APRIL – MAY – JUNE 2008
April – the end of filming
We are finishing the shooting of the fiction-documentary movie with Dream Films
productions on April 15th. Time for celebrations! Alain Tixier, the director, suggests asmall gathering in the education centre involving snacks and, of course, speeches.
I cannot bring myself to realise that it is overand life will resume its normal course, at ahundred miles an hour as always! (Is there evera day without surprises here?) The simple ideaof not having to think every morning if I amwearing the “correct clothing” for possible
follow-up scenes? If I have not forgotten thefilm’s lucky bracelet? If in the early morning
the mirror does
not reflect too
much the image of one who compensates during the nightthe essential work required to run Lola?
But let us be honest, the shooting was a real treat! A
team of professionals among whom the atmosphere wasmuch more often fun and good hearted rather thangrumpy. This was most likely due to the diplomacy ofAlain Tixier, who in his closing speech will emphasize thekindness and patience of Lola’s staff... as well as that of
the bonobos!
The star of the movie
Together we thank and applaud Valerie
for her successful management oftwenty-plus people while fulfilling thedeadlines imposed by a very busy
schedule!
The main actor

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A strange illness…
Meanwhile in the infirmary, not all is well.
Crispin, Patrick, Clemence and Anne-Marie
continue the fight against a very strange
illness which has struck for the second timein a month. Bolobo is hit by the same evil
which took away our little Malou. They relay
themselves relentlessly, day and night, tohelp and sooth his pain a little. Nervous
disorder and paralysis leave him completelydistressed. There is nothing we can do, hewill die despite our efforts, care and love!

Crispin comforts Bolobo

Salonga and her baby

A few days on, Salonga takes us by surpriseand gives birth prematurely. We find her on
the morning of April 15th, her offspring in herarms, already feeding at her breast! I do not
dare rejoice however, as I find the baby much
too small. It looks sharp though and she is somaternal! Unfortunately, on the third day, shebrings it to us lifeless. We let her hold it fora while as a mean to allow her to understandthe reality of its death. She seems to realisethat life has left the little body as she leaves it on the floor from time to time andwalks away. She will end up trying to give it to our nurse Anne-Marie through the barsof the shelter in which we had isolated her that morning. Failed again! Although
Salonga could certainly be the best of mothers! She who has cuddled and cared for somany frogs from our swamps!!!
It seems that the months of March and April are to be dreaded at Lola! Each year theynearly invariably bring us mourning...

May – it rains, rains, rains!
May marks the end of the raining season,
characterised by huge tropical storms andthus the destruction of our road. “That’s
it, says Valerie, this time it’s sure our bus
won’t make it through the (African)
winter”! It was to be expected. It has
more than 300,000 km, even though itproudly wears the naive paintings offorest life and bonobos by our friend the Congolese painter Beret, who has hidden its
rusting bodywork under beautiful colours. We had nearly forgotten its age!
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(Except Valerie, who pays for the constant repairs...). It is somehow our own “France”
cruise ship. We stare at it parked at the entry of the sanctuary: an educativemonument! “Enough sentiments! It has more than 300,000 km, it costs too much to run
and it’s well past its time!” says Valerie, wallet tightly closed in her hand. We needanother one urgently !!! Valerie’s husband gives us a serious hand in that: he negotiates
for us a Tata (Mercedes-India) bus of 25 seats payable over 12 months. With it, we will
make a triumphant entry at Lola under the cheers of all and the whistles of JeanClaude (keeper of the 3rd enclosure and certainly the most demonstrative member ofour staff). Come on, we are all going for a ride!
Now, I need to start hunting down a donation so that our new bus continues to transmit
our educational message through the streets of Kinshasa, full of colours, forest andbonobos!
The arrival of new orphans
This time it’s sure, something must be going on around
Waka in the district of Basankusu. Several orphan
bonobos have been seen for sale: hunting must be taking
place in the region! With Pierrot, we resolve to go on a
new awareness campaign... The Environment Coordinatorof Basankusu has arranged the transfer, with support
from Filair airline, of little Masisi. She arrives at Lola at
the same time as the tiny Lukuru, who was spontaneously
handed overtothesanctuary.
She seems
to be thesmallestbaby that wehave ever received! Both will be put inquarantine in the arms of two “occasional
Clemence & Lukuru
mums”: Clemence, our vet, and Anne-Marie,
our nurse.
Anne Marie & Masisi

Crispin & Amos at Mabali’s rescue

This is a stroke of luck for Mabali, a young
male resident of enclosure #3 who seriously
injured his knee ligaments and whose
movements have to be carefully monitored andlimited. Our coming and going to care for thenew little girls are a good distraction for him.
It’s far more interesting than playing with oldkeys, padlocks or shoe laces!

