D-day minus 1: 13th June 2009
“Hello? It’s Mary! It’s Brian, it’s Nicole, it’s Christine, Marie, Anne…” “How areyou feeling on the eve of the big day? I wanted to wish you the best of luck!
And let you know that we are behind you, you and the first 9 bonobos candidates
for the reintroduction, etc, etc.!”
So many of you thought of us on this day and expressed your solidarity, be it byphone or by e-mail! I thank you all!
How do I feel? I guess, just as a father does as hegives away his daughter’s hand to the young man
who will lead her into a new life. He must ask
himself so many of the same questions that I am
asking myself! Will they be as happy as they were
here with us…? But also: What great joy to be able
to give them a new life…! For our bonobos to finally
return to the forest! To think that, in a few days,
they will discover the forest of their ancestors! A
cocktail of emotions, a mixture of joy and anxiety!
Put simply, that is my state of mind today!
For several years I have been preparing myself intensively for this separation. I
have so many times dreamt of this return to “the origins”. I have played nearly
every step of these next few days in my mind a hundred times before, without
always been able to let go of those nagging little doubts.
Once we have completed the heavy administrative pre-release preparations, thesteps imposed by the IUCN guidelines, all kinds of official presentations, andthe last minute calls to make sure that all the wheels and cogs of the machine
are fully oiled and ready to go smoothly, it is finally D-day: the 14th of June
2009!

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D-DayOn the veterinary side, an armada!
At 2:30 am, everyone is on the deck: Suzy
Kwetuenda, our biologist, who will be
responsible for post-release monitoring
and truly knows the bonobos; and thekeepers Jean-Claude, Stany and Philippe,
ready to help as we pre-medicate andanaesthetise the 9 bonobos candidates
for release.

The bonobos had been separated ingroups of 3 in the night shelters of
enclosure 2, that of their quarantine andpre-release training.
W.S.P.A.’s Nick de Souza is there. He has
arrived from Tanzania especially for theoccasion. Since 1993, W.S.P.A. has
accompanied me through all the importantstages of my work with the bonobos. And
there are here again for this key milestone of returning the bonobos to theforest. Nick is the vet for all the big moments at our sanctuary!
“When Nick comes to LOLA, we unroll the red carpet!” the staff says. His calm
nature, his vast experience and his love of animals have made him a legend here.
Not to mention that being a Kenyan, language is no barrier, he speaks Swahili
with a large number of our staff!1

As a reminder, WSPA and Garry Richardson were at our side from the very first moments of myassociation at the Kinshasa Zoological Gardens, then at the Kinshasa Veterinary clinic with our
first bonobos, and yet again for the construction of our first Nursery-Sanctuary at TASOK.
They helped build the first enclosure at Lola ya Bonobo along with its night shelter and were atour sides for the transfer of the bonobos to Lola ya Bonobo, and again for the transfer of the 4bonobos from INRB. Nick, Garry and WSPA have always been present right beside us. Allow me
to take this opportunity to express my greatest and most sincere gratitude for their trust andfidelity to A.B.C. for over 16 years.
1“Planete bonobo” - Claudine’s newsletter #45 (June 2009)

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By his sides, an armada of young
vets: Marie-Laure, who since May
1st is in charge of health care atLola; Michel Halbwax of M.P.I.,
who has for almost two years
been following, from Leipzig andat times from Lola, the steps
taken by Crispin for the rigorous
veterinary preparation of ourbonobos in view of the release;
Clemence, our Congolese vet, Anne-Marie our nurse and Fanny Mehl, anothervolunteer vet who has offered to stay with Marielle at the reintroduction site in
Basankusu.
Dr Steve of INRB (the National Institute for Biomedical Research) will workwith Michel and take the final blood samples, in line with the “guidelines” of theInternational Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
8:30 am, the truck from the airline company Air Kasaï arrives at N’djili airport.
The flight is on a Sunday morning, and we are able to make the most of theempty roads on our way from Lola. All our men are wearing their “Rawbank”
shirts and caps, to thank them for their support for our PR campaign in the local
press and the creation of a 52 minute documentary which will be produced by
Florent Matheron, Christine d’Hauthuille and my daughter Fanny over the next
few months. We wanted this film to be free of rights, so that it might be shownon local TV stations.
The national radio, the UN’s Radio Okapi and AFP are all on the case! And Danila
Assice will be our official photographer; she has just finished a beautiful
exposition at the “Galerie du fleuve” in Kinshasa.
The Congolese Airline Traffic Control office (RVA), managed by her husband
Jean, will do all they can to ensure a rapid transfer of the bonobos at both
airports. A precious help!
And what collaboration between all the services: Environment, veterinary, police,
RVA… It is like magic! Like clockwork!

