Lwiro Primates

Donations in January

2012-02-01T19:07:00.003+02:00

We've raised 285$ for running cost in January! This is a big help and goes towards paying food for chimps and monkeys and sallary for caregivers among other things! A big thank you to the five who donated! Ryan K, Brenton H, Kelly J, Manuel Z and Christine W thank you so much for helping!

Grace

New arrival: Rambo

2012-01-20T21:20:00.004+02:00

Yesterday another chimpanzee arrived in Lwiro. He is around 3 years old, is called Rambo and arrived after a very long journey. He came all the way from Orientale in Central Congo and his journey included a flight from Kisangani to Goma and a car journey from Goma to Lwiro. Both a very long and very expensive trip!

JGI Italy, JGI Switzerland and JGI Germany did a huge effort to fundraise enough money for Rambos transport to Lwiro. They did a great job and even fundraised enough to support his care in CRPL for a while! Thank you for your big effort to save Rambo!

UGADEC, JGI Congo and ICCN did a great job in coordinate the transfer. This was a huge coordination effort and everyone was working together to get Rambo safely to Lwiro!

A big thank you to everyone involved with this rescue, Rambo has better days ahead!

He was in relatively good health on arrival a bit thin and his hair is a bit patchy, but otherwise good and he quickly bonded with the keeper. He will now spend one month in quarantine with the best possible care before he will be introduced to his new friends!

Please consider helping us care for Rambo and the other 51 chimpanzees in Lwiro, donate towards our running cost for 2012. Running cost covers food and medicines for the chimps and monkey, salary for our Congolese workers, repairs, etc... Running cost of CRPL is now about 6000$ a month.

Rambo arrived in a car from Goma

Rambo on arrival with the chain around his waist.

Welcome Rambo!

Update on the new chimpanzee enclosure

2012-01-06T22:02:00.006+02:00

The new chimpanzee enclosure is soon finished! The newest addition is three drinking fountains and a small shallow pool that the chimps can play in! These are sponsored by the Sweden Chimpanzee Trust who generously gave us 4300 dollars. Thank you so much! The only thing missing on the fence now is the electric system, and we hope to be finished with this by the end of February, fingers crossed!

Donations in 2011

2012-01-05T20:32:00.005+02:00

We want to give a big thank you to the people that have donated through this blog and facebook in 2011! We raised 322$ in normal donations. This is being used for food for the chimps and monkeys!

Ryan K, Athena B, Lynne B, Brenton H, Melanie K, Jacqueline M and Stephanie L. Thank you!

And for the community campaign for mattresses for the women hospital we raised 420$

Cheryl R, Ryan K, Laetitia C, Simon D, Karen M, Brenton H, Norhild J, Lucia S, Melanie K, Rebecca A. Thank you!

Grace

Baboons arrive in Lwiro

2011-12-18T12:37:00.003+02:00

A couple of weeks ago the ICCN brought two olive baboons that they had confiscated from bad conditions to Lwiro. It's a young male and a young female, and they've been named Killo and Killa. They are going through their quarantine at the moment and are doing well! We are very glad that our new baboon enclosure, funded by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, soon is finished! Because the CRPL now cares for 15 baboons!

Itebero is introduced to Walikale!

2011-09-22T15:13:00.004+02:00

On the 20^th of September Itebero was introduced to Walikale for the first time! They had a great day together and even played quite a lot. Itebero also took well to Papa Luc, the caregiver! Itebero is now in with Walikale and Papa Luc full time and has adjusted very well. We will keep you updated!

Roots&Shoots Peace Day in Lwiro!

2011-09-20T14:57:00.004+02:00

Last Sunday the R&S-Lwiro club celebrated the Peace Day! Another R&S group from Bukavu (R&S-Heri Kwetu) was invited to join them in this special celebration. This guest group is formed with children who come from the Heri Kwetu center which is a center for disabled, handicaped or orphan children. More than 200 kids were together to talk about the importance of the Peace not just for humans but also for the animals and the environment.

Both R&S clubs prepare banners, songs and dramas for the Peace Day. The kids enjoyed performing and sharing their peace wishes. They made a sign with their messages of peace on hand cut outs (Amani is Peace in swahili).

It was also a special date for sharing experiences and activities to protect the environment and especially the primates.

Meet Luguswa!

2011-09-19T09:21:00.007+02:00

Last Friday afternoon a new chimp arrived unexpectedly to Lwiro in a tiny wooden cage. He was brought by authorities of the Ministery of the Environment of South Kivu. He had been confiscated in a village from the south of the province after being kept there as pet for 3 years...

The chimp name is Luguswa. He is a male about 4 years old with a very special personality. Although he is so thin, pale and hairless, he is strong and very confident with the keeper. His past must have been really hard and now he is really enjoying his new life at the sanctuary. He specially loves feeding times...so many different kind of vegetables and fruits to choose!

Hopefully in few weeks he will get more weight and he will become a healthy and happy chimp ready to meet the group of youngers!

Walikale having a sun bath!

2011-09-01T10:15:00.005+02:00

After some days of heavy rain at last the sun shines again in Lwiro! This morning was the time to have a sun bath and Walikale enjoyed the outdoors with his keeper. He is doing pretty well and he loves having naps.

Itebero is improving little by little. He needs to rest and get used to his new place. He is getting the best attention and cares. We'll post some pictures soon.

New arrival at the CRPL

2011-08-30T13:39:00.003+02:00

Itebero is the last arrival in Lwiro. He was confiscated to poachers by the ICCN in Walikale and brought to the CRPL. He arrived in very poor conditions and presented a rotten snare under the skin and muscles of his right wrist. After removing the wire under anesthesia, we could appreciate he can't move his right hand due to the aberrant cicatrization of the tendons and muscles. Itebero has also terrible scars in his waist that indicate he has been tied with a rope for several months.

He is completely malnourished and weak but is drinking milk and eating some fruits (he adores passion fruit!). He has proved he's got a strong character who helped him to survive to such terrible experiences and now he is getting lot of cares at the sanctuary. We will keep you updated on his advances.

Still building...

2011-08-24T09:46:00.002+02:00

Our construction team is working overtime, the overhangs are still going up on the Chimpanzee Habitat! And, the foundations are being laid for the Baboon Habitat!

Construction continues - for the chimpanzees and baboons!

2011-08-18T10:27:00.002+02:00

The chimpanzee habitat continues....

And so does the baboon habitat!

Friends of Lwiro Australia run the Sydney's City to Surf for the CRPL!

2011-08-17T09:50:00.003+02:00

Friends of LWIRO Australia is one of the Management Advisory Groups of the CRPL – raising funds for operational costs and providing advise and technical support! See below the great efforts they go to too support the CRPL!

Friends of LWIRO Australia committee members and supporters ran the gruelling 14km from Sydney City to Bondi Beach as part of Sydney’s City to Surf fun run. The goal was to raise money for Centre for Primate Rehabilitation LWIRO (CRPL).

The team looked great wearing the new Friends of LWIRO Australia t-shirts while they joined 85 000 other runners to conquer heart break hill, the long stretches to the beach and the rain.

Lou, Wally, Brent, Lou, Katie, Rochelle, Ryan, Hayley, Brownie, Simon and Indhi (the youngest runner at just 6 years old!) all had a great time. Well done team! Thanks for your support for CRPL!

Simon, FOL Australia.

Construction begins on the new baboon facility!

2011-08-15T10:00:00.003+02:00

Saturday we started to measure out the perimeters for the new baboon facility which has been financed by the Fondation Brigitte Bardot!

This facility will improve the life of our baboon residents no end! We will keep you updated on the progress.

Chimpanzee Habitat for Conservation and Education continues...

2011-08-02T13:39:00.003+02:00

The overhang for the forest fence is going up fast now! The fence is looking more complete every day!

THANK YOU FONDATION BRIGITTE BARDOT!

2011-07-30T11:10:00.003+02:00

The CRPL would like to thank the Fondation Brigitte Bardot for their generous grant to construct a new facility for our baboon residents. Your help is so appreciated!

The addition of this new facility to the CRPL will change the lives of these animals by giving them a larger space which will be both mentally and physically more stimulating than their current cages.

Thank you!

We will keep you all posted on the construction of the facility on the blog as it happens.

http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr/

Walikale Update!

2011-07-28T12:52:00.003+02:00

Walikale has been at the CRPL for almost a month now. Before arriving, his family group were attacked by poachers. Some of the chimpanzees would have been killed for meat, while Walikale was probably taken alive to sell as a pet. However, the Congolese government conservation authority (ICCN) intercepted Walikale and bought him to the CRPL for rehabilitation and care.

We believe Walikale is around 4-5 months old as he is very small and has under developed motor skills. He is however doing very well, eating lots of different foods and playing and laughing continuously through the day. Being a very small baby, Walikale also takes a few naps!

The forest fence continues - with thanks to IPPL and the Arcus Foundation!

2011-07-10T11:01:00.005+02:00

With thanks to the International Primate Protection League and the Arcus Foundation we were able to start the new faze of our ‘Chimpanzee Habitat for Conservation and Education’ yesterday! The money they have granted us was used to purchase a part of the metallic overhang and will be used for some general running costs for the centre and also a military education program! Once again we are so grateful for the support of IPPL and the Arcus foundation! And we are so excited to be continuing with the forest enclosure!

Walikale - new arrival!

2011-07-02T09:01:00.003+02:00

Yesterday afternoon, the 1^st of July, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) arrived at our door with a baby chimpanzee which had been confiscated. Walikale is a little male around 4-5 months of age and was given his name from the village where he was confiscated. He is in fairly good physical condition and we assume came out of the forest not more than a few days ago. He was wrapped in a plastic bag and clung to it desperately, we assume had been in it for some time and that it was the only security he had known for the last few days. He also had a cord tied around his waist on arrival.

Sadly, the arrival of another infant tells us that the killing of chimpanzees and other wildlife in Congo is still very prevalent and the trade in infant chimpanzees continues. Usually, a chimpanzee group is attacked and the adults which are killed are sold as bushmeat and the infants sold as pets.

Walikale is eating a little banana so far and drinking a little milk. Heis very young; he is not even able to walk yet and will require a great deal of love and care.

Roots and Shoots Lwiro - World Ocean Day!

2011-06-16T10:54:00.002+02:00

On the 12^th of June our Roots & Shoots club of Lwiro met again to celebrate World Ocean Day. As we are nowhere near an ocean here, but are very close to Lake Kivu we taught the children the differences between lakes and oceans. We also talked about why the lake is so important to the children, their families and the animals who live there and what we can do to keep the lake healthy for everyone to enjoy!

Turning a corner....

2011-06-02T13:51:00.003+02:00

We are literally turning another corner – well covering another with the wire mesh! I know all the pictures we post of the fence may seem the same, but every new roll of mesh we unwrap feels like another giant hurdle we are jumping! Still have a few stages to go, but we feel like we are finally seeing this project turn into the “Chimpanzee Habitat” that we can imagine!

Chimpanzee Habitat for Conservation and Education continues!

2011-05-19T09:13:00.002+02:00

The fence construction is continuing, with the mesh up on over half the fence today! We are moving forward, which is a relief, but still have some way to go. If you would like to contribute to the fence appeal, 100% of the funds donated through the blog go directly to the fence construction! Watch this space for more updates!

Welcome Bernard!

2011-05-18T09:26:00.002+02:00

Bernard arrived on the 8^th of May at the CRPL. She was the pet of Congolese military; however the commanding officer surrendered her into the care of the Congolese conservation authority (ICCN). He then accompanied the ICCN to the sanctuary to see where the young Owl-faced monkey would live. Bernard was in good health on arrival and will spend one month in quarantine before we integrate her into a group with other monkeys.

We now have a total of 64 monkeys! Space is very limited, but we give them the best food and health care we possibly can. We are working toward improvements in housing for all animals of the CRPL!

THANK YOU IPPL!

2011-04-11T09:39:00.003+02:00

Once again we would like to thank the International Primate Protection League for their continued support of the CRPL! They have awarded us yet more funds to continue our work here with the 111 primates in our care! What an amazing organization!

Thank you IPPL and supporters of IPPL, we are so grateful.

Fence construction continues!

2011-03-29T08:29:00.002+02:00

With thanks to our amazing sponsors the next faze in construction on the 'Chimpanzee Habitat for Conservation and Education' began yesterday!

Lwiro Roots and Shoots continues!

2011-03-28T14:22:00.004+02:00

Roots and Shoots Lwiro now has a new instructor – Roger! Roger did an amazing job at teaching the children about World Forest Day and the importance of forests in the lives of people and animals! And most importantly, what the children can do to save their own forests in

Congo

The children had such a fantastic time they couldn’t stay in their seats! Roger also used story telling and songs in his lesson. The children were keen to share their own stories and songs as well.

Amazing support from amazing organizations - THANK YOU!

2011-03-22T09:53:00.007+02:00

The CRPL is so happy to announce that since January 2011 we have been awarded four grants.

The International Primate Protection League US– a fantastic supporter of the CRPL - awarded us one of their end of year grants. While the International Primate Protection League UK also awarded us a grant. These funds will contribute to the running costs of the CRPL and the continued construction of the fences. We thank IPPL for their ongoing support.

Chester Zoo awarded a grant for the completion of a parasitological study working within the CRPL and Kahuzi-Biega National Park.
And Columbus Zoo have awarded the CRPL a grant to cover the costs of the electric and solar power system for the ‘Chimpanzee Habitat for Conservation and Education’.

The assistance of these organizations is so appreciated. We can not thank you enough.

How do you feed over 100 primates?

