Update on Hilton, the mangabey from Suena

Hilton is the last mangabey who arrived at the CRPL in January. He came from Goma where he was abandoned in a compound with the nose-spot monkey and the five Suena chimps. Hilton was kept alone in a cage and he was really malnourished and mistreated. When he arrived to the CRPL he was sick and he didn’t have hair and was terribly skinny.

These last months in Lwiro he has been treated with lots of care, love and attention. He is eating a lot (he specially loves milk, onions and mangoes!) and he is recovering pretty well.

Yesterday we decided to move him in the baby monkeys’ cage. He is more than happy with the company of his new cage mates and he has already established his role in the new group. He is pretty gentle with the others but he is strict specially during the feeding times…no one can touch his food!

Hilton enjoying the sunlight with his new friends
Bunyakiri and Nunuse

Hilton grooming Malimingui

Hilton protecting his food

IPPL Members Meeting 2010

The Centre de Rehabilitation des Primates de Lwiro was asked to present the sanctuary at the 2010 International Primate Protection League’s Members Meeting in South Carolina, USA. The IPPL has become a very important sponsor for the CRPL and they even covered all costs for me to attend the meeting to get the plight of the CRPL out to a more mainstream audience. The goal of the meeting is primarily to showcase the work the IPPL has been doing so that their members see where their donations are going.

I presented a 45 minute PowerPoint presentation with lots of pictures to the members and fellow speakers and I felt it went well. The feeling of the meeting was overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging; everybody at that meeting was interested in one thing: Primate welfare and conservation.

We at the CRPL would like to extend a huge thankyou to IPPL for their support and encouragement. This was an amazing opportunity for the CRPL!

Andrea

Some enrichment for the chimps!

At the CRPL we try to give new objects to the chimps to provide some enrichment. Yesterday we prepared some pieces of hose pipe with jam and sweet treats inside and we gave them to the younger chimps...and they had a really nice time!

Uvira

Loia

Lulinga

Mangue

Also Suena and Poppy (as we fondly call Poplap) enjoyed themselves a lot!

Suena

Poplap

Poplap and Suena

NEWS FROM ROOTS&SHOOTS-LWIRO!

This month new members have joined R&S-Lwiro club! Patrick Wasso, an enthusiastic and young primate keeper at the CRPL has become the club leader. He loves wildlife and he knows the Congolese animals extremely well.

Last Sunday we started the first meeting with Patrick as leader. The experience was wonderful! Thanks to R&S France we were able to enjoy the reading of amazing books in French about great apes and see pictures of African wildlife.

Patrick explained Jane Goodall’s work in Swahili to all the club members so the new ones could learn about her and the aim of the Roots&Shoots clubs all around the world. We could also read it from a nice magazine with plenty of pictures and drawings made by JGI France. At the end we tried to draw a chimpanzee following the steps found in the magazine.

We would like to thank R&S France, and its coordinator Mehdi Daval in particular, for allowing us to keep on our activities with some more educational materials about great apes in French! ASANTE SANA!!!

An update on Kalume

Kalume was a tiny baby when he was captured and bad injured by poachers (you can read more about him in older posts). Now he is a big and gentle boy about 11 years old. However he has reduced mobility in his legs, he is pretty active and he loves to play with Mama Dorcas who spend the whole day with him.

These last days we fixed in the bars of his den a plastic tube with some holes. Inside the tube we put honey and some other sweet treats to keep him busy for a while. At first he explored the new stuff in the grill…

…and the he used a stick to get the nice food inside…

Every evening his keepers leave dried banana leaves inside his indoor bedroom…Sometimes Kalume sleeps in this room but some evenings he decides to take all the leaves outside and he builds a huge nest in a different point!

Then he lies down watching the keepers tidying and cleaning the surroundings at the end of the day…and during the night he can watch the moon and the stars...
’Good night, Kalume’…

Thank you! Update on the urgent appeal!

Our Urgent Appeal has been going for a bit over two weeks now, and we are very happy with the response! A huge thank you to the people that have donated these last two weeks, EVERY donation is very very important to us!!

Maria D - 25$

Cleve H - 40$

Lesley M - 25$

Jordi C - 90$

Cristina T - 60$

Athena B - 100$

Karen M - 25$

Marianne G - 15$

And a special thanks to Danny H for donating 1000$!

All the money donated will be used to continue building the new forested enclosure for the chimpanzees in our care.

Please consider helping us! Every dollar is important!!

Here is a cute picture of Mangay for you all ;)

ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS!

Today has been a funny day for Poplap and Suena (and of course for us!). The first days at the CRPL they have been indoors to settle in the new home. The two new chimps have proved they are already good friends and they are confident and relaxed with the new situation. So this morning we let them to go out and enjoy the outdoor facility.It is amazing to see them enjoying the sunlight and playing…

sharing food…

and grooming each other.

Poplap laid down and watched the forest in front of them for a long while. This is the forest we are fencing to get a forested enclosure for the CRPL chimps. It seemed she was dreaming of climbing those high trees and eating the flowers around them (she loves flowers!!)...

We hope her dream will become true soon. Please, help us to finish the fence. Thank you!

SUENA AND POPLAP PLAYING!

The two new chimps at the CRPL are settling in pretty well! They spend long time playing and laughing!

SUENA AND POPLAP ALREADY TOGETHER!

This morning Suena and Poplap shared a same room for the first time in their lifes!

At first the big boy was a little bit scared but Poplap was pretty playfull...

Finally they got confidence to each other and now they love to look through their window together!

Two new rescued chimps at the CRPL!

The arrival

Two rescued chimps from the abandoned Suena sanctuary in Goma arrived to the CRPL last evening. They were abandoned by expats who left the DRCongo leaving them and 3 younger chimps unattended. The 3 younger ones were handed over to J.A.C.K. in Lubumbashi and the two adults are now safe in Lwiro.

Suena (male) and Poplap (female) were confiscated by the I.C.C.N. After a long journey by boat and road they finally enjoy the new dens. They are waiting to be introduced to each other as they have spent their lives separated in different cages.

CRPL would like to thank the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) for covering all the transfer expenses and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project staff who prepared and accompanied the chimps during the transfer ensuring their health and welfare.

Poplap beeing moved inside her room

Poplap enjoying the view

Poplap discovering the tire

Poplap in her new room

Poplap relaxing in her blanket

Suena unloaded from the truck

Suena beeing moved into his room
Suena in his window

Suena