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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
The Kivu Four - Mavivi, Etaito, Udongo and Maiko
We have another chimpanzee situation here in Goma. There are now 4 baby chimps - all under the age of 12 months - who have been legally seized in recent days and weeks by the Congolese Wildlife Authority and must now be sent to the chimp sanctuary in Lubumbashi, J.A.C.K.
Carers Faustin and Thierry with the Kivu Four in Goma
It is an incredibly worrying situation from many perspectives. The 4 orphaned chimps have come from different places in North Kivu province, and their seizure shows that the trafficking of chimps - and the killing of the chimps in the wild that must come with it - is not letting up. It is very difficult to know how widespread the problem is, but since September 08 we have now had 6 chimps coming through Goma - and this is literally just by accident in the sense that we do not have a sanctuary here but are helping out more from a “care in transit” point of view.
This latest operation has been extremely complex because of the logistics involved. We first heard of the chimps last week - I received an email from Franck at JACK and Doug at Pasa, the Pan-African Sanctuary Alliance.
Mavivi - a female - was already in Butembo being kept very well at the offices of DFGFI, but Etaito had to be brought from Huicha (45km away), Udongo from Mutsora (120km away) and poor Maiko from Bafwazende on a motorbike (400km away towards Kisangani) because the roads are so bad. Faustin - the gifted carer that you have all read about before with the chimps Tongo and Mapima - and his colleague Thierry traveled to Butembo on Sunday to take care of the chimps. Then they traveled down in an ICCN car to Goma on Wednesday - over 200km. All in all a pretty grueling trip. And it is not over yet.
Mavivi is the boss of the Kivu Four - she is in excellent health having been cared for by DFGFI for over a month after her seizure. She spends most of the day in a tree looking down on the others, coming down to eat and drink.
Mavivi and Etaito play together - mainly in the plants and trees and on a climbing frame we have built. Etaito is not as confident as Mavivi nor as dominant, but she is in excellent health too and is only being treated for worms.
Next Saturday, fingers crossed, all 4 will be flown directly to Lubumbashi where care will be waiting for them at J.A.C.K.
Udongo had just been confiscated by the park authorities at Mutsora. As you can see he has little hair which is a result of malnutrition, dehyration and worms. The first day he clung to Thierry but now he is playing with the girls. He has an innocent look about him but is actually pretty crafty and will go up and hit Etaito and then run away!
The last chimp is Maiko. He is very very sick. He is dehydrated, malnourished, very thin and full of parasites and worms. We are very worried he may not make it. He was drinking and eating a bit - but now just lies there completely listless and immobile.
So today Doctor Eddy, one of the Gorilla Doctors, is going to take further steps to rehydrate Maiko with a nasal gastric tube. It is very distressing for Faustin and Thierry - but Mavivi, Etaito and Udongo seem to know what is up and keep going up to Maiko to take a look.
All of this of course adds up in terms of cost but PASA has agreed to cover the entirety of the costs, which total about $4,000 including the flights to Lubumbashi. PASA has also agreed to cover the cost of Faustin in Lubumbashi for 3 months as J.A.C.K. simply cannot cope with an influx of 4 more animals. They already have 19 and are badly under-staffed and under-resourced.
If you wish to contribute to the future care of the Kivu Four please donate through J.A.C.K.’s website at www.jack.wildlifedirect.org.
I will let you know how Maiko is doing tomorrow and over the next few days.
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7 Responses to “The Kivu Four - Mavivi, Etaito, Udongo and Maiko”
Oh my - can see that you’ve all been very busy. Bless their hearts and if only Maiko could know he now has every chance. Words fail me, as to their captors.
What another tragic story, but I hope all four of these babies will find the strength to survive, esecially poor Maiko…I am thrilled he is under the care of Dr. Eddy though, Lord knows there are not much better out there than the vets at MGVP. And I am equally as thrilled to hear that Faustin and the chimps are soon on their way to JACK…Roxane and Franke must be beside themselves with joy to have this good, good man coming there to help and for three months! Of course enough thanks cannot be said to all those who helped rescue these poor chimps, and to PASA for their generosity during what are lean times for everyone. Kudos to all and many hugs and kisses to your new residents (and to you too Sam!), especially today, Valentine’s Day.
I have a soft spot for chimps – don’t quite know why, maybe because of childhood memories of sad chimps dressed in tutus, or maybe because of their endearingly big ears – and was very touched by the obvious affection and care with which Faustin is holding sick little Maiko. Samantha, you and the team are doing an admirable job out there in Kivu. Iris
A chimp “buy-back program” sends the wrong message to the militias and would probably promote more illegal chimp seizures.
However might it be possible to offer the people around Virunga some type of reward for information leading to the localization/recuperation of an illegally seized animal?
It wouldn’t necessarily even have to be money; food or medical treatment would probably work just as well or better with a promise of anonymity for the individual who conveyed the information.
If there is a reward-motivated network of watchers it may eventually serve to act as an effective deterrence system against this unfortunate and ignorant behavior.
Regional stability and a thriving local ecosystem is the needed foundation for successful eco-tourism. It is in everyone’s interest to protect these animals.
Tristan
You are right Tristan that a buy-back program is out of the question. This is why all these chimps are legally seized, according to the law, by the Congolese Wildlife Authority. We do have an informant network in place - that is how we actually seized Tongo last year (the informant first heard it was a gorilla that was being held). But you are absolutely right that in the end regional stability is the key.
[...] Kivu Four arrived in Goma with carers Faustin and Thierry on February 12th. Since then, thanks to Samantha and ACF/Virunga, all the attention of different vets were set on these little ones and especially on baby Maïko [...]
[...] most of you know, last weekend we sent three confiscated chimpanzees to the J.A.C.K Sanctuary in Lumumbashi. A video and pictures of their arrival have been posted on [...]