2011-02-17T09:14:00.005+02:00

It is a challenge to find the right food and enough of it here in Lwiro to feed the 100 plus primates in our care. In the dry season, food can be hard to find or the quality isn’t fantastic. Generally we purchase all of our dry stock in bulk from Bukavu (the city 60km from Lwiro). And we purchase all of our fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers either from the twice weekly markets or when they come to the door to sell us their goods. However, even with this system, sometimes we found it hard to get enough food. So, as the sanctuary was growing, we decided it was time to start a farm of our own. Still 80% of our food is purchased from local people, but our farm gives us a little security and the opportunity to grow items not found here in Lwiro already. Having a farm also means more employment in the local area – so everyone wins.

Here at the CRPL we grow:

Bananas
Mangoes
Avocadoes
Papaya
Guavas
Kumquats
Oranges
Lemons
Apples (although, the trees are not yet mature)
Custard apples
Zinziber (a forest fruit)
Tomatoes
Onions
Pumpkins
Eggplants

Custard Apples

Orange

Banana tree

Zinziber

Papaya

Corn (mais)

Pumpkins

Having fun in the infant group!

2011-02-16T08:41:00.004+02:00

Maiko

Julius

Papy our caregiver grooming the babies! Aketi waits for his turn.

Papy tickling Aketi!

Misisi!

Maiko chasing the others...

Learn more about the CRPL

2010-12-23T12:49:00.006+02:00

The CRPL is officially managed by a committee of three organisations:

Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) represented by Radar Nisuli, Directeur et Chef de Site au PNKB.

The ICCN is the wildlife authority in DRC. They are in charge of protected areas and community conservation development around these areas. As well, they fight against the illegal animal trafficing and confiscate animals from poachers or private individuals who are housing endangered animals illegally. http://www.iccn.cd

Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN) represented by Jacques Mwanga, Chef du département de Biologie du CRSN;The CRSN was established on July 1, 1947 by Prince Charles of Belgium. The CRSN has aimed to raise, promote, conduct and study the sciences of human and nature especially in the Belgian Congo and Rwanda-Burundi. http://crsn-lwiro.blogspot.com; http://www.fieldmuseum.org/congo_french/instcrsn.html

NGO Coopera represented by Carmen Vidal, Technical Director.

Coopera is a Spanish NGO which was established in 1994 in Logroño (Spain) to carry out international cooperation projects for development through local NGOs. Since foundation, we have developed projects in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Angola, Guatemala, Peru, México, Israel and now in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

During this time we have stated that the exploitation of natural and biological resources; together with its loss, is one of the main causes of poverty.

For this reason, we use the conservation of biodiversity as a key strategy for the social and economic development of local communities. COOPERA NGO has always used education as the main tool for the interventions’ durability.

Coopera NGO has been working in DRC since November 2006 developing a “Community Conservation Program” in South Kivu Province. www.coopera.cc

The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) has extended its conservation network across central Africa by granting membership to the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing the total number of PASA member sanctuaries that care for orphaned apes and monkeys to 20.

Lwiro is the first new member admitted to PASA since 2008. The facility was accepted into PASA following a detailed application process that included a site inspection and a vote of the PASA advisory council. http://www.pasaprimates.org/

We also are certified by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.

The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) was formed in 2007 by nationally and globally recognized leaders in the animal protection field for the sole purpose of strengthening and supporting the work of animal sanctuaries in the United States and abroad.

http://www.sanctuaryfederation.org/gfas/home

Coopera NGO, is also the representative in the field for other international NGO which supported the CRPL since the beginning. These are:

· Venner av Lwiro from Norway

· Rainfer, a Spanish primate rescue center from Spain

· Friends of Lwiro from Australia,

· Wildvets, Spain

We have received funds from different organizations. Without their help our work could not continue. All the animals from Lwiro Rehabilitation Center say THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT SUPPORT:

· IPPL: International Primate Protection League, USA

· AWARE Germany: Animal Wild Aid Rehabilitation and Education, Germany

· ISP: International Primatological Society, USA

· Fundacion Altarriba, Spain

· AIZA: Asociación Ibérica de Zoológicos y Acuáriums, Spain

· Kristiansand Dyre Park, Norway

· Sea World and Busch Gardens, USA

· Chester Zoo, UK

· Zoo de Barcelona, Spain

· FAADA: Fundación para la Adopción y el Apadrinamiento de los Animales no-humanos, Spain

· MONUC: United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Congo

· Fundacion MONA, Spain

· Taronga Zoo, Australia

· Rotary Dandenong Club, Australia

· JGI Spain: Jane Goodall Institut Spain

· JGI Uganda: The Jane Goodall Institute Uganda

· JGI Holland: The Jane Goodall Institute Holland

· JGI Australia: The Jane Goodall Institute Australia

· Disney, USA

· Oregon Zoo Foundation, USA

· Spanish Ministry of Environment

· Equip Vert, Spain

AND TO ALL OF OUR PRIVATE DONORS WHOSE CONTRIBUTIONS MEAN A GREAT DEAL TO ALL OF US! THANK YOU!

Rest in Peace Monuc

2010-12-02T23:24:00.002+02:00

The CRPL management is very sad to announce the passing of Monuc. Monuc was a very beautiful female chimpanzee who was always a gentle soul. She lived in a group with other adult chimpanzees and enjoyed watching the outlook from the cage! Monuc arrived in July 2002 and was most likely born in 2001. Like all chimpanzees at the CRPL Monuc was poached from the wild – loosing her family and suffering greatly in the process. We gave her the best life we possibly could and only wish that she is in a better place now. Our veterinarians are following up results, but it seems she has passed away from an infection. We can not express our sadness at loosing Monuc – there are no words for it!

Pepin arrives at the CRPL!

2010-11-27T22:35:00.003+02:00

A new baby Cercopithecus ascanius has arrived at CRPL! This little red-tailed monkey was confiscated in the Miti area in the South Kivu Provence. The confiscation was completed by the ICCN (Institut Congolaise pour la Conservation de la Nature), the Congolese Governments Authority for Conservation. He was being kept as a pet.

The little male has been called Pepin and will remain in quarentine for a one month period before being introduced to the other baby monkeys.

When Pepin arrived he was given a thorough examination by Dr. Luis Flores (Wildvets veterinarian - currently managing CRPL short term) and Dr. Masunga (our local vet incharge of animal rounds and daily medications). The examination showed that Pepin was in very bad physical condition - thin, poor hair condition and full of parasites.

Pepin is now being provided with lots of food and water and a clean environment. He has improved significantly since his arrival! We can't wait until he also has some play mates!

Enrichment for the animals!

2010-11-23T09:42:00.002+02:00

The staff at the CRPL have been giving the animals some enrichment today! Firehose with special treats inside and lots more. See the pictures below.

More work on the fences....

2010-11-11T23:17:00.004+02:00

Work on the enclosure continues! These pictures show Michel, Vincent and their wonderful team of local men hard at work soldering the remaining brackets in place and then painting the posts. The first coat of pain (red) is a rust deterrent – we want to be sure this enclosure lasts a very long time! And the second coat of paint (green) is to blend the enclosure into the surroundings.

This is going to be a spectacular construction – especially once the chimpanzees are inside! We still have a way to go, if you would like to be a part of the project click the donate button to your left! We will bring you more updates as soon as we can!

CRPL Newsletter!

