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

SLEEPING BABIES!!!

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!

An Update on Lulinga

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!

Lulinga introduced to the others

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-

Lulinga is doing very well!

Today Lulinga has been with us for 2 weeks already and she is doing fantastic. She played and ate well from day one and has not been sick. She had some parasites, but they've already been treated. Lulinga spends her days with her keeper for the quarantine periode Mama Dorcas, and she plays and eat all day, at the end of the day her stomach is very very full, and she's happy to go to sleep in her night cage. Here is some photos from her daily life.

-Hilde-

New arrival, Lulinga

Today a new little chimp arrived in Lwiro. She was confiscated by the ICCN in the town of Lulingu wich is near the lowland part of Kahuzi-Biega nationalpark. We called her Lulinga as we allready got a monkey called Lulingu. Luckily she is in quite good condition and was very happy when we offered her mangoes. She will spend her month in quarantine with Mama Dorcas, who is very good with the baby chimpanzees.

Lulinga arriving in the ICCN car

Lulinga in her tiny cage

Lulinga with mama Dorcas

Lulinga