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As for me, I have decided (not without pain) that I will not go and crowd theirranks. Too scared that my presence could beseen as useless or as an excuse for added
stress, I allow those precious moments to betaken away from me! And I even go further,would you believe it? I give over my seat in
the cargo plane that will take the bonobos
the 850 km to Basankusu. I will travel in theother, passenger plane.
“Leave it!” I whisper to Suzy, who is telling me that we would both be very usefulin case there is a problem. “When the time comes to open the cages, you and I
will walk alongside the bonobos as they go and find their freedom!”
Arrival at Basankusu
Last week, Pierrot had prepped the local authorities to help us with as discreet
an arrival as possible in order to minimise the bonobos’ stress levels. We haveworked at length with Air Kasaï to prepare a smooth transfer, and thanks totheir Antonov 26 and its large back door, we have been able to use large androomy cages. Suzy, Fanny Mehl (the volunteer vet), Stany and I are (alas!) all
passengers on the regular flight to Basankusu.
The others - Nick de Souza of WSPA, Michel Halbwax of MPI, Marie-LaureDoppagne for the veterinary follow-up, Florent Matheron and Danila Assice forfilm and photography – have embarked in the cargo plane with the bonobos:
Etumbe and her son Mbano, Max, Lomami, Beni, Lisala, Lukaya, Lomela and Kubulu.
The cargo flies direct from Kinshasa to Basankusu.
They therefore arrive a little before us, who had a stop-over in Mbandaka, theadministrative centre of the Province of Equateur. On board of our flight – andthis is such a new occurrence that I have to mention it – is the first group ofvisitors travelling with a new tourist company “Go-Congo”. About ten Belgianmen, for the most part Dutch-speaking, who will spend 3 weeks in the area,
starting with Lisala. “Does our country not seem safe enough for them to havebrought their wives?” asks my neighbour.

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I smile, thinking of my long, solitary, moon-lit rides on dug-out canoes, “lost” inthe middle of the forest, where, with the driver leading me, I feel much safer
than at 8 pm on a Saturday evening in the Paris underground! It may make you
laugh, but to each their exoticism and fears of the unknown!!
The landing at Mbandaka is enough to knock out one of the men; he lays on the
ground for 10 minutes, as white as a sheet. I think to myself that his first
Saturday night partying in Kinshasa has wiped him out, but the group prefers to
put it down to cabin pressure. “That’s strange, the others didn’t feel a thing…”
says my neighbour, smiling perfidiously… I smile in return, hoping that the party
had been well worth it!
The first thing I see through the window onlanding at Basankusu is the huge crowd, thebanners welcoming the bonobos, and the few cars
owned by the local authorities. “Good God!”
Stany exclaims, “How are we ever going to get
out of there without the bonobos dying offright?” I can’t believe my eyes! But what elseis there to do but deal with it?

Before even getting out of the plane, I
see that the cages with the bonobos
have already been transferred onto atruck from CCP1, as promised by their
Assistant Managing Director, Mr. Elwin
Blattner. How lucky we are to havethat truck! It will transport the cages
to the harbour at our house on theriver bank of the Lulonga.
Thankfully, as they organised such a triumphant welcome by the population of
Basankusu, the authorities have also mobilised the police force: no less than 40
police officers are there to maintain the crowd at a distance.