2010-11-08T12:51:00.002+02:00

Check out our Newsletter!

http://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=f467751e08157f0cc2de6107d&id=b7089e9a48

Why not join our mailing list on the left, if you haven't done so already!

Sad loss: Bunyakiri

2010-10-26T21:55:00.001+02:00

At the CRPL we face many challenges; and loosing animals is always the hardest of all. Sadly, little Bunyakiri a red tailed monkey passed away a few days ago. Bunyakiri was confiscated in September of 2009, in the village of Bunyakiri by the ICCN. Since arriving at the sanctuary Bunyakiri has lived with the other infant monkeys; enjoying play, sunshine and a good diet.

For the past few weeks, Bunyakiri has had some inflammation around the throat area. However, she has continued to eat and behave as normal. After much investigation and intensive care in the last few days, she passed away in the care of the veterinarian. A final investigation showed that a grasshopper leg had been caught in her throat. All of the monkeys of CRPL enjoy eating grasshoppers; they provide both enrichment and protein in their diet. Unfortunately, Bunyakiri had trouble with one and there were no symptoms to suggest distress.

The veterinarian and staff of the CRPL strive to give the best care possible to all animals. To loose a beautiful baby monkey, who had already been through so much in her life is distressing for everyone.

Parrots

2010-10-21T23:33:00.006+02:00

The building of 8 new parrot enclosures is almost finished thanks to the donations from the the World Parrot Trust of 4000 dollars. Last week all the parrots were examined and seperated into four different enclosures, according to their health status and ability to fly.

CRPL accepted as the 19th PASA sanctuary!

2010-10-05T03:04:00.004+02:00

The Centre de Rehabilitation des Primates de Lwiro, along with the managing partners - the ICCN, CRSN and Coopera – are so happy to announce that we have been accepted as the 19^th Pan African Sanctuary Alliance sanctuary.

PASA works tirelessly to unite the primate sanctuaries of Africa and to support them in caring for thousands of great apes and monkeys which have become victims of illegal trade and activities.

After completing the application process, PASA sent a qualified inspector to Lwiro to oversee our daily routines, protocols and to discuss our future plans. After this, a detailed report was submitted by the inspector to PASA and a vote decided that we are able to become a member sanctuary.

The partners, sponsors and individuals involved in the CRPL have worked very hard to continually improve our standards and care for the animals at the sanctuary. And while we have only just joined PASA, they have helped us to reach our goals in the past in many ways. We are so grateful to PASA for their assistance in the past and for accepting us as a member sanctuary. And we look forward to working with them in the years to come!

Thank you PASA!

http://www.pasaprimates.org/

Big step for Sakina and Grace

2010-10-02T21:19:00.004+02:00

Sakina and Grace have now moved in with the othere baby chimps in the nursery group! They have been there for two days and are doing well. We were a bit worried especially for Grace as he is so much smaller than the others, but it seems Sakina is the one that is most scared. Grace is a little fighter and puts the others in their place! We are confident that the two soon will be a well integrated part of the group.

Parrot update

2010-09-26T10:44:00.005+02:00

The parrots are doing well in the new enclosure. There have not been any deaths the last two days and we are very happy about that! There has been 29 dead in total.
We have employed three parrot keepers that are doing a good job keeping the enclosure clean and feeding the parrots. The ICCN has brought lots of palm nuts from the lowland, as they don't grow here, and they have also put 4 park rangers to guard the parrots. The parrots love the palm nuts so it's clear that this is something they are used to eating in the wild!

PASA and The World Parrot Trust is working toghether helping us with advise and funding, thank you so much guys, we couldn't do it without you!

Palm nuts

Parrots while cleaning, we put leaves on the ground when cleaning is finished.

The three parrot keepers
The 4 park rangers keeping guard

Parrots!!

2010-09-22T09:06:00.006+02:00

So it's time to tell you all whole story about the parrots...
On Saturday afternoon at about four o'clock, we got a phone call from the ICCN that they had confiscated African grey parrots in the airport of Kavumu, which is the airport for Bukavu and is situated only 6km from Lwiro. There were 6 cages all weighing in at about 50kg!
There is a little bit of back story to this though. Last week the governor of South Kivu was here in Lwiro in a seminar in the research center. So before his arrival the chief of police in the area came to the sanctuary to check the security. The staff used the usual sensibilization program and told him about the illegal hunting and trade in animals, and that these animals are the treasures of Congo and should be looked after. He then mentioned that there was something strange going on with animals in the Kavumu airport... So he was the one calling the ICCN when he discovered the parrots. The ICCN arrived, but they might not have been able to stop the trafficker if it wasn't for the Governor that was at that moment leaving Lwiro on his way back to Bukavu. He was called and he stopped in the airport and did the confiscation himself! He has formerly worked in conservation so he knows a lot and obviously cares! The parrots came from the neighbor province of Maniema, and were destined to a pet trader in Singapore.

So at six o'clock in the evening the cars came with the six cages full of parrots. As you know we don't have a lot of space here, and all cages is occupied by chimps or monkeys, so or only solution was to put them in the education room, just to get them out of the transport crates... We had to take them out one by one, counted them in the process, and made sure they had lots of water available. They were 523 African gray parrots, but 5 were already dead.
The next morning we gave them food, and then started the process of checking everyone’s wings. To stop them flying they had tied one feather of the outer wing around a few others, some on one wing some on both, and a lucky few on none. Some wings were a mess, and these birds will have to grow new feathers to be able to fly, and on some only the one feather that was used to tie the others was destroyed.
The ICCN and the CRSN- research center, went to work on building an enclosure for them in the arches of the walkway of the center and doing a great job. And yesterday, Tuesday, we moved all the parrots to a more appropriate enclosure there, this will also be expanded.

The plan is to release all the parrots, but they need to be fit and able to fly well.
As of Wednesday morning 26 parrots are dead... We hope there won't be too many more... But we have heard that it is normal that at least 20% die.. we will see..

But thank you all for your support so far, it's been amazing!
And a special thanks to PASA for helping us a lot!

The cages arriving

The parrots in the cages

At night after removing the parrots from the cages, some went back in, but at least it was not as crowded.

Temporary housing in the education room the next day.
Checking the wings and clipping the knots

New enclosure in the walkway.

Parrots in the new enclosure

Sakina and Grace

2010-09-16T11:17:00.015+02:00

Sakina and Grace are doing very well! Sakina is playing all day long, Grace is a bit more careful, but also plays a lot. But he does think his new big sister is a bit too big and playing a bit rough sometimes. They've both had a bit of a cold this week, but not very bad.

Grace

Sakina

Thank you Diane!

2010-09-15T11:00:00.004+02:00

We would like to say a big thank you to our friend Diane, who in the event of her 60th birthday in August, fundraised 1469$! She asked friends for donations instead of presents, and she also had a marked stall where she sold items and raffle tickets. What a great initiativ, and we are so grateful! We would like to thank all the people who supported Diane, and a special thanks to
Jenna & Jon K --- Phyllis C -- Lory L --- Fran K ---- Pauline T --- Chrissa O

Maiko and all the others in Lwiro says a big thank you! :)

Sunny morning in Lwiro!

