Showing posts with label aketi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aketi. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Rambo joining the nursery group

Finally the day for Rambo Rungu to join the others came last week! Lugushwa, Grace and Aketi was the chosen ones to meet him first, while the others were locked in their dormitory. It was quite a scary and intense experience for him, but he did well! The next day Uvira and Aketi was already grooming him, and he has now integrated well with the others! Well done Rambo Rungu, one step closer to becoming a real chimpanzee again!

A last check up from manager and vet Carmen Vidal

Aketi, Lugushwa and Grace are waiting for Rambo

Monday, March 1, 2010

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!























Monday, November 9, 2009

Donations on the blog in October

October has been a good month for donations on this blog and we would like to thank the people who contributed! Every donation means a lot to everyone in Lwiro!
So thank you very much for your help!

Kate O: 80 dollars

Cleve H: 30 dollars

Natalia R: 200 dollars

Bolungwa

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Update on Mangay

Mangay


Mangay is one of the babies who arrived with the Aketi 5 chimpanzees. When he arrived he showed some very abnormal behaviours such as laying on the ground and rotating his hands and he also was quite unresponsive and scared. These behaviours have slowly been decreasing, until last month when he only exhibited them when all the babies went into the dormitory to sleep. However, I am very happy to report that now the behaviours have stopped all together. Mangay seems like a different chimpanzee. He is happy, playful and well adjusted.

Mangay
Mangay hugging Misisi


-Andrea-

Friday, July 10, 2009

Thank you!

The CRPL would like to thank the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) for their assistance in moving the Aketi Chimpanzees to Lwiro. We are so grateful for their support.

The story of the Aketi5 is also featured in IPPL's latest newsletter, you can see it here : http://www.ippl.org/newsletter/2000s/IPPL-News-May-2009.pdf#page=25

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Water play!

With the dry season approaching, Sunday was very hot! So, the keepers decided to spray water in the cage of the Goma Group to help them all cool off. They all had a great time playing and splashed around for an hour. Bolungwa, one of the newest arrivals, in particular loved it. She was swinging from a tire and splashing at the same time.



Sunday, June 14, 2009

An update on the 5 Aketi chimps

Aketi: Aketi being newly arrived still has sparse hair on his body. His little arms and legs are thin, but at the end of every day, his stomach is very full. He is confident and happy and always runs up to say hello.


Mangay: Mangay is an unusual little chimpanzee who spent a lot of time in the bedding on his own when I first met him. In just 6 weeks, however, his confidence has increased and he now travels around the cage much more. He is quite young, so it is normal that he doesn’t yet climb up into the hammocks like the other babies in the cage. All of the other babies love to look after Mangay, and always go to him if he cries.


Bolungwa: Bolungwa is currently in the Goma group. She is small, but extremely confident. She plays with all of the chimpanzees and tells them when she isn’t happy.


Kathe: Kathe is a quiet and sweet chimpanzee. She has found it harder to settle into the Goma Group than either Bolungwa or Django, even though she is older. She is the lowest ranked animal in the hierarchy and as such gets picked on, on occasion. She is improving every day however.


Django: Django is a quiet chimpanzee, but a favorite for all of the other animals in the group. Being a young male, all of the other chimpanzees want to be with him. Yonguesa, Felixta, Alsace, Kanabiro, Gari and Irangi are just a few of the Goma group who fight for the pleasure of carrying Django around on their back. It is quite funny to see, especially with Alsace, who is almost the same size as Django.



Andrea

Monday, May 11, 2009

Introductions of the Aketi 5, going well

Keeper Claud with the Goma group.

I have arrived in DRC after having been away for five months to find the sanctuary running very well, but practically overflowing. There are 42 chimpanzees and 50 monkeys in all. All of the animals are currently healthy, which is wonderful. More staff have been hired which brings the number of permanent Congolese staff to 24 people.

The new chimpanzees the Aketi5 has now finished their one month quarantine, and now Aketi and Mangue have been introduced to the nursery group and Kathé, Bolungwa and Django to the Goma group. The introductions are going very well. We have even seen some of the female members of the Goma group (such as Yonguesa and Felixta) attempt to take on the younger chimpanzees: Bolungwa and Django.

The Goma group have been moved to the large round cage that was built for the baboons. The baboons have been scattered around the sanctuary to assist this happening. It is a great space for the group, as there are now 16 individuals with the three new ones from Aketi.

The goma group is enjoying their new view!


Andrea

Monday, April 6, 2009

Meet the Aketi5!

Mangay, male


Kathé, female


Django Mayanga, male


Bolungwa, female


Aketi Kigoma, male

All photos courtesy of Cleveland Hicks

Rescued from terrible conditions

Like all the chimpanzees in Lwiro, the Aketi 5 was also rescued from terrible conditions beeing held illegaly as pets. The chimps were not bought or traded in for any favors. They were either given up voluntarily or confiscated by the authorities. The owners were informed about chimpanzees, why it is a bad idea to keep them, and that they are a protected species. It is illegal to hunt or keep chimpanzees as pets in Congo.



It is very important never to buy a chimpanzee, because then the hunter will think it is a good idea, to go and kill another family of chimpanzee just so he can steel their babies.



Most chimanzee orphans that are captured die due to lack of proper care, the ones that don't usually end up beeing killed when they get too big and unmanageable.



Here are Bolungwa, Kathe and Aketi before they were rescued.



Bolungwa

Kathe


Aketi Kigoma


All photos courtesy of Cleveland Hicks

Life in Bonganzulu Sanctuary

After the chimps were rescued they had a good life and was well looked after in the Bonganzulu Sanctuary in Aketi. But the lack of money and support did that they had to find a new home for the chimpanzees and they ended up coming to Lwiro. As all the chimps coming here they are very welcome, but we would have prefered that they were still in the forrest with their mothers and family.
Relaxing in the trees
Bolungwa and Kathé
Cleve with his chimps in Bonganzulu
All photos courtesy of Cleveland Hicks

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Read about the 5 chimps from Aketi

Cleve Hicks has written a very nice ebook about his work in Aketi in Northern Congo. Laura and Adam took over the responsibility of the five chimpanzees when he left. He has been researching chimpanzees and the increasing bushmeat trade in the area, and ended up with the 5 orphans, but sadly observed many more. Follow this link to find the books http://www.wasmoethwildlife.org Aketi field season 2007-2008, part 1,2 and 3.
In part 3 you find the story of the 5 chimpanzees from Aketi; Kathé, Django Mayanga, Bolungwa, Aketi Kigoma and Mangé.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Aketi 5 is safe in Lwiro

On monday the five chimpanzees from Aketi north in Congo, arrived safely in Lwiro. It was a very dramatic move, and you can read all about it on Laura and Adams blog http://lifeincongo.blogspot.com
The important thing is that the 5 chimpanzees are safe an well in Lwiro. They've got the honor of beeing the first residents of the new dormitory! And keeper Claud is looking after them.
Here are some photos from the flight.
Well done Laura and Adam!

Hilde

Laura and Adam did great work getting the chimps to Lwiro!
Kathe

Chimps on a plane

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

More chimpanzees coming to Lwiro

Plans are beeing made to move chimpanzees from a makeshift sanctuary in Aketi north of Kisangani to Lwiro, at least five. The move is beeing planned for the end of March. The original plan was for the chimpanzees to move to a new sanctuary that is under construction in Kisangani, but the construction took longer than planned and these chimpanzees need a new home now. Although the people that is looking after them in Aketi are doing a great job.
There is a lot of hunting for bushmeat going on up there and too many orphans...
You can read about Laura and Adams work in Aketi and the chimpanzees in their blog: http://lifeincongo.blogspot.com