1

Congolese Plantation Company

In front of a banner wishing a warm welcome back home to the bonobos of Lola,
the authorities up to the highest level in the district stand in honour! And it is“Planete bonobo” - Claudine’s newsletter #45 (June 2009)

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hot! The tarps more or less hide the bonobos from sight, although their
vocalisations can be heard by all! Lukaya seems to be the only one stressed out
by all the surrounding noise.
The truck pulls away, the children all
around already singing our local
slogan “Banso pona bonobo” (“united
for the bonobos”). A number ofwomen are also singing and dancing,waving their dresses in welcome.
As we approach the ABC office,another group of police officers
prevent the crowd from following the truck into our yard. I am riding in one of
the local authorities’ jeeps. The police is trying to disperse the crowd of youths,
who are dying to see what they have never seen before… the “mokomboso”(chimp/bonobo) from their homeland!
I feel that I have to intervene, to give a helping hand to the police. I jump downfrom the jeep and stand right in front of the crowd who stops in their tracks. I
thank them for their warm welcome, but ask for their understanding. I quickly
explain: the fear, the stress and the tough day not nearly over yet for thebonobos. I ask that they control their enthusiasm. I promise that as soon as
possible I will make it possible for them to see, one way or another, these native
animals. And it works: the tension eases off!
Meanwhile in the garden, the cages arebeing unloaded.
Marielle and Gladez
have had an idea of genius: they hadlarge wooden steps built to help unload
the truck. The steps were at Basankusu
airport to help load the truck, but - bysome twist of their superb organisation– they have already arrived at the houseto unload the bonobos…
(All this would have been so much simpler, of course, had this town not been left
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I suggest a short break for“refreshment and decompression” forthe bonobos before loading up the raft
and travelling up the Lulonga andLopoririversto
finallyreach
Mombengele, where we will disembark
after the hour long journey.

Most of the bonobos are very calm.
They are looking around, slightly
surprised, searching my eyes for an
explanation for this disturbance.
Little Mbano and his mother Etumbe
are calmly nibbling on a sugar cane.
Only the females Lukaya and Lisala are
trembling with stress and impatience.

Very few accept the water offered to them.
“Let’s go!” says Nick, “we have to load the cages”.
He directs the operation with the armada ofvets. I step back and like a fly on the wall, I
observe from afar. I watch mostly the bonobos.
I don’t want to increase the pressure that isalready palpable. We are still within schedule. I
leave those who have things in hand to manage
the situation.
I learn from Marielle that the “authorities”
want to accompany the bonobos to the releasesite. A canoe had to be set aside for them,
their bodyguards… a full delegation! Our big“Nkumu” (traditional chief), wearing his 32
leopard teeth, also wants to be a part of it all.
“But of course!” I respond, somewhere between
laughs and tears, “at this point, why not?”“Planete bonobo” - Claudine’s newsletter #45 (June 2009)

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The convoy of canoes surrounds the raft. The bonobos are vocalising. The cages
are partly covered, allowing a breeze to blow through. Lukaya is still very
nervous and shakes her cage with surprising strength from time to time. Ourcanoes go ahead to install the authorities, first row in the tunnel that leads tothe isolation enclosure. It was going to be difficult enough to organise as it was,
but with the added pressure of a big show… We are far from all the scenarios
we had imagined!!!
Here is the raft arriving. It is gently
easing in. Is the driver under too
much stress? He has positioned theraft to enter the electric archway,when suddenly he veers off, tearing
down the first electrified arch, andthen the second, 5 meters away!
Marielle is pale with shock, and so I
am. Then we both burst out laughing:what else is there to do when thesituation is so catastrophic?
On top of that, we have behind us that delegation of officials in their suits, whoalmost seem to be expecting us to beserving them a cocktail… It is becoming
just too surreal!!! Quick! We must get
the electricity back up and running again
or we will never be able to let thebonobos out of their cages beforenightfall! We unload the cages from theraft, carrying them into the isolation
enclosure to a shaded spot under the
little island of trees in the centre.
Stany, Suzy and the vets are comforting the bonobos still locked in their cages.
As the saying goes: “misery loves company”. While all this commotion ishappening at Mombengele, a pregnant woman on the opposite bank of the river(in the village of Elonda where our camp is based) falls into the water anddrowns. Our men, too preoccupied by the collapsed arches of the tunnel, do notnotice the cries for help from the village to pull her out of the water. They later
explain that they would surely have arrived too late to find a body drowned in
the black waters of the Lopori….