2010-09-06T10:16:00.049+02:00

Yongesa- gomagroup

Alsace- gomagroup

Gari -gomagroup

Kadutu- Malboucks vervet monkey

Baboons-Bavo grooming Brandi

David- red-tailed monkey

Lume - Kongos group

Flora- Kongos group

Sherif - big boss

Bolungwa- gomagroup

Vero, newcomer l'hoest monkey

Nice view to the mountains of Kahuzi Biega nationalpark

Clara- Kongos group

Irangi- gomagroup

Keeper Jean Paul with Django- gomagroup

Katana and Lulingu- blue monkeys

Kongo

The rainy season has started, which belive it or not means more sun and clearer days! In the dry season there is always a sort of mist in the air, so never clear blue skies or a nice view. But last night it rained a lot, and the air this morning is really clear and the sky is blue! All the animals and the people is enjoying the sunshine!

Suena and Poppy making nests :)

2010-09-02T11:28:00.013+02:00

Fence update

2010-08-31T11:29:00.014+02:00

The building of the new chimpanzee enclosure is continuing. Now all the fence posts are up, and most of the foundation is finished. Yesterday they started soldering the bits that will hold the overhang up onto the fence posts. They are doing a fantastic job with the fence and it looks amazing!

Still some holes to fill inn...

But most of the foundation is finished!

Soldering on the top of the fence posts.

Beautiful butterfly sitting on the fence foundation ;)

Sakina and Grace are doing well!

2010-08-28T11:04:00.007+02:00

Sakina and Grace are both doing great! They eat a lot and play with eachother and their caregivers. Sakina is almost twice the size of Grace so she can be a bit much for him, therfore they have two caregivers like that one can play with Sakina while Grace needs a cuddle. Sakinas nose i a bit better, but still a bit swollen. We belive it is an infection from a tooth, so she might need to be anestetized to pull out the tooth before it can get properly well.

Grace

Grace and Sakina

Sakina

Sakina morning milk

New arrival: Vero

2010-08-26T13:35:00.005+02:00

Last week, the 19th, another new arrival came to the CRPL. She is a young l'hoesti monkey about 2-3years old, and we named her Vero. She came with a military officer from the south near Uvira. He wanted to sell her to us, but we explained that we don't buy monkeys and it's illegal to keep. Luckily the cief of PNKB, South Kivu, came just then and explained to the officer about conservation and that it was illegal to keep monkeys and that they should be with other monkeys, not being kept as a pet. The officer agreed and the next day he came with the monkey and handed her over to CRPL. She is a bit skinny, but otherwise healthy and eating well. After her quarantine periode we will try to introduce her to a group wich has the three other l'hoesti females in the sanctuary.

Sakina and Grace getting to know each other!

2010-08-16T12:24:00.002+02:00

Another chimpanzee arrives!

2010-08-16T10:20:00.003+02:00

On the 14^th of August we heard from the Director of GRACE sanctuary, Jim Desmond that he had found a baby chimpanzee in need of a home in Butembo. The little male had already been confiscated and was being cared for by a veterinarian in Butembo who cares for some confiscated monkeys. The vet was doing all he could for the little chimpanzee, while looking for some help to arrange an appropriate home. Jim (along with Luitzen Santman, formally JGI, The Netherlands) very quickly organised the appropriate transfer papers and had the little chimp underway the next day. ‘GRACE’ arrived with Luitzen after having travelled from Butembo to Goma via airplane and then Goma to Bukavu by boat. He then had another 2 hour drive to the sanctuary.

Grace is very small, but already has his canine teeth, so is over 12 months old. He seems in good health and has a very big personality. He will spend a month in quarantine with Sakina Dungu and Mama Dorcas.

Thankyou to Jim from GRACE sanctuary, Luitzen and all of the ICCN teams who worked so hard to coordinate this very quick movement.

Sakina Dungu - second day and already playing!

2010-08-11T15:01:00.004+02:00

It is Sakina Dungu's second full day at the sanctuary and already she is playing! She seems very confident and relaxed with Mama Dorcas already. Sadly, no person can ever take the place of the chimpanzees which should be in her life, but Mama will provide her with everything possible until her month quarentine is over and she can be moved into the infant group!

New Arrival!!!

2010-08-10T11:46:00.006+02:00

Sakina Dungu (Sakina- the Congolese name she arrived with, Dungu- the name of the village of confiscation) arrived in the early afternoon on the 9^th of August 2010. We are still unsure about her story, but we were informed of her presence by the people at the Okapi Station in DRC. They also organised her travel from Bunia to Kavumu by air. Kavumu is just 7 km from Lwiro, so Sakina was picked up by the Director of the Kahuzi Biega National Park, Boji (ICCN). Boji and his team delivered her to us. She was a little apprehensive at the beginning, but soon settled down once she came to know Mama Dorcas – the caregiver at the sanctuary who takes charge of the quarantine of new infants. She ate many tomatoes (they seems to be her favourite) and spent the afternoon with Mama.

Sakina is around 2 to 3 years old and is very thin. She also has an advanced infection around her nose. This may have stemmed from a tooth infection, but the veterinarian will explore this once she has settled in. For now, Sakina will start a course of antibiotics, have access to good food and clean water and be cared for by Mama Dorcas. After her one month quarantine, Sakina will be integrated into the infant chimpanzee cage.

Sakina on arrival

Carmen removing the cord around her neck.

Sakina Dungu today, still sad...

Her nose is swollen due to infection

Roots&Shoots-Lwiro: spreading the conservation message

2010-07-13T08:41:00.012+02:00

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

2010-07-11T21:24:00.002+02:00

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

2010-07-05T17:10:00.002+02:00

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

Rotary Dandenong Offer Support!

2010-06-29T00:31:00.004+02:00

The Rotary Club of Dandenong, Victoria (Australia) have kindly donated US$870 after Andrea presented at one of their meetings last month. Your support is very appreciated and the funds will help to purchase padlocks which are needed in the new dormitory of the forest enclosure!

Dontations update

2010-06-26T14:03:00.003+02:00

The urgent appeal is updated, and we would like to say a huge thank you to all our supporters on this blog and Facebook! A special thank you to the people that have donated this last month or so!
You really are making a big difference!! THANK YOU!

Ryan K - 60 $
Vanessa A - 15$
Steve C - 20$
Saskia K - 50$
Timo K - 25$
Teresa S - 50$
Diane H - 100$

And we would like to thank AWARE Germany and their supporters, which we received 1000 euros from this month! Thanks so much guys for your continuous support!

And a big thank you to Bianca for raising 360 euros for the primates in Lwiro!

Keepers Kahole and Jaques with Bavo the baboon

IPPL award the CRPL a $30,000 grant!

