Roots&Shoots-Lwiro: spreading the conservation message

During these last months R&S-Lwiro has been growing. Starting with 9 children just 8 months ago, the group now consists of over 20 children! The children keep busy during their weekly meetings and have recently been deciding how to spread a conservation message about primate protection to the local community.

Roots&Shoots Lwiro club

The children have decided their first activity will be to perform a dramatic piece about chimpanzees. Patrick, the club leader, has written this play in Swahili and the actors are already practicing their lines. Due to fact that they are extremely shy and it is the first time they have performed a play, we have decided to use chimpanzee and gorilla puppets. We are also designing masks to use for dramatic effect.

Mariamu and her chimp puppet

Frank and Patrick reading the lines

The second activity the children have proposed is to create posters with conservation messages to spread the word to the community. However, as the club didn’t have any place to exhibit their posters they proposed to create a public notice board. Thanks the generous donation from Roots&Shoots-Madrid we fabricated a wonderful wooden board at the entrance of the sanctuary (CRPL). On this board the R&S-Lwiro members have hung information about the 12 primate species of the sanctuary, pictures of the staff (their parents) at work and pictures of the 48 chimpanzees at the CRPL. On another part of the board, they have displayed information about the Roots&Shoots program, an updated picture of the R&S-Lwiro group and some of the posters they have made. Patrick and the rest of the members will be in charge of updating the board on a regular basis so the community and visitors can read this information.

Salomon drawing his poster about poaching

The first wooden board

The second board with R&S-Lwiro work

Some CRPL keepers reading the posters

We would like to thank R&S Madrid and its coordinator Marisa Mariñán in particular, for their donation which has allowed us to buy additional stationary material and build the display board to spread messages to the community. Also, we thank the Jane Goodall Institute Spain for its constant support and advice.

In memory of Hombo

Hombo looking cute

Last week something really sad happened in the baby monkey cage. There was a big fight and Hombo must have fallen badly and hit his head. He was alive when the keepers found him, but died only a few hours later...

Hombo was a young blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) and one of the smallest residents in Lwiro. He was a sweet and careful character that arrived at the CRPL almost one year ago. He quickly found a good friend in the red-tailed monkey Bunyakiri. He also loved his keeper Jacques.

He arrived in Lwiro because his mother was killed for bushmeat and he was tried sold as a pet. The ICCN found him and confiscated him and brought him to us.

But he should have lived in the wild with the protection of his mother. Monkeys fight in the wild as well, and accidents like this is difficult to avoid completely. But living in small spaces means there is a lot more fighting. We do our best, but lack so much money to build the enclosures necessary.

We will always remember this sweet little monkey, Hombo- rest in peace.


Hombo hugging his friend Bunyakiri

Hombo having a nap

Hombo in the baby-monkey cage

Fence update

Here is some new photos of the fence construction. 100 fence posts are now up!

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