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In the end, it turns out that thepresence of the authorities is a goodthing: in little time an angry delegation
arrives at the enclosure from the
opposite bank, soon calmed down by the
Police Chief and the District Head. But
what a misfortune! We already had somuch to deal with when we only had thebonobos to manage, add to that thedelegation of officials, the collapsing of
the electric tunnel… and now the angry villagers! I do my best to calm everyone,promising to deal with it all in due time. The villagers head back home… but isn’t
this our new home too?
The authorities at last decide it is time for them to head back, but they insist
on leaving a dozen police officers at our camp in case of any further vindications
from the villagers. I refuse, explaining that it is now our village too and that wewill sort it all out among ourselves. No use! The police officers, dressed like
Robocop, are there to stay. Eventually at last, everyone else goes….
We switch off the electricity in thetunnel. Stany, Suzy and I keep for
ourselves the magical moment of
opening the cages. I chose to do so
progressively, opening the doors one byone, managing the stress of eachindividual one at a time. We begin with
Etumbe and her little Mbano. They
first head towards the other cages,
then they come over to us.
I reassure Etumbe, stroking her rump.
She wanders over to Suzy, alsopresenting, looking for reassurance.
The alliance is formed. Etumbe seems
calm.
Mbano
gambolsaround,discovering the enclosure. Very rapidly,
they are in trust; they drink a bit andbegin to eat the food that we havescattered around.
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The operation lasted about 10 minutes. “Next!” I say to Stany. “Kubulu perhaps?”suggests Suzy. “OK, let’s go for the little favourite!”And so it goes for all of them, leaving Max for last. An hour later, they have allsatisfied their hunger. Marielle had thought to bring a few dry bundles of hay.
Some of them have climbed up into the trees.
At nightfall, we leave them tothemselves locked in their enclosure.
The canoe brings us back to camp,where, every now and then, we canhear their vocalisations, carried by
the wind despite the 600 meters ofriver separating us!
Back at the Ekolo camp, the presenceof the dozen hungry policemen, whoof course had not been planned for, somewhat spoils that moment of relaxation
which we are in dire need of!
The next morning was supposed to be dedicated exclusively to the bonobos, but
we end up also having to deal with the death, the family, the search for the body,the investigation by a police chief, greedy for money and who is taking advantage
of his ability to keep our men “hostage” to the needs of the investigation! I
eventually manage to negotiate a few days’ freedom for them!
Inside the enclosure, the bonobos
have begun to resume theirnormal behaviour. The vets
conduct yet one more final“security” test for TB. The
technician starts repair work on
the tunnel. At the end of the day,the bent poles and broken cables
have been fixed thanks to“Article 15 of the Congolese
Constitution”, which always find asolution to all problems, for better or for worse…

