happy new year!

our brand new fence for the brand new year!

Our physicist friend, Jim Holtz, made a very generous donation this year which enabled us to build a brand new fence for group 3! we desperately needed it, since some of the bonobos were escaping and causing havoc, but as you can see from the pictures - no escape artist is going to make it out now!

I'm including ALL the photos, because even though once upon a time i might have thought fences were boring, when you have 12 little trouble makers, including Boyoma, to keep contained, I think this fence is the most beautiful creation I've ever seen!

Thank you Jim, for helping us!

Nsomi, little hope of Ekolo

If this face doesn't make you want to adopt a bonobo for xmas - i don't know what will!

The first bonobo born at the release site, she is the hope for our future and the joy in our hearts!

Looking for original present ideas for Christmas? Why not a bonobo gift-donation or gift-adoption? or a Friends of bonobos t-shirt, hat or mug? Visit our website www.friendsofbonobos.org/support.htm for more information or shop on-line at www.cafepress.com/BonoboFriends and www.cafepress.com/Lolayabonobo

yikes...

from nat geo.

if only they would be more responsible about the exploitation of endangered species in the US (that would be Hollywood chimps Nat Geo!)

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/asian-wildlife/leong-photography

grubs? yum!

following up on maybe supplementing the diet of the release bonobos, one of the trackers spent a while teaching Kubulu (aka GPS) about forest delicacies - grubs! yum!

Don't forget to adopt a bonobo for xmas! www.friendsofbonobos.org/support.htm

s

update from suzy

Hello everyone!

It's my great pleasure to confirm that there are now six bonobos at the release site at Basankusu. Now that the pesky Max isn't displaying his dominance every five minutes (well he probably is, but back at Lola) we can follow the bonobs in the forest and conduct scientific observations.

The organisation of the group hasn't changed except Beni has gone up a bit since Mas has gone.

We maintain at least 3 ft distance from the bonobos, and take care not to disturb them. We also thought of changing their diet by reducing sugar cane more fruit, so they don't eat too much - without of course leaving them hungry, especially Etumbe with her new baby and Lukaya with a baby on the way! those ladies love to eat!

The local population of Baskankusu loves to come and see the bonobos. We'd like the bonobos to keep appearing on the beach ot take the opportunity to teach the people about bonobos and dispel some myths - like the one where the bonobos poop diamonds!

The most important thing is that the bonobos are not stressed. they take our presence calmly and they trust us.
They are also all in good health, which is a blessing!

Looking for original present ideas for Christmas? Why not a bonobo gift-donation or gift-adoption? or a Friends of bonobos t-shirt, hat or mug? Visit our website www.friendsofbonobos.org/support.htm for more information or shop on-line at www.cafepress.com/BonoboFriends and www.cafepress.com/Lolayabonobo

real release baby?

'Lukaya is great, she has a huge swollen belly! the baby is soon on the way'

that's the news flash - does that mean this will be the first baby born in the wild??

waiting with baited breath!

Adopt a bonobo for xmas!

Don't forget to think of the Lola bonobos for Xmas! I've been getting mail from the moonbears and the gorilla fund about xmas donations, so I just wanted to remind you - whether it's a bonobo or another charity - sponsoring an animal or giving a donation on behalf of someone else is a way better idea than giving them a tacky gift they don't want!

www.friendsofbonobos.org/support.htm

exploreorg.com

Taking a quick break from bonobo land to give you all a bit of wildlife eye candy:

explore is a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others.

Which basically means you can watch amazing wildlife documentaries and plaster your desktop with award winning images. So if anyone is procrastinating b/c it's xmas - check out exploreorg.com

i loved the gorillas:

http://exploreorg.com/videos/player/rwanda-gorillas-986-human

all they need is bonobos!

GPS

Kubulu is one of the release bonobos, Zannah and the tracking team have started to call him 'GPS' because he acts as their guide in the forest.

'he always checks that we are ok and not lost. I went on a forest patrol to check in the forest with some ecoguards, and Kubulu came for the whole 6hrs- he really thought he was part of the team!'

Here is the GPS in action

The first release baby going strong...

Etumbe's baby, the very first baby born on the release project - is doing great! Her name is Nsomi and she's a very vocal young lady, always doing mini-hoots and grunts.

She's the darling of everyone, here she is on bonobo beach with everyone making a big fuss over her.

And guess who that is, right behind Etumbe??? LOMELA!!! look how big she is! and she's so sweet to the baby, she's always petting and stroking her.

Full reintroduction report

Hi everyone,

We have the pleasure of sharing with you this short update on the reintroduction of a first group of bonobos, rehabilitated at LOLA YA BONOBO, in the swampy primary forest of the DRC, at a place we have named EKOLO YA BONOBO ("the land of bonobos"). We had been preparing the reintroduction for several years now and the release of this first group is a landmark in our efforts. It is the first time ever that bonobos are reintroduced in their former habitat, and by all accounts the results are very encouraging....

On behalf of Claudine and the EKOLO and LOLA teams, we wish you a pleasant reading.

http://www.friendsofbonobos.org/news/?p=825

Looking for original present ideas for Christmas? Why not a bonobo gift-donation or gift-adoption? or a Friends of bonobos t-shirt, hat or mug? Visit our website www.friendsofbonobos.org/help for more information or shop on-line at www.cafepress.com/BonoboFriends and www.cafepress.com/lolayabonobo

Released bonobos back at Lola?

I've had a couple of people write me and ask what the bonobos who were released were doing back at Lola - I'm sorry I didn't explain very well.

Max, beautiful Max with his long flowing locks, was a little more trouble than we thought. We had assumed that the bonobos would be afraid of the forest, so that human presence or post-release monitoring would prove reassuring. In practice, the released bonobos dapted surprisingly easily to their new environment, showing no sign of fear. In
particular, Max immediately started displaying towards intruders in “his” territory, before alming down and coming for a contact with known staff. Max similarly displays towards bonobos, but they seem to largely ignore his shows and simply get out of his way. The new trackers were notably more impressed and this delayed initial post-release monitoring
efforts.

When an intruding villager was bitten in August while fishing for eel right next to the isolation enclosure, it was decided to remove the three bonobos who were showing more potential aggressiveness and return them to LOLA, so that
the trackers could start effectively monitoring the group before the seasonal rise in river water risked dispersing the bonobos further away into the forest. On October 19-20, Max, Lisala and Lomami were transported back to LOLA YA BONOBO and reintegrated their former groups without any trouble – like they just went on a short holidays.

Max wasted no time running around having sex with all the females as soon as he was home. I thought a romance between he and Lomela was developing at the release site, but they don't seem to miss each other too much:)

Now with the remaining 6 bonobos at the release site - everything is fine. The trackers can follow them into the forest, and we can finally start gathering important data on their post release habits!

V.

zannah #2

Now that the big bonobos are back at Lola, we are able to enter the forest and walk with them, thats been fantastic. I have been teaching the team how to use GPS so now they can mark where the bonobos go for nests and where they walk to. We started off the process very gently, alloweing them time to get used to us. We did’ presentations’ on the beach, so they knew we were their friends. Etumbe and Suzy really are great pals, and Etumbe at the beginning, came to Suzy to make contact and check everything was ok. Then all was well- important to keep the female alliances!

from zannah

"I just got back, and had an great time. There has been a lot of progress these last few weeks. As i think you know, Max Lomami and Lisala returned to Lola 2 weeks ago. They have come back for a bit of a summer-camp, and are happy to see Lola again. The idea is to have a new island for them, set up like Lola, where they can stay in safety but in their natural mileu."

My monkey baby...

Just got this alert from Madeline:

I'm one of the many lurkers you have around your blog.
"My Monkey Baby", a new show on TLC, glorifies the keeping of monkeys as children. The show airs on October 4 and chronicles a couple who keep a capuchin as a “pet” but treat the monkey as their daughter. The couple dresses the monkey, who they have named Jessica Marie, in designer clothes, put makeup on her, and buy her children’s toys.
I think it is truly terrible. TLC's programming is mostly trash nowadays but this is a bit over the top - and could increase the number of apes in private hands in the US. Born Free USA already has a post set up about it, and the show's preview video is available in the feminist site Jezebel. I know you have your hands full (and then some) but it would be really cool if you could spread the word out to people that might have the means to prevent this show from becoming a permanent TLC fixture.

You can watch the preview here:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/monkey-babies-couples-treat-adopted-monkids-children/story?id=8723105

Please write to http://extweb.discovery.com/viewerrelations and speak out about My Monkey Baby.

You can cut and paste this into your email:

Dear Discovery networks,

I am concerned about your show, My Monkey Baby.

Primates are not domesticated animals. While a tiny percentage of pet dogs will bite a human, all primates will readily bite a human.

ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including Herpes B, Yellow Fever, Monkeypox, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, SIV, HIV and Tuberculosis.

Most primates are highly endangered. It is illegal to own, purchase or sell primates in Africa. Unfortunately, an international trade rages in Africa –- including the sale of primates. Hunters shoot mothers and sell their bodies as meat to rich city dwellers who can afford the luxury. They pull babies off the backs of their dead mothers to sell in the markets as pets. However, these pet traders are doing nothing worse than what is done in the United States legally: baby primates are pulled off their mothers’ backs and sold as pets.

Primate ownership in the US is hypocritical when we are trying to conserve them in the wild.

Please remove My Monkey Baby from your programming.

Sincerely,

a monkey breeder wrote me today...

This was in my inbox this morning:

Vanesse,

While you most certainly have the right to express your opinion against primate ownership, you do however not have the rights to steal the content from our site to publish on your blog. Unless you have explicit permission from the owners of the pictures, you do not have the right to repost them on your site as you should know as a blogger. I’m sure you would not appreciate it if we would start publishing your pictures on our site. Please remove any stolen content from our site at once. I’ve already alerted some of the people involved to file a DMCA violation against you.

Thank you for your time!
Johan
www.primatestore.com

Between my three blogs I have thousands of readers (probably why they are concerned), many of you are faithful followers. So I'm asking you one thing that will really be of help to endangered primates all over the world:

From now on I'll be posting links to these monkey breeding websites. Please go, visit them, and when you're done, send your congress member the sandard format letter I'll have on the post.

How can we protect endangered animals in their indigenous countries if we in the US can buy and sell them as we please? How can we implore an African not to buy and sell chimpanzees and bonobos if we do exactly that?

I'll soon have a whole new website, where all this information will be in one place. Every time an add using a monkey, chimp, or other primate appears in the media I'll have the name and contact of the person in the company who hired them for you to write to. Every time a new primate is for sale on one of these websites, I'll have the link, so you can see these infant primates who will grow up to bite, dressed in clothes. Spread the word, write to your representatives and together we can keep primates in the wild where they belong.

By the way, this might interest you all:

http://jezebel.com/5021076/primetime-exposes-the-dangers-of-satisfying-baby-lust-with-monkeys

Thank you for your support, everyone.

little vanga passed away

I'm not sure if I've written much about Vanga, the little terror of the nursery, but sadly he died a few days ago. I just got this note from Pierrot, our Education Manager at the sanctuary:

'The keepers heard a noise that a bonobo had fallen hard through a tree and the branch had broken. The bonobo cried out. Vanga was gravely hurt. His Mama Yvonne took him in her arms and tried to revive him, but he died a few hours later from loss of blood.'

I've known Vanga since he basically arrived at the sanctuary when he was 2 years old. He turned from a shy, scared little bonobo into king of the nursery. No one - soldier, ambassador, nun - could go into the nursery without Vanga's permission.

I'll miss him. Here is my favorite photo of him with Mama Yvonne

primate trafficker: Wild Animal World

http://www.wildanimalworld.com/

Please help STOP the trafficking in primates:

Please, please everyone, write to your congress representative here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

And copy and paste this message:

Dear Senator,

I would like to support the

The Captive Primate Safety Act

Most people keep domesticated animals, whether it’s a dog, cat or a cow. We know the biological systems in their bodies that control stress responses are down-regulated relative to wild animals. This means that the average dog, cat, cow, etc. stays much more calm in a stressful situation than a wolf, lion or buffalo. Because domesticated animals do not become as stressed, they rarely if ever attack humans compared to wild animals. It’s true that 23 Americans died last year from dog bites, but this statistic would be many times higher if the 68 million dog owners had instead lived in as close contact with wolves. By living together with us for thousands of years, domesticated animals have been bred to live together with humans relatively harmoniously. Domestication is the process of breeding out aggression toward humans

Primates are not domesticated animals. While a tiny percentage of pet dogs will bite a human, all primates will readily bite a human.

ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including Herpes B, Yellow Fever, Monkeypox, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, SIV, HIV and Tuberculosis.

Most primates, including chimpanzees, are highly endangered. It is illegal to own, purchase or sell primates in Africa. Unfortunately, an international trade rages in Africa –- including the sale of primates. Hunters shoot mothers and sell their bodies as meat to rich city dwellers who can afford the luxury. They pull babies off the backs of their dead mothers to sell in the markets as pets. However, these pet traders are doing nothing worse than what is done in the United States legally: baby primates are pulled off their mothers’ backs and sold as pets.

Primate ownership in the US is hypocritical when we are trying to conserve them in the wild.

I support this bill, and I urge you to do the same,

Sincerely,

Another monkey trafficker: Goyette Exotics

www.goyetteexotics.com

Please help STOP the trafficking in primates:

Please, please everyone, write to your congress representative here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

And copy and paste this message:

Dear Senator,

I would like to support the

The Captive Primate Safety Act

Most people keep domesticated animals, whether it’s a dog, cat or a cow. We know the biological systems in their bodies that control stress responses are down-regulated relative to wild animals. This means that the average dog, cat, cow, etc. stays much more calm in a stressful situation than a wolf, lion or buffalo. Because domesticated animals do not become as stressed, they rarely if ever attack humans compared to wild animals. It’s true that 23 Americans died last year from dog bites, but this statistic would be many times higher if the 68 million dog owners had instead lived in as close contact with wolves. By living together with us for thousands of years, domesticated animals have been bred to live together with humans relatively harmoniously. Domestication is the process of breeding out aggression toward humans

Primates are not domesticated animals. While a tiny percentage of pet dogs will bite a human, all primates will readily bite a human.

ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including Herpes B, Yellow Fever, Monkeypox, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, SIV, HIV and Tuberculosis.

Most primates, including chimpanzees, are highly endangered. It is illegal to own, purchase or sell primates in Africa. Unfortunately, an international trade rages in Africa –- including the sale of primates. Hunters shoot mothers and sell their bodies as meat to rich city dwellers who can afford the luxury. They pull babies off the backs of their dead mothers to sell in the markets as pets. However, these pet traders are doing nothing worse than what is done in the United States legally: baby primates are pulled off their mothers’ backs and sold as pets.

Primate ownership in the US is hypocritical when we are trying to conserve them in the wild.

I support this bill, and I urge you to do the same,

Sincerely,

Featured monkey trafficker

This is what we found today:

http://www.primatestore.com/forsale.asp

Please help STOP the trafficking in primates:

Please, please everyone, write to your congress representative here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

And copy and paste this message:

Dear Senator,

I would like to support the

The Captive Primate Safety Act

Most people keep domesticated animals, whether it’s a dog, cat or a cow. We know the biological systems in their bodies that control stress responses are down-regulated relative to wild animals. This means that the average dog, cat, cow, etc. stays much more calm in a stressful situation than a wolf, lion or buffalo. Because domesticated animals do not become as stressed, they rarely if ever attack humans compared to wild animals. It’s true that 23 Americans died last year from dog bites, but this statistic would be many times higher if the 68 million dog owners had instead lived in as close contact with wolves. By living together with us for thousands of years, domesticated animals have been bred to live together with humans relatively harmoniously. Domestication is the process of breeding out aggression toward humans

Primates are not domesticated animals. While a tiny percentage of pet dogs will bite a human, all primates will readily bite a human.

ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including Herpes B, Yellow Fever, Monkeypox, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, SIV, HIV and Tuberculosis.

Most primates, including chimpanzees, are highly endangered. It is illegal to own, purchase or sell primates in Africa. Unfortunately, an international trade rages in Africa –- including the sale of primates. Hunters shoot mothers and sell their bodies as meat to rich city dwellers who can afford the luxury. They pull babies off the backs of their dead mothers to sell in the markets as pets. However, these pet traders are doing nothing worse than what is done in the United States legally: baby primates are pulled off their mothers’ backs and sold as pets.

Primate ownership in the US is hypocritical when we are trying to conserve them in the wild.

I support this bill, and I urge you to do the same,

Sincerely,

selling primates

Hi everyone,

I want to bring up something really serious that you guys can help with.

The buying and trafficking of primates in the US is a very real problem that is making the work of conservationists really difficult.

It is completely legal to buy/ sell monkeys, chimps, and bonobos in the US, even when these animals are endangered in Africa.

www.wildanimalworld.com
http://www.primatestore.com/forsale.asp

I know you all know the reasons why this is wrong: how can we tell Africans to conserve their endangere species when we buy and sell them over here like puppies, then there is the issue of disease, bites, and the welfare of the monkeys themselves who end up in cages or abandoned or at biomedical facilities or roadside zoos.

The reason this is still legal is because the pet traders are very effective lobbyists.

Please, please everyone, write to your congress representative here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

And copy and paste this message:

Dear Senator,

I would like to support the

The Captive Primate Safety Act

Most people keep domesticated animals, whether it’s a dog, cat or a cow. We know the biological systems in their bodies that control stress responses are down-regulated relative to wild animals. This means that the average dog, cat, cow, etc. stays much more calm in a stressful situation than a wolf, lion or buffalo. Because domesticated animals do not become as stressed, they rarely if ever attack humans compared to wild animals. It’s true that 23 Americans died last year from dog bites, but this statistic would be many times higher if the 68 million dog owners had instead lived in as close contact with wolves. By living together with us for thousands of years, domesticated animals have been bred to live together with humans relatively harmoniously. Domestication is the process of breeding out aggression toward humans

Primates are not domesticated animals. While a tiny percentage of pet dogs will bite a human, all primates will readily bite a human.

ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including Herpes B, Yellow Fever, Monkeypox, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, SIV, HIV and Tuberculosis.

Most primates, including chimpanzees, are highly endangered. It is illegal to own, purchase or sell primates in Africa. Unfortunately, an international trade rages in Africa –- including the sale of primates. Hunters shoot mothers and sell their bodies as meat to rich city dwellers who can afford the luxury. They pull babies off the backs of their dead mothers to sell in the markets as pets. However, these pet traders are doing nothing worse than what is done in the United States legally: baby primates are pulled off their mothers’ backs and sold as pets.

Primate ownership in the US is hypocritical when we are trying to conserve them in the wild.

I support this bill, and I urge you to do the same,

Sincerely,

chillin'

When he isn't freaking out at frogs, Fizi likes to chill out in the afternoons by the water side, i often see him there just looking up, seeming to be contemplating something

The rainy season has started!

