Malnourished, dehydrated and almost dead
Looking a lot like little Lomela when she first arrived.
with Claudine a year later. by now one of the most beautiful bonobos at Lola. the mamas call her ‘La Parisienne’ and sing songs about her trip to Paris.
with her little fingers in someone’s hair like usual
meditating in group 3.
For those that remember little Eleke, I’ve just had a report that he’s doing well. Eleke was the bonobo rescued from someone using him for witchcraft, he was in terrible pain from having his teeth forcibly pulled out, and he also had lacerations around his groin from where he was tied with a leash. His wounds are healed now, and he can eat and drink fine. He especially likes bananas and pineapple, and the mamas make sure he gets a lot of them. His mamas Yvonne and Micheline say he’s a very calm, sweet bonobo who never provokes the others. He’s always asking gently to be taken by the hand.
His new BFF (Best Friend Forever) is Lomela. She’s got the same temperament as him, in fact they’re from the same region of the Equateur. The mamas joke that they must be related. Kata is throwing a few more tantrums than usual, having her BFF stolen by Eleke, but Eleke refuses to get drawn into the fight and usually claps Lolo around the waist, hiding from the storm.
This month, thank yous go to Theresa, who gave us $45, Cathy R, who gave us $40, and our monthly donors Baerbel and our friends at the Stuttgart Zoo ($70), Sheryl, Brigitta, and Annett ($10), Maciej G ($15), Kevin C ($20). You guys are all keeping Eleke in pineapples and Lolo cashed up with bananas:)
Well the silly season’s arriving and I think it’s a good time to offer up a little prayer of thanks for Malou. She was Claudine’s Christmas baby, because exactly two years ago an airport official at a x-ray machine at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris noticed something the size and shape of a small child stuffed into someone’s hand luggage. He detained the owner, who was on transit to Russia and unzipped the bag. The creature inside was so wasted with dehydration, the official presumed it was dead. It looked so human, it could have been a child, but the official finally concluded it was a chimpanzee.
Malou was neither a child nor a chimpanzee. She was a five year old bonobo. Her mother had been shot and the humans who killed her were smuggling Malou out of the Democratic Republic of Congo to sell her as a pet in Eurasia. On the black market, a baby bonobo can sell for up to $60,000US.
By the time Malou got to Lola she was almost dead. Claudine was almost certain she wouldn’t make it. But on a wing and a prayer, Malou held onto life with all the strength in her bony little fingers, and now, two years later, she’s one of the most beautiful bonobos at Lola.
Generally, I’m not a fan of Christmas. Tackling shopping malls, waiting for hours in line, and never finding anything that anyone really wants, isn’t one of my favourite chores and tends to take up all my time. But I like to stop and think when I can, about the things that really matter, like the people we love, and how fortunate we are, and how every now and then, there’s a little Christmas miracle like Malou.
ps. all the Lo-lo fans will see how similar Malou looked to little Lomela when she first arrived. Lomela and Kata are in the nursery now, hopefully the photos will arrive soon - but i think they’re just keeping us all in suspense so that when we finally see little Lo, we’ll all be seriously and happily surprised:) On Monday the 12th of November, the day at Lola started like any other one. The sun rose to the high pitched screeches of awakening bonobos. But Claudine awoke to less pleasant news. She was notified that the Kinshasa zoo had just found a very your male bonobo in the city center. Apparently a Kinoise woman had bought him in Equateur and transported him to Kinshasa in the hopes of selling him. Unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence. What was special in this case was that the lady had an official document from the provincial environmental authority, authorizing her to transport the bonobo for commercial use. This is of course highly illegal. Forgery or a mix-up in Equateur? Upon hearing the news, Claudine immediately mobilized her troops, sending Floran and Valerie to find the woman in question and invite her to Lola. When they returned they brought with them a very weak, sick, confused little bonobo, estimated at around three years old. The poor little animal was covered in sores around the torso, from his leash, his teeth had been pulled to be used in magic potions, he was suffering from a flue, and was exhausted to the edge of death. He had been through hell and back, and was not out of the woods yet. Before he was truly safe, the Lola staff had to convince his ‘owner’ to let him stay at Lola. It is illegal for anyone to buy a bonobo in the Congo, so the Lola staff could not agree to the woman’s demand that they paid her for giving over the little bonobo. All Claudine and her colleaues could do was appeal to her sense of civic duty and basic good sense. After a long while and a tour of the sanctuary, the Lola staff managed to convince the woman that bonobos are a priceless part of the Congolese heritage, and that if she kept the bonobo he would soon die. She would gain nothing, except a fine from the police or worse. She saw the reason in the arguments of the Lola staff and made the right choice. Now, Lola ya Bonobo is the new home of Eleke, who, though still weak, is adjusting fast to life in the sanctuary. He will remain under constant supervision and in quarantine for a few days, but soon he will join the other baby bonobos in the nursery, and be given a new chance at life.
It was a big day for some of the oldest in the nursery. To make room for Lomela and Kata, (and for a little more peace and quiet) the mamas decided to introduce Lodja, Luozi, and Yolo into group 3, our group with all the juveniles.
On the first day, we put the three into the isolation enclosure and brought in some of young bonobos that have recently left the nursery so they could see some familiar faces; Maniema and Malou, as well as a gentle, funny bonobo called Kikongo who left the nursery a few years ago. There was a LOT of sex, especially since the two boys, Maniema and Kikongo have been living in group 3 with only 2 girls!! Lodja was in heaven! The boys were simply crazy about the new beauty and she was the belle of the playground for hours. Malou, her old girlfriend, was happy to see her two since Malou hasn’t managed to find a good friend yet in group 3 and has been a little lonely.
Lodja, the new belle of the ball All six bonobos slept in one room and the keeper Jean Claude found them all tangled in one hammock in the morning. On the second day, we added three more boistrous boys, Boende, Kubulu and Dilolo(whose stitches are healing nicely)
John Claude and the bad boys of group3 Lodja, once again was showered with attention. We simply don’t know how she’s going to juggle all her new boyfriends.
Dilolo & Lodja getting to know one another in the bushes
Dilolo & Lodja getting to know each other even better Yolo who was as tough as nails in the nursery was suddenly very vulnerable but Boende took Yolo under his wing, and carried him ventrally like a baby all day.
Boende & Yolo, new BFF (Best Friends Forever) On the third day, Tchilomba, the graceful female and the only adult in the group was introduced to the three with her new baby. No problems. Everyone was wonderfully happy. A good week’s work.
Well, the beautiful job Vet Crispin did on Dilolo’s stitches didn’t do much good. He absolutely hated being alone in the isolation enclosure and so somehow vaulted the electric fence to be with his friends. As soon as his buddies saw the stitches, they picked them all out, neat as budding doctors.
Crispin isolated Dilolo again, and luckily there were still two stitches left! Dilolo stayed put until Saturday when he was allowed back into the forest with his friends. The scar is healing nicely, and Dilolo, as you can see, is fine.
This is Dilolo. He absolutely beautiful but he is also a total punk, running around group three terrorising everyone. Every time I come to see group three, which has all the juveniles in it, Dilolo throws dirt at me.
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