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After last month’s PASA meeting at Columbus, Ohio (USA), the pressing
recommendations of our colleagues Aliette Jamart and Estelle Raballan to use
telemetric collars for locating and following our released animals have caused me
to worry about whether our group is going to stay together.
Their groups of chimps had always scattered in the first few days after release.
However, in our swampy forest, I had chosen not to use the collars, and theirurgent advice had arrived too late, far too close to the release date. The
cohesion of our group had thus become my first priority, or rather my greatest
worry!
I had therefore decided, in agreement with Marielle and Suzy, to keep thebonobos a few days in the isolation enclosure (which is actually not so small: 25m
x 25m) to give them time to adapt to their new environment.
However, Lisala had decided otherwise! On theTuesday morning, using her very own technique andmuch to our amusement, she made herself to be
the fist ever self-released bonobo! Climbing up
the long unfolded leaves of a palm tree, as if they
where stilts, she climbed vertically up, spreading
and balancing her weight to make sure the leaves
wouldn’t buckle under her weight, then assessing
her position relative to the electric fence she
gently threw her weight and let herself drop on
the other side of the fence….
And so that is how the world’s first ever bonobo
release happened. One thing is for sure, it will
stay in our memories as… a rather spontaneous event!
The following morning, Lukaya, having paid close attention to the lesson given by
her friend, followed the same path out! She however climbed back into theenclosure at the end of the day to spend the night with the others, whilst Lisalaprepared a new nest for herself in the trees nearby.
“They’re ready!” Suzy exclaims. “Let’s go!” we all reply in unison. Stany opens theenclosure door and we are off, Suzy and I, to discover the forest ofMombengele with the bonobos. We look at each other, our hearts heavy withemotion.

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Max is not so fond of the newpeople in our group: he gathers
his branches and charges
several times.
We head off down transect
zero. Leading the way are
Lisala, Kubulu, Lomami and Beni.
Lomela is very anxious, seeking
reassurance by holding on to
Lukaya and whimpering. Lukaya
offers Lomela a brief GG (genito-genital) rub as reassurance. She clearly wants
to get rid of the little cry-baby! She has better things to do, a whole newforest to discover!
Max doesn’t tire of displaying towards Ibrahim; then all of a sudden Etumbe
pounces on him as well, trying to go for the fingers! We are lucky: no harm done.
Stany suggests that we reduce the number of visitors and heads back to theenclosure with Ibrahim.
We carry on along transect zero, stepping over large pools of water where we
encourage the bonobos to drink, although they don’t seem to really appreciate
the new taste or perhaps the “Coca-cola” colour of the water!
We head back to camp in the evening, having spent a large part of our time
protecting one or another person from the intimidations of the bonobos. Poor
Marie-Laure for instance was a choice target of Lomami’s clowning about.
During one of our hikes through the forest, as we stop to let the bonobos
discover all the novelties around, I notice the empty shells of a yellow fruit
scattered on the ground. I have not heard any of the vocalisations that are
typical of bonobos when they savour a prize food, so I am astonished looking up
to discover Lisala, sitting alone at the top of the tree, stuffing herself with the
red flesh of the little fruit, hiding from the others.
When she comes back down, her stained lips tell of her hidden greed. I call theother bonobos to the foot of the tree and show them the empty shells. Theylick them eagerly, but despite my efforts at pointing to the top of the tree,
none of them seem to understand where the fruit has come from.

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Page 12“They have still a lot to learn!” says Suzy.
Etumbe is heavy with her pregnancy- an advantage for us as she slows
down the group with her frequentnaps! She is also the one showing
the most energy in looking for food,pulling up young (and not so young)palm tree shoots. Stripping thestems of the amaranth plant isnothing new for them: we havethem at Lola. We do feel a bit
sorry for poor little Mbano though: he is not strong enough to pull up the stems,
all he can do is to follow the others, picking up the leftovers dropped by theolder ones...
In the evening, they all nest high up in the trees surrounding the enclosure, all
but Max, our gorilla1, who wanders off into transect zero and builds a nest forhimself right on the ground.
We are pleased to see that within a few days, Max too begins to climb into the
canopy of the trees and eventually starts building nests in the trees as well. We
also notice that Mbano is no longer allowed to sleep with his mother, Etumbe.
He whimpers all he can, trying to get into her nest by all means possible, only tobe rejected again and again. Etumbe is having none of it!
Willy-nilly, Mbano turns to his “aunties” Lukaya and Lisala and finally little
Lomela and him soon learn to build comfortable little nests of their own nearby
one or other of the grown-up’s nests. Since then, even at naptime, it is notuncommon to see them folding a few sticks and leaves on a branch overhanging
the river to make a simple day-nest where they lie with satisfaction at theiringenuity.
On the days that follow, we continue our hikes through the forest, hoping toshow them the banks of the wide Lopori River, its white sandy beaches borderedwith the wild ginger which they like so much - be it the shoots, the leaves or thesour fruit which at Lola we call “Tondolo”.
1

Max was rescued on 19 May 1989 by the PPG in Congo Brazzaville. He spent a long-time there inclose proximity with the gorillas and has kept to this day some peculiar vocalisations which are“Planete bonobo” - Claudine’s newsletter #45 (June 2009)

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certainly not part of the typical bonobo repertoire, but which seem to give him a “mysterious,
sexy and exotic vibe” in the eyes of the female bonobos…

Kubulu is often up ahead, vocalising at every new discovery.
Suddenly, a little clearing reveals theriver. Lisala, upright with her arms
behind her back, in perfect bipedal walk,goes over to the water, then down into it,soaking her feet. She calls to the restof the group which stands dumbstruck infront of this wide expanse of dark waterrunning peacefully at their feet….
“Genius” (as we often call Lisala) leansover and with her hand scoops up some water to her mouth. She vocalises andrepeats the same gesture several times. Lomela, a keen drinker back at Lola,imitates her but spats out the water… “That’s not a great start!” I muse tomyself.
But I am proven wrong over the following days: Lomela start regularly drinking
from the river, as well as from the pools that are common throughout theswampy forest.
Suzy and I spend longhours
watching
thebonobos
discovertheforest.
From day to day, we noticethat they are increasingly
moving about in the canopy,
preferring it to the paths
made by the transects wehave traced.
“That’s good!” declares Suzy, “from early September, the water level will rise,
the forest will flood, but it shouldn’t hinder them too much.”
Since then, they have adopted a regular “schedule” which reassures me andincreasingly convinces me that the group isn’t going to break-up. They nest at“Planete bonobo” - Claudine’s newsletter #45 (June 2009)

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one of two locations, depending mostly on where Etumbe decides to settle thatnight.
The enclosure remains the main landmark, and the beach at Mombengele – thedeparture point for their exploration into the forest to the west and north. In
the evenings, they come back at around 4 pm and “bang on” 5:10 pm Lisala gives
the signal to head off up into the treetops to build their nests. We can hear a
few squeaks here and there, especially from the two little ones, Lomela andMbano.
Max is always the one closing themarch, waiting a bit to observe us.
Then eventually, around 6 pm, heclimbs up and away from us tobuild his nest in the canopy.
It is the rainy season, also known
as the “caterpillar season”, aseason which brings valued
protein to these poverty stricken,
riparian tribes, who have lived the same way for centuries and centuries.
At night in my little hut, as the thunder growls and the rain falls down in sheets,
I can’t help but feel sorry for our bonobos, most certainly shivering under thecold rain, and I ask myself if I have made the right decision for them or if theparadise that I have given them isn’t a little less sweet tasting than it may haveseemed?
However, when Suzy and I cross the mist-covered river at 6:30 am the nextmorning and the bonobos welcome us in their usual way, as if the night has beenno different than any other, I am reassured in my conviction that the idea of
freedom (that which make mankind stand up as one) also sometimes has thebitter taste of sacrifice, yet freedom is such a strong ideal that it can carrythem, unite them, strengthen them, and that is surely not so far from happiness!
Bonobo, I can not read your souls, only look deep into your eyes when you cometo meet my gaze. This freedom which I have wanted for you and that you now
have little choice but to put up with… live it! And what if I was wrong? What if
Lola was your paradise??...

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Go, go deeper into this forest! It is yours, discover it and return one day to lookme in the eyes and show me what I long to see more than anything: The joy ofliving free in the forest of your ancestors!

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