We had our first big rain last night, so the rainy season has finally commenced. All the bonobos have been busy making day-nests up in the trees, getting cosy in case of a big down-pour! Maya and Bisengo were fast asleep in their nest this afternoon, they looked really cute.

why chimps don't make good pets

another move...

boyoma playing with malaika


Muanda being groomed by Isiro

Yesterday, there was a big move of group 3 into group 2. Isiro, Boyomo, Yolo, Api and Mabali all moved over. Isiro knew exaclt whjere to go as she's already been in gp 2, but it was all new and a llittle scary for little Boyoma and Yolo. Isiro was ind and kept gesturing back to Boyomo, fo him to come and hang on to her. She made sure he clung on as they made their way. Yolo was a bit more cool, he stayed close but wasn't gonna hangi onto some girl. The next to enter were Api and Mabali. Api was fine but Mabali didnt know where to go, so Papa Phillipe led him down. When they arrived, there was lots of sex and screaming, but no disputes and no aggression. They were welcomed and settled in happi;y. Little Boyoma is very well, dashing about with the other little boys. He gets on well with everyone, and seems especially Elikia

A big day

Sankuru looking over her Mama's shoulder

settling into group 3

Today Sake, Sankuru and Tchilenge moved to group 3. It was a big day, especially for little Sake! All went really well. Kikongo was the first male to join them, and was so excited to see these pretty girls in his enclos. Sankuru was quite surprised at first but understood exactly how to act with Kikongo, and they had lots of greeting sex. Sake wanted to stay with the mamas but after a little tantrum, she settled down and played well with the others. Tchilenge was very content to be bac with the boys. Maniema Billi and Kiongo joined them, and it already looks like Sankuru was leading the way around the enclos. Maybe the next alpha!

the boys...

Bili has moved back into group 3 and is having a great time dashing about with the boys. Maniema as ever keeps himself to himself a bit, but we have lots of fun making faces to each other. I didn't realise bonobos could roll their tongues, but Maniema is very adept at it. He just loves pulling silly faces and sticking his tongue out at you. Very cute

Kikwit and Keza

There are quite a few changes taking place in terms of group composition, to make way for the new training programme of the 12 juveniles for the next release. Kikwit and Keza moved into group 1 last week week. Keza's being a bit of a loner and after a bit of rough treatment from the females,has moved back into Group 2. but Kikwit is absolutely loving being back. All the females gathered round and spent hours and hours grooming him and welcoming him back. He was blissful lying there with all the attention of the group!

the frog..

Fizzi, the big brave male of enclosure 2, found a dead frog the other day. Upon seeing it, he squealed like a little girl until his buddy Makali, another big male came over to see what all the fuss was about. Upon seeing the frog, Makali also started squealing, and got into such a tizzy that he threw the frog straight at Elikya, a baby girl who caught it on the fly.

Kalina, an adult female came with her baby on her back to calm the guys down. She picked up the frog and left with it, putting it on the ground every now and then to see if there was any life left in the poor thing. Being sure that there was no chance of a sudden resurrection, she threw the frog in the water.

Fizzi decided this was still too close and ran as far away from the floating body as he could. When he got to the forest he promptly pretended to be very interested in the grass and acted like the whole episode never happened...

Sankuru update

For all those waiting for news of Sankuru, here she is! this little one has lately become more independant, she's bee climbing down off her Mama, and now spends most of her time playing with her brothers and sisters. Her favorite of the moment seems to be big brother Eleke, who is big enough to play horse with her! She can be seen in the nursery riding around on him most of the day...

Salonga's baby still alive!

It's a miracle - after losing every baby she's had until now, Salonga has become an extraordinary mother to Kimia - who is now 3 months old! Salonga, as some of you know, has always been desperate for a baby, mothering frogs, small mammals and even large insects. Now, her own baby is strong, healthy, and we have every hope that she'll keep growing! Thank you for all your good wishes, and Salonga sends her love and these new snaps!

Kinshasa l'acrobat

Kinshasa, the new bonobo we rescued last April, is a tight rope walker! she amuses herself all day long by going to the highest and longest bar on the jungle gym and walking up and down it! Phillipe petite French in the making?

the lomako and kodoro trap

this is one of the perils/perks of being a long distance blogger - i ask everyone who goes to lola for photos and stories, especially of the ones we love like kata, lomela& boyoma - but as soon as they get there they get all caught up in the absolute CUTENESS of lomako and kodoro and forget all my requests and just send images and news of these two babies, who are, let's admit it, adorable.

hang in there parents! we'll get news of your babies one of these days!! sigh....

zannah - the clothes theives

the bonobos are being very successful clothes theives at the moment. seems to be several times per week at least.This morning, Dilolo and Kisantu carefully selected an appropriate stick to swipe one of the day keepers shirts. they were very content swinging about in the trees with their booty, and then manono spent hours washing and re-washing his part in the lake. Bisengo played blindman's buff with his torn peice, dashing about and toppling over, in fits of giggles

zannah and lomako

(oops - i got it wrong - i thought kodoro and lomako were little girls - but they're actually little boys! sorry you two!)

the 2 new males, Lomako and Sodoro are really making progress. Lomako is pretty shy still, but he is still so small! their quarantine time is nearly up, so soon it will be time to meet the rest of the nursery. they are pretty turbulent at the moment, with so many of them! but yvonne is back from holiday, so having an extra pair of hands about again will be helpful!

more news from zannah...

zannah is sending us more news, so I asked her if she could tell us a little about herself...

' im in the Psychology dept at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, part of the Scottish Primate Research Group. Im studying vocal communication in bonobos, and of course its relationship to social cognition. Im taking a psychological approach to vocal communication, thus i guess, examining the means that bonobos use vocalisations as behavioural tools to navigate their social worlds. There is very little research on vocal communication in bonobos, which provides an exciting but somewhat scary opportunity for me to explore! Some of my topics include the vocal sequences they produce during feeding ( evidence of kind of proto-language) as well as those during sex. Sex as we know has a very important social significance in bonobos, and so im examining how this translates into the associated vocalisations. Other primates only produce copulation calls during reproductive mating, but of bonobos produce these calls in purley social contexts.... it appears to be rank and audience related.... '

Fanny

I don't know if I mentioned this but we have a new vet! Fanny has been at Lola for a few months and everyone loves her - including the bonobos!

We usually have female vets, as you've probably noticed, coz it's a little known fact that bonobos prefer women to men, seriously. i don't know what it's all about maybe it's because men killed their mothers, but they retain this preference into adulthood, which is really odd.

So this is fanny with Sankusu, a new, totally huge bonobo - who is sankusu? i have no idea. I should find out though, give me some time.

Kodoro

The other little bonobo who was rescued a few weeks ago, Kodoro, is now firmly latched onto Mama Henriette. She must be one of the tiniest bonobos we have rescued at Lola. She needs to get some meat on those bones...

bowned eyed girl

has anyone ever seen eyes that big???

Lomako's vet results have come back clear - she is officially healthy. But as you can see, she's terribly thin - she needs to double her weight if she's going to be in the healthy range. but at least she is covered in long beautiful hair.

have a feeling this one's goign to be trouble for the boys in group 3...

Lomako's favourite food

Scallions! just like Kanzi, the talking bonobo at the great ape trust in Iowa.

Apparently Lomako can eat her whole body weight in scallions in an hour. Maybe she will get to heavy for Mama Micheline to carry - let's hope so!

Lomako

Lomako is at the sanctuary and going strong! Lomako, is of course, the wild reserve for bonobos in the Congo, and let's hope this little one might return to the wild as well.

Her Mama is Micheline, who has been carrying her around all day every day - lucky she is just a slip of a thing and doesn't weigh very much!

Eye candy - Kata& Sandoa

No need for a description - just look at that face!

news from Zannah - Kimia

Today Dilolo found a plastic bottle. Dilolo being Dilolo put the bottle on his head and walked about looked a cross between an alien and hanibal lector!

Salonga and baby Kimia are doing realy well! Salongo is such a calm and quiet mother. it's really exciting b/c Salonga has had about 4 babies and they've all died. and she's been wanting to be a mother for so long, she occasionally takes frogs from the pond and pretends they're babies!

a retired physicist

Just wanted to give a million bonobo hugs to Jim Holtz, who has just funded the building of the enclosure for the juveniles - this includes rascally boyoma, the little punk dilolo, and mwanda and all the little babies who are now growing up.

As you all know, after the infants arrive they spend several months/ years in the nursery until they have fully recovered from the trauma of losing their mothers. Then they go into Enclosure 3, which is the juvenile enclosure and learn to live in their first stable group. There is a 20 acre forest for them to play in, as well as a few gentle adult bonobos who look after them, until they can finally live in the grown up enclosures.

I don't know anything about Jim, except he is a retired physicist, which means he must be smart b/c I almost failed physics three years in a row...

thank you, jim, from us and all the rascally bonobos in group 3!

news from Zannah - elikia

semendwa&elikia

Elikia is such a big girl now, and spending much more time away from Semendwa. She’s great pals with Keza in particular, they spend lots of time rolling about and playing. Keza may be a terror with humans but he’s pretty sweet with the young bonobos. Keza and Ilebo were playing a kissing game today, pretty cute

news from Zannah - dilolo2

Naughty Dilolo was causing trouble during the vegetable feed today, he kept hanging about Likasi and throwing vegetables at her. He’d pick up a bundle of vegetables, wave thrm around like a lasoo and then chuck them at her. Needless to say Likasi wasn’t impressed!

news from Zannah - Sankuru and the new babies

Sankuru

The two new babies that arrived a few days ago are doing very well. They are 2 little males named Lomako and Sodoro. Michelline and Henriette are being their mothers. But it means busy times for Esperence, who has to look after the rest of the nursery until Lomako and Sodoro have finished quarantine. 9 energetic little terrors charging about. And to top it all off, the whole nursery has come down with a cold. So everyone is very busy treating them and keeping an eye out. Sankuru had a bad fever, but she seems to be doing better now. Shes such an amazingly gentle female, cheeky Eleke and Sake love to dash about and jump on you, but Sankuru is just happy to sit in your lap and quietly groom

news from Zannah - dilolo

A real play party took place today in the swamp. Manono, chief fun-maker was dashing about at top speed in hysterics as he played with the Kisantu and pthers. In fact, Dilolo felt a bit put out. Kisantu and Manono were so engrossed in rolling about wrestling, that when Dilolo patted them and tried to push his way in to join, they just rolled over and carried on their game. He kept trying to join in but they didn’t notice. Chief punk Dilolo ousted from a game!

news from Zannah - Vanga and Manono

Vanga is learning how to live in the big wide world of Group 1. Once king of the nursery, he’s now very much on the bottom rung of group 1. Even Kasongo can cut it a bit more than Vanga. He does have tantrums quite a lot, but seems to get comfort from Bandundu. He stays close to her and gives her a hug once in a while. And he’s quite good pals with Manono. Manono loves playing with the boys, so Vanga makes the most of the good times with the big guy

news from Zannah - poor keza...

Tchilomba really has issues with Keza. Whatvere he tries to do, she tries to stop it. Keza wanted to walk past her to get through the gate at the enclosure to feed on the vegetables. But she started screaming at him and blocked his path. Each time he tried to pass, she screamed, threw her arms at him and set off to chase him away. Then she ended up manning the door, closing it shut each time he tried to pass. She opened it now and then and Moyi and the others slipped through, but each time Keza approached, she creaked it shut. Keza just had to sit it out, she did get a bit bored ofthis military discipline regime after a while… well until the next day at least

baby Elikia growing up

Baby Elikia has really become an independent little lady, and she loves hanging out with the big boys. Yesterday Mystique was sitting by the fence and Elikia was being really sweet, gently caressing her and giving her some gentle pats. Mystique seemed very content