Archive for January, 2008
Hi everyone! Here is the story of little WANZA, the chimpanzee baby who is sick and about whom I spoke in my comment of January 12th.
Wanza Two weeks ago, visitors threw some food into the main enclosure. Although it is written and said not to feed the babies, people just do so and don’t understand that chimpanzees get the same diseases as humans.
Main enclosure WANZA got horrible flu as he ate contaminated food two weeks ago. He had a very bad cough, high fever and breathed with difficulty. But who is WANZA?
Wanza WANZA is a male of 2 year 1/2 and isn’t very tall.
Wanza in December 2006 WANZA was seized in September 2006, just after the fire. At that time, a French Zoo called Saint Martin la Plaine had sent us an animal keeper to fix the new enclosure for CHITA, SHASA and BACHI and, when the young orphan arrived at J.A.C.K., he was named after the French Zoo (’kiwanza‘ in Swahili means ‘the plain’).
Wanza on day of arrival (sept. 2006) In my next post I’ll speak about Saint Martin la Plaine: they helped us A LOT after the fire and today, they still support J.A.C.K.
The French Zoo supporting us Wanza was the smallest chimp we have ever had. Although he wasn’t in a very bad condