Baboons arrive in Lwiro

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!

Still building...

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 begins on the new baboon facility!

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.

Sunny morning in Lwiro!

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!

Dontations update

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

Brandy, Kalonge and Bavo

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

Bavo the baboon before confiscation

New arrival, Bavo

On Saturday the 1st of August I was in Bukavu at the head office of Coopera (the managing NGO for the CRPL). I was driving along the road with two other staff members when we saw a baboon in a tree in one of the houses. We got out of the car to get a closer look at the monkey and we realized she was tied to a tree. She had no water or food at that point in time, but she looked like she was in good condition. We followed the protocols and called the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) so that they could follow up on the confiscation.
Within a few hours all of the paperwork was in order and the park ranger went to confiscate the baboon. I accompanied them to show them where the baboon was. The people in the house allowed us into the yard where the baboon was being kept so that we could discuss the issue. The park ranger was extremely professional and calm with the people and explained that it is illegal to have a pet primate. The people asked if we could wait and talk to the owner of the monkey, so we remained at the house for about an hour. In this time, both I and the ranger groomed the little female Olive Baboon, she is about 3 years old. She was very gentile and seemed to enjoy the interaction. The cord around her waist was attached to the tree. She only has about a meter of leeway to move around. The owner did not show up to the house, and eventually the people there agreed that we could take the baboon. She was transported to the office of the ICCN where she stayed for two nights before she was transported to the CRPL.
Upon arrival to the CRPL Bavo (the name of the baboon) was put into the cage with Kalonge (a male Olive Baboon about 4 years old) and an adult female Yellow Baboon, Brandy. Unfortunately, we have extremely limited space at the sanctuary and therefore had nowhere suitable to quarantine Bavo. Therefore the cage she is in is now in quarantine. We do hope that when we are able to finish the forest exhibit and move most of the chimpanzees there, that we will have better facilities and more space for the monkey residents and also more room for quarantine. As it is the sanctuary is overfull, but while we can provide food and medical care to these animals we will continue to accept them as there is nowhere else for them to go. If you would like to help us please donate through this blog. Every donation can help us reach our goal faster.
Andrea

Bavo

Baboons

Here is updates and pictures of some of the 9 baboons in Lwiro.

Shumbi the male baboon who has one arm missing and had one arm shot by soldiers is doing well. He has good use of the arm which was shot. The healing ability of baboons is amazing. Unfortunately, he has had a tooth abuses arise and has been on antibiotics over the past few weeks. He may need to be operated on to fix the problem; however the antibiotics are doing a good job of clearing it at the moment. Shumbi loves the company of Carmen, manager and veterinarian of the centre, and whenever she is at the sanctuary, he demands her attention.

Shumbi

The yellow baboon Brandi is currently housed with Kalonge the young olive baboon. They get on very well and are often seen grooming each other or laying on each other sun bathing. Brandi had been severely obese as a pet, and then had lost a significant amount of weight after confiscation (before she reached us). She had a considerable amount of excess skin hanging around her stomach and breasts. Since being put on a contraceptive implant, she has gained some weight back. Due to the fact that she is old and suffers from some arthritis, she does little exercise. We continue to monitor her weight to avoid too large an increase, as this would be unhealthy for her. Brandi is a very gentle baboon and enjoys attention from everyone. She will happily groom a t-shirt for hours.

Brandi

Kalonge broke his leg in the past, in a fight with another baboon. His leg has healed, but is not straight. Although it looks a little strange it does not stop him climbing or running or causing mischief. He likes to harass the keepers for fun when they come into the cage to clean. Without doubt, Brandi always comes to his aide.

Kalonge

And here is a new photo of baby Afrikia and her mum Becky.

Lwiro update

People may have heard about the unrest in DRC over the past week or two. I want everyone to know the animals and the staff and their families are all safe. Everything seems to have settled down for the time being and it is business as usual. The volunteers were housed at the UN camp near by for safety reasons during four days of the trouble. We returned on the 2nd of November to Lwiro to find the sanctuary and staff well.
Shumbi – the olive baboon - has been moved from his small quarantine cage into a larger cage which neighbors Kashusha (another male baboon) and a group of other baboons. As soon as he woke from the anesthetic he climbed up on the branches with no problems at all. The staff were originally concerned that he would not be able to move about properly (due to the fact that he has one arm missing and the other is injured from a gun wound). His wound has healed very well.

Muhungu - a young male chimpanzee broke his on the 2nd of November. He has been isolated from the group to allow recovery. He still has visual contact with the group however, and can touch them through the wire. He is recovering well.

Banro is now very happy in the cage with the other babies. She has bonded with both the keepers and all of the babies very well. Every night, Banro and Julius cuddle up in their tub to sleep together. Below are photo of all of the babies in the nursery group. They are all strong, healthy and happy.

Brandi gets to meet the other baboons

When the Baboons were moved into their new enclosure, Brandi was placed in the enclosure next door to begin the introduction process to the other baboons. All is going well.

Update on what's been happening the last couple of weeks

A week ago we started to integrate Banro into the nursery group cage. Her quarantine was finished, and it was time for her to meet the other babies. The days went relatively smoothly with Banro playing with both of the keepers who are in the cage on alternate days. Fizi and Maiko both asserted their dominance over Banro in the cage, which is a normal part of the introduction. She has spent her time playing mostly with Osso and Ituri, and in the last days has also found Uvira to be a good playmate.

Shumbi the Baboon is doing well also. His injured arm continues to heal and he is moving his hand now also. He eats and takes his medication very well. We have found out since the rescue that Shumbi is a celebrity in the area. A taxi driver who was driving the sanctuary manager to Bukavu over heard her conversation with some people from an NGO regarding Shumbi. After she returned to the taxi, the taxi driver inquired as to weather she was talking about Shumbi the baboon. Apparently, everyone knows him. He used to sit on the side of the road and demand food from people walking past. He would then pass this food back to the female and two young baboons who were always with him. Apparently this has been Shumbi’s practice in the park for years, and although demanding, he has never been aggressive.

The sanctuary had a visit from some local school children from Katana. These children had taken up a collection and purchased a bag of carrots to donate to the sanctuary. It was a wonderful surprise for all working at CRPL.

The wives of the CRPL workers called a meeting with the sanctuary manager on the 23rd of September. They presented the sanctuary with a very large sack of colcase and many bananas. It is fantastic to have the local community behind the sanctuary in such an incredible way.



The new baboon cage is finished! The baboons had a wonderful time exploring it for the first time.

LYNX – the keeper driven conservation group from Melbourne Zoo in Australia has again donated $300 to CRPL to purchase enrichment items for the chimpanzees. Thank-you very much.

Andrea