2010-06-23T15:00:00.006+02:00

The CRPL has recently had the amazing news that the Arcus Foundation has awarded the International Primate Protection League a multi-sanctuary grant. The IPPL has amazingly decided to include the CRPL in this multi-sanctuary grant and awarded us $30,000!!! They also donated an extra $995 from the money raised at the members meeting I attended in South Carolina in April! The IPPL has become an enormous support for us and have made very generous donations toward the forest enclosure already. With this new grant, we can continue through two more of our $15,000 building stages. This is fantastic news for us. We can not begin to thank IPPL enough for their continued support. The only way too really thank them will be to get these chimpanzees into this forest exhibit as soon as we can!!!

You can help us get the fence finished by donating using the ‘donate’ button to the left! We still have quite a bit of money to raise, but we are well on our way to getting these chimpanzees out of the cages and into the forest!

Suena and Poppy: smiles and laughters!

2010-06-20T10:29:00.006+02:00

Suena and Poppy go on with their daily games. They can’t stop playing and tickling each other! It is so nice to see them so happy after all the hard stories they had in the past. We would like to share with you all their smiles and laughters.

Suena tickling Poppy and bitting her ear fondly

Big laughters!

Poppy smiling for the camera

Fence our forest!

2010-06-08T09:25:00.009+02:00

The fence construction is going on: 53 posts already up!

Goma’s group and the other chimps at the CRPL can’t wait to go to the new forested enclosure. There they will be able to learn chimpanzee natural skills like jumping from branch to branch or building nest in high trees to rest.

In the current facilities at the CRPL we try to provide them with natural elements like fresh branches so the chimps can play and start developing natural behaviours.

Please, help the CRPL chimps to fence their forest. Each donation makes a big difference for them! Thank you!

Kanshi in her comfortable nest
Bahene and Irangi in the back

Kamituga tasting some fresh branches

Felixta

Irangi

Fence photos!

2010-05-28T17:40:00.003+02:00

Here are some photos of the progress of the fence from today, 23 posts of a total of 165 posts are now up. Some of the photos are taken from the top of the walkway and the research center, hence the nice aerial view!

The forest

The posts are coming along nicely

The workers

The May Newsletter is online:

2010-05-20T01:38:00.003+02:00

Please read our May Newsletter for an update on the last few month at the Centre de Rehabilitation des Primates de Lwiro! http://www.sjimpanser.net/newsletter/may2010.pdf

PICTURE: Kalume - the first animal to arrive at the CRPL!

IPS Grant for CRPL!

2010-05-19T03:57:00.004+02:00

Fantastic News! The International Primatological Society has awarded the CRPL a Captive Care Grant of $1500 to go toward the building of the forest enclosure! They also awarded the CRPL the Conservation through Community Involvement part of the grant which we applied for. This $500 will pay for bamboo and the planting of this bamboo in the savannah area of the enclosure. The hope is that this will give the chimpanzees another area with activity within the enclosure! However, the real aim is to have the community involved and benefiting as much as possible from the building of this enclosure. Therefore, we have offered to the MALWIUMA that they plant the bamboo and be paid for their services. The MALWIUMA is made up of women from the local community (many of them are wives of our workers). They conceived the idea of the group themselves and have offered the CRPL much support over the past 2 years. This includes planting crops on our land for free and giving us things from their crops to feed the animals. Their help means a lot to us and it is wonderful to have the ability to pay them for their hard work!

A HUGE THANKYOU TO IPS! Your support is truly wonderful. www.internationalprimatologicalsociety.org

GREAT NEWS!!!

2010-05-18T14:46:00.005+02:00

Today the first fence post has been erected!!! The construction goes on fast and we hope to see the chimps in the forest soon. Every donation makes a big difference!

THANKS for supporting the CRPL!

Brandy, Kalonge and Bavo

2010-05-16T12:27:00.009+02:00

They are 3 of the CRPL baboons. Brandy is the oldest of this group and she loves to be the boss. Bavo and Kalonge spend long time grooming her and playing together.

Brandy

Bavo groomig Brandy

These last weeks we fixed some new wooden structures to their enclosure. These provide more room to play, to rest...and to hide from the boss!

Bavo in the new wooden platform

Kalonge watching his friends from the top of the logs

The fence posts have arrived in Lwiro

2010-05-12T20:18:00.003+02:00

The metallic fence posts have arrived from Kenya!

So now the work can continue on the new chimpanzee enclosure in Lwiro.

Donations, thank you, update on the fence and urgent appeal

2010-05-10T18:49:00.005+02:00

Time for a update on the fence and urgent appeal again! We are very happy with all your donations on this blog and Facebook, they are really helping! The money from these donations have now been used to buy all the metallic fence posts needed to build the fence! These are ordered from Kenya and is one of the most expensive posts on the fence budget, they cost 34000$. But we didn't have quite enough to order them until we got the money from you guys, so thank you!! You've made it possible for us to continue the work with the fence! Pictures of the new fence posts will be posted as soon as they arrive in Lwiro!

We also have some larger grants that we are very hopeful to that we will receive, so watch this space!!

But thank you so much for you donations the last month! It really helps and soon we will see the chimps of Lwiro back climbing trees were they belong!!!

Laurence D - 30$

Lisa C - 25$

Steve C - 45$ + 40$

Jennifer F- 15$

Laura B - 100$

Ryan K- 20$ + 10$

Jessica T- 30$

Diane K - 50$

THANK YOU!

Baheny says thank you!!

After more than one month together at the CRPL…

2010-05-07T13:14:00.007+02:00

Poppy and Suena have become very close friends. They spend the whole day together and love to play tickling and chasing each other showing a big smile.
It is hard to think they were kept separated in different cages for so many years in Goma. But luckly now they are in Lwiro enjoying their friendship and been treated with lot of care and love.

Having a sunbath together...

Poopy groomig Suena's belly

Suena eating and Poppy smiling

Poppy keeping busy...she really loves to groom him!

We wish to see them climbing in the trees of the new forested enclosure soon. Please, join our urgent appeal and donate...each dollar counts!

Funny pinatas to play…

2010-05-01T11:44:00.010+02:00

This week we prepared some pinatas with old newspapers. We filled them with dried leaves and some pieces of fruits and sweet treats. The chimps loved them!

The paper pinatas
Misisi and Loia

Kalume
For Goma’s group we prepared 16 pieces of house pipe with honey and nice treats inside. They had a really nice time!

The pipes with treats

Ombeni giving the pipes to the chimps

Baheny

Gari and Kama

Update on Hilton, the mangabey from Suena

2010-04-25T11:09:00.007+02:00

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

2010-04-20T08:53:00.000+02:00

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!

2010-04-17T09:30:00.010+02:00

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!

2010-04-14T12:04:00.012+02:00

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

2010-04-10T08:49:00.007+02:00

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!

2010-04-07T20:12:00.005+02:00

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!

2010-04-06T14:21:00.011+02:00

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!

2010-04-04T12:10:00.007+02:00

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

SUENA AND POPLAP ALREADY TOGETHER!

2010-04-03T11:41:00.010+02:00

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!

2010-04-02T11:34:00.011+02:00

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

The building of the fence continues!

2010-03-27T23:42:00.005+02:00

Here are some photos from the construction of the new chimpanzee enclosure from today, it's progressing very well!

Urgent appeal!

2010-03-22T21:09:00.004+02:00

The construction of the fence for the new chimpanzee enclosure continues!
Fence construction today, 22. March 2010

We now need your help to keep the work going! We need to raise another 100 000$ to finish the fence. For you to follow the fundraising and hopefully be inspired to donate what you can, we have made an urgent appeal. You can find this on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/lwiro

or on this direct link

http://www.sjimpanser.net/urgent.htm

Every dollar is very important to us!!

Together we will make this happen! The chimpanzees of Lwiro need to climb trees again!

Donations!

2010-03-18T22:22:00.002+02:00

Thank you so much to the people that have donated money!

Aurora P - 65 USD

Simone H - 20 USD +15 USD

Claudia R - 30 USD

Theresa S - 25 USD

Thank you so much guys! It means so much to us!

Everyone that donates gets a personal thank you and a nice photo of one of our primates on email, please consider helping us!

Lola, the red-tailed monkey

PARTY TIME!!!

2010-03-12T07:47:00.004+02:00

The Women of CRPL! Mama Dorcas, Mama Guillamine, Carmen, Mama Irene, Mama Bea and Andrea.

A few drinks and a chat!
The Mamas dancing!

It is nice for the workers to spend time together outside of the Sanctuary. They really enjoy this time.

Everybody dancing!

The 8th of March marked International Women’s Day for 2010. In Lwiro there were many celebrations occurring, with all of the population out in force wearing their finest attire. Even the men love this day and get dressed up. However, as the chimpanzees need to be fed, like every other day of the year the celebrations for the CRPL workers did not start until 5pm. After finishing work we all donned our party clothes and sang and danced our way from the CRPL to the local guest house. On arrival we took some cokes or beers and sat down for a chat. The four women workers were beaming the whole night and looked beautiful in their special outfits. After a little rest the music began and we all danced the night away. A wonderful night was had by all in celebration of women everywhere!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

2010-03-07T07:32:00.004+02:00

Yesterday the 6th of March 2010 was an exciting day for all of the animals, staff, partners, sponsors and friends of CRPL!!! We started digging the foundations for the Chimpanzee Forest Enclosure! I am sure that most have you have been following our desperate plea for funds to help us achieve this very large project, so you understand that we have been working hard to get this started. What you may not realize, is that this is already over two years of planning, and we are only just beginning the construction. We do not yet have all of the funds needed. But we do have the funds to start! And we figured it is better to get started now and continue to raise the funds as we go. We WILL get this built and these animals into better conditions, and our aim is to do it as soon as possible. I hope all of our blog followers and facebook friends will celebrate this exciting time with us! If you would like to be a part of the project, please donate on the blog. 100% of the funds donated will go into building this fantastic home for the chimpanzees of the CRPL! A big thank you to everyone who has already donated and to our sponsors. We have started this with your help!

SLEEPING BABIES!!!

2010-03-01T08:01:00.007+02:00

At the CRPL we have 12 chimpanzee infants who all live in a cage together. They range in age from about 1 to 3 ½ years old. In the wild, chimpanzees are very dependent on their mothers until they are quite old; because of this we have a caregiver in with the babies for 24 hours a day. This caregiver becomes the nurturer, cleaner, disciplinarian, protector and more to these little chimpanzees because they don’t have their mothers with them. Papy and Armani, our two caregivers both work rotating 24 hours shifts with the babies. Both Papy and Armani love the babies and are very good with them. They hug and play with them all of the time, but are also very good at encouraging them to grow and learn.

At about 5pm when it is getting dark and cold here in Lwiro the babies and their caregiver move into the dormitory attached to the cage. This is such a wonderful sight to see and probably one of my favorite times a day (although, it is hard to choose when you live and work here). The babies all march inside, sometimes walking with a friend, sometimes swinging in from a rope!

I have always been curious to see what exactly happened within the dormitory at night. I often ask the caregivers ‘who sleeps where’ and ‘with whom’! With these questions in mind I decided to send my camera into the dormitory for the night with Papy. I did wonder if I would ever see the camera again in one piece. The pictures below are the result. It seems that although there is room for everyone to have some space to him or herself, they like to sleep directly on top of one another. This no doubt gives them comfort and warmth!

Thank you!

2010-02-28T09:00:00.004+02:00

We would like to thank PAAW for their donation of $1000! This money will go toward the forest enclosure. Every donation goes such a long way here, and your support is so appreciated! http://www.paaw.org.au/

Mangay!

Nests galore!!!

2010-02-27T08:57:00.011+02:00

While all of the staff were working very hard to get the day going, the Goma Group thought they would relax a little while longer and try to beat off the morning chill by making nests. It seemed that everywhere I turned; a nest was being made or enjoyed. It also seemed that everywhere I turned a nest was being stolen!!! They were having such a great time that I had to share it on the blog!

Yonguesa!

Irangi!Kama!

Kanabiro and Felixta!

Kenya!Kamituga!

Good morning Lwiro!!!

2010-02-27T08:11:00.010+02:00

I took my camera out first thing this morning to capture the day as it began. Every day is a busy day, but the mornings are always the most demanding. The food preparation team must pick out, weigh and wash all of the items for the day and there is a lot of food to be cooked. They then need to start sorting the food into groups for the day ahead. The monkey and chimpanzee keepers must move animals around so that they can successfully feed and clean all of the cages. They have to do all of this while the animals are demanding food…NOW!!!

Salamavilla (right) and Wima (left) demanding food from Claude the keeper!

Lume demanding breakfast...soon Lume!!!

Bahati and Christoff washing and sorting the food!

Mama Irene and Mama Bea chatting about the day ahead. Mama Bea sitting, cooking food for the animals!

Kaleshe cleaning out the Goma Group dormitory!

Kahole cleaning Shumi, the baboons cage!

Doublago our farmer planting some onions first thing in the morning!

2010-02-26T14:27:00.004+02:00

Julius, Fizi, Mangay, Uvira, Monique, Loia, Lulinga, Aketi and Butembo

(Misisi, Maiko and Ituri in Hammoks)

The rainy season is upon us at this moment in Lwiro. This means there is a lot of heavy rain and it is often very cold. Usually it rains at night, but sometimes we get heavy downpours during the day as well. Yesterday was one of those days. When it rains the babies become very quiet and seek comfort from each other (as they would from their mothers in the forest). Here is a lovely picture taken during the storm of the baby cage. You can see that nine of the babes were huddled up together, while three were feeling more independent and sitting in the hammocks above. Once the rain stops it doesn’t take the babies long to start running around again.

HILTON GETS A NEW FRIEND

2010-02-16T09:33:00.003+02:00

Hilton (left) and La Roche

Hilton, the 4 year old Mangabey who arrived from the illegal sanctuary in Goma has been introduced to another male Mangabey called La Roche. They are getting on very well and enjoying each other’s company. La Roche has become very protective of his new friend. Hilton is still very thin, but is improving on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the facilities are very limited at the sanctuary. We would love to build a new monkey cage soon, but we are yet to find enough funds for this project. If you would like to help us get Hilton and his new friend into a bigger cage please donate via this blog. 100% of the funds donated come straight to us at the sanctuary.

PAPA KALESHE LEAVES THE CAGE

2010-02-16T09:22:00.004+02:00

Papa Kaleshe has been working in the cage with the Goma Group (juveniles) for about 2 years now. It was his job to maintain control of the animals, clean up after them and provide them with the support of a ‘mother chimpanzee’. The time has come where some of the males are starting to challenge him on occasion, although they still go to him for support often. Therefore, we decided it was in the best interest of Kalshe and the chimpanzees to remove him from the cage. Kaleshe and the other keepers still enter the cage during the day to do a quick cleaning job, but for the most part the chimpanzees are on their own. This is a great opportunity for the chimpanzees to develop their own dominance structure and to prepare for entering the forest. They are all doing very well and we feel it is an important step in the right direction.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOLUNGWA

2010-02-16T09:15:00.003+02:00

Our keepers are very good at their job and they regularly check over each animal to assess them for health issues. Last week one of our keepers discovered that Bolungwa is already changing her teeth. This means that she is around 5 years old. We are all very surprised as she is very small. Just as we were surprised 6 months ago when Yonguesa changed her teeth, however, we were surprised for the opposite reason. Yonguesa is huge-and you would assume she is older than 5 years by her size and her dominance over the other chimpanzees! Of course, like with people the teeth rule is not absolute, but it is a good guide for us as we have to try to estimate the age of the individuals. Also, chimpanzees from different areas can differ greatly in size. Bolungwa is a very sweet little chimpanzee and although she is quiet within the group she has a very big personality.

Donations

2010-01-29T20:13:00.002+02:00

Thank you for the donations we have recived the last few months, all the money will go towards getting the new enclosure built and the chimps in the forest where they belong. Your support means a lot to us, thank you!

Jordi C. - 90 USD

Jennifer M. - 50 USD

Alexa C. - 50 USD

Jill S. - 25 USD

Maiko (back), Misisi, Julius, Uvira, Mangay(back turned, hugging Misisi)

Monkeys Arrived!

2010-01-18T08:15:00.003+02:00

Yesterday evening after a very long boat and car ride the two monkeys from the illegal “sanctuary” in Goma arrived safely at our door with Arthur one of the veterinarians from the North Kivu ICCN team! After many a mix up with the boat times, Arthur arrived safely at the port and was greeted by one of our own veterinarians. The monkeys are both thin, but thanks to the care the ICCN and PASA have been providing in the last few weeks, their condition was not as bad as we had expected.
PASA has provided all costs for the transport of these two monkeys and will also give the CRPL $1000 to help with their continued care. We are very grateful for their help not only in this case, but for all they do.
The first monkey is a 4 year old male Mangabey whose name is Hilton. He is extremely thin and his hair is in terrible condition. The second monkey is a 3 year old red-tail who is yet to have a name. They are currently in solitary cages with access to each other. They will stay in quarantine for one month to ensure that no diseases are passed on to the other animals in the sanctuary. With good nutrition and veterinary care they should both improve quite quickly!

New Monkeys Expected Today!

2010-01-17T09:20:00.005+02:00

At about 12pm today we are expecting two new monkeys. The mangabey and red-tail have been kept in an illegal "sanctuary" for the last few years along with chimpanzees and other monkeys. PASA have done a wonderful thing and intervened along with the ICCN to confiscate the animals. For the last two weeks the ICCN have been providing food, water and veterinary care to all the animals (something they had not been receiving regularly for the last few months). PASA have worked tirelessly to find homes for all these animals and are supporting the cost to transfer them. I will post a blog tomorrow about their arrival. Sadly, we do not have a lot of space for new animals. With our current number of primates standing at 108! However, we will provide them with the best medical care, nutrition and husbandry we can! With your help we can make a bigger difference to the lives of all of these 108 primates! Please donate on our blog if you can!

2010-01-17T09:20:00.004+02:00

An Update on Lulinga

2010-01-17T08:53:00.005+02:00

Lulinga was the last baby to be introduced to the nursery cage. She is a tiny little chimpanzee with a HUGE personality. She moved into the cage and immediately fitted in well. All of the other chimpanzees love her, in particular Misisi who likes to care for Lulinga while she is having an afternoon nap. Here are some pictures of Luli in the cage today!

Lulinga and Monique playing in the cage!

New years suprise!

2010-01-04T23:35:00.004+02:00

Happy new year to everyone!

The 31th of December we got a new years suprise at the sanctuary, as a red-tailed monkey gave birth to a healty baby. All our monkeys now have contraseptive implants so this was a big suprise. Nature will always find a way... The baby was called Bonne Annee, wich means happy new year in French. Welcome to Lwiro Bonne Annee!

Also please read our first official newsletter! http://www.sjimpanser.net/newsletter/december2009.pdf

Roots&Shoots-Lwiro continues the work!

2009-12-07T10:28:00.003+02:00

The children learning about animal tracks

The Roots&Shoots club in Lwiro is going on with their educational activities. In these last weeks we have learnt more about the animals of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Using guides and books we identified different species of mammals and their tracks. And we have also watched documentaries about wild gorilllas and chimpanzees, so we can see how these amazing animals live in the wild and discuss the problems they face in DR Congo.

Watching chimp documentary

We have also visited the small forest that will be fenced soon as it will become the new home for the CRPL chimpanzees. We enjoyed a nice walk and discovered the several species of trees and plants that the chimps will soon enjoy!
Visiting the forest as a Nyoka
However, as the children walked to the forest we discussed how it is possible that they have never entered this particular forest before. The R&S club told a story of a giant pithon that lives within this forest which is the reencanation of the ancient spirits of their ancestors. So, to give them the courage to enter the forest the R&S club made a giant human Nyoka (snake in swahili). This gave them the strength to explor and enjoy the adventure.
Learning about the forest
We would like to once again thank the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (www.janegoodall.es) for thier support and for making this R&S-Lwiro club a reality.

-Laia-

Lulinga introduced to the others

2009-11-16T08:21:00.004+02:00

Lulinga has now finished her quarantine period and 4 days ago she was introduced to the other baby chimps in the nursery group, witch means there are now 12 chimps in this group.

Luckily Lulinga has quite an independent and confident character and she coped very well with being introduced to the group. It is quite an overwhelming experience for the little ones, going into such a big group, as everyone wants to get to know them straight away. Little Lulinga did very well though and told them off if they were being too rough.

A few days later she seems to be turning in to a favourite among the slightly older females of the group, Maiko, Misisi, Monique and Ituri. They take turns carrying her around and wanting to hug her. She has also shown that she knows what she wants, defending her food fiercely against the other chimps, also the ones that are much bigger than her! We are very happy with the progress of Lulinga, and are confident she’ll be a well integrated member of the group very soon.

Everyone wants to meet the new arrival
Fizi saying hello

Maiko wanting a hug

Maiko, Lulinga and Misisi

Lulinga eating her corn

-Hilde-