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The two newcomers are barely settled in that another infant bonobo offered for sale isbrought to my attention by a Congolese official, who adds that he found it already very
weak. Crispin and Pierrot immediately start the chase. Just like Sherlock Holmes andwith the help of the inspectors from the Ministry of Environment, they find its location
in town and even obtain the seller’s phone number! In line with our standard plan ofaction, Crispin goes as a scout to meet the vendor and find out what state the bonobo isin. He will pose as a potential buyer. And yes, the bonobo is indeed there! In a corner,miserable, chained up, tiny and obviously at the end of its physical and psychologicalcapacity... The man tells us that he is a trader in bushmeat and wild animals, moreparticularly grey parrots from Gabon. He wants 600 dollars for the bonobo! (Prices aregoing up!) He talks about a recent trip and another bonobo already sold. He alsosuggests the possibility of a dozen baby bonobos, depending on our “order”, since, says
he, where he goes there are still a fair few groups to slaughter!!!
Crispin comes back to Lola raging and determined to make him eat his cruel words
through the sanctions which the Environment inspectors will impose on him, but also
very sad: “I left him a few bananas, he tells me, he was starving!” Pierrot takes over
responsibility
forobtainingall
It’s too late for this little bonobo
administrative
paperworkattheMinistry. The Inspections’ Director,
Gaby,
immediatelyorganises
thebonobo’s confiscation via the GeneralSecretary of the Environment for thefollowing morning. Unfortunately, when
they arrive at the merchant’s, they only
find a group of young children. A
precious day lost! The man and his wife
won’t be back any time soon. The nextday, sadly, it is already too late. Whenthey arrive, Pierrot and the Inspector will witness the death of the little bonobo! Thistime, luck is not on our side! Death took him; he was too little, too sad, too starved.
Without the protection of his mother, the only way he found to escape this cruel worldof humans was to let himself die. We did not have the time to offer him our paradise...
The Nursery this quarter
Their quarantine over, Lukuru and Masisi are put into the care of Henriette and Mummy
Yvonne. But tension is rising in the nursery: “We cant take it anymore! The nursery isovercrowded!” Henriette tells me. Despite the four substitute mothers, the group isextremely turbulent. We need to introduce a few of them into the group of the “bigguys”. Incidentally, some of the little ones, such as the cheeky Tshilenge, tends to lookat them when they walk past with envy in her eyes to go and play with the big ones!
Muanda is also on the list of candidates for the transfer. An attaching double
personality: Capable of the worse mischief, but also of the warmest cuddles when she
attaches herself tight around our necks! We hesitate a lot before separating two goodfriends: Vanga and Boyoma. The mums convince me that it is still too early for Vanga.
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(What? This little fearless troublemaker?) They are
more concerned about how to separate Boyoma fromhis ball! He never leaves it and has acquired anincredible dexterity to do whatever he wants while
holding it with one hand, without it ever being stolenby another bonobo, except sometimes by Vanga!
They make a true pair... Come on, with the novelty ofliving with the big guys, he will forget it easily!

Boyomaand hisball

It is thus a small group of three -Tshilenge, Boyoma
and Muanda- which will progressively be introduced,
over a few days and with huge success, into the gang of juveniles in enclosure #3. Thisworks out without a hitch. As always the newcomers are treated as guests who are,without fail, given a proper orientation to their new environment...

Reorganisation of the enclosures
The 3rd enclosure needs to be closed in the coming weeks. We must put these bonobos
together with those of enclosure #2. Indeed, this new large group of 15 bonobos
cannot stay like it is: it essentially consists of juvenile males and an adult couple: Makaliand Tshilomba with her baby, Moyi. If this cheerful turbulent gang excels inacrobatics, isolated as such it will never learn how to organise itself and manage themoods and the rules of the alliance between the females and the dominant males!
The preparation for the release are seriously on their way. It is in this enclosure that
we will organise the selection process of those bonobos candidate to be transferred
into our new “Centre for the re-adaptation of bonobos to wildlife” or EKOLO YABONOBO (“the land of bonobo” in Lingala) in Basankusu. A group of 30 bonobos will goplay together on “bamboo beach”! What a treat! I am already dreaming about it!

A very enjoyable visit from Twycross zoo
We receive the visit of one of our sponsors, Twycross Zoo in the UK, which hosts a goodcolony of bonobos. Susie Boardman, the zoo director, is also a veterinary doctor. She
will marvel to see close to 60 bonobos
 Susie
playing in the freedom of their forest! WithClaire 
Claire, they will enjoy afternoons of… and 2
happiness in the nursery with the
happy babies
newcomers. They also inform me that I willbe their guest at the House of Lords inLondon in November to receive the Badham
Evans award for women in environment! I
organise for them a meeting with Britain’s
ambassador to the DRC, delighted in advanceat this event for Lola ya bonobo.

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Bandundu’s baby (May 22nd)
We always end up waiting long in advance forthe birth of our babies. The gestation is always
longer than expected! But sometimes it is theopposite; we are taken by surprise... This is how
Bandundu (completely hairless!) one morning
proudly shows off a robust little male infant.
We believe he deserves to be called “Wa ngolo
ya lola” (the strongest, but really strong! fromparadise)...

An award for Pierrot
It is now Pierrot’s turn to receive an award inrecognition of his work in conservation education;
the award of the International Primatology
Society (IPS). He will share his award with asmall project designed to assist the vegetable
growers that work along the banks of our LukayaRiver and from whom we purchase daily fruits
and vegetables for the bonobos.
Pierrot : school visit at LOLA

The trimester ends with the visit of Renaud Fulconis, president of AWELY, and hiscolleague Eva Gross, who are preparing anawareness-raising campaign in the bonobos’
habitat. A significant amount of administrative
paperwork keeps us busy, but a little air of theupcoming holidays is nevertheless blowing onLola. This year was heavily charged in events,
with the shooting of the movie taking up a lot ofmy time. I aspire to see my family and friends
again for true holidays in July, finally!

A little stop-over in Paris to meet all our “Friends of bonobos in Europe” and informthem of the progress of our EKOLO YA BONOBO project in Basankusu. The bonobos’
reintroduction is now scheduled in a year exactly. This time, it’s the last straight line tothe finish!

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