gorilla.cd

I received a call this morning from the ICCN vet for Virunga Dr Arthur Kalonji. He told me that a friend of a friend of a friend had informed him of a chimp that was being kept illegally in Goma. After much digging he found out that an expat had actually purchased the chimp from a group of military, after he saw them mistreating it.

As soon as Mapima saw Dr Kalonji this morning she climbed up his leg and wouldn’t let go.

Now buying a chimp is illegal here in DR Congo, but the expat - who shall remain nameless - clearly thought he was doing the right thing. He then subsequently made contact, through the friend of a friend of a friend, so that ICCN could legally seize the chimp. That was the right thing to do.

Mapima has received veterinary care from Dr Kalonji who has deparasited her and treated some sores she had on her legs. Dr Kalonji thinks she got these from being tied up by the military. She has been extremely well treated by the expat.

So I went with Arthur this morning and he picked up Mapima, a baby girl who is aged between 7 to 10 months. She is now in the warm care of Faustin, the carer who also bonded with Tongo, the male chimp seized in August in an incredibly dramatic raid (in stark contrast of course to today).

Dr Kalonji is now working on the paperwork so ICCN can expedite Mapima to Jack, the chimp sanctuary run by Roxanne and Franck in Lubumbashi, in the south-east corner of the country.

Mapima is curious, but definitely stressed after her ordeal.

Mapima seems tiny - as a female of course she is much smaller than Tongo. She is also scared and we don’t know how long she was with the military guys before the expat bought her. One thing is for certain: she would have seen her family massacred before her very eyes. She now needs to be given the chance to recover from this trauma.

Faustin is now caring for Mapima. I am sure you remember him from the Tongo days. As soon as Mapima saw him she got excited and reached toward him. He clearly has a natural connection with chimpanzees. Just incredible.

Also, unfortunately Mapima is not the chimp that we posted about on Saturday. So there is still another chimp out there, also with the military. And we are still working on that.

According to the United Nations, Thursday was the “International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.” On his way to the International Summit in Nairobi to find a solution to the current crisis in Eastern Congo, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the following:

“The natural environment enjoys protection under Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions. But this protection is often violated during war and armed conflict…The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of our approach to peace…Let us renew our commitment to preventing the exploitation of the environment in times of conflict and to protecting the environment as a pillar of our work for peace.”

Based on these words I hope that in Nairobi they are also considering the impact of the war on Virunga National Park, which is epitomized by the following picture taken in Goma a few days ago by a photographer working for AFP:

Soldiers here often take baby chimpanzees and monkeys as pets. You may remember that in August we confiscated a chimpanzee from an major in the army. We are trying to see what we can do about the chimpanzee being held at the moment. It was again seen not far from Samantha’s house and we are trying to identify the soldier holding the chimpanzee in the picture below:

It is difficult to put much emphasis on conservation and animal welfare when there is so much human suffering in the Congo. However, if we don’t try to do something about these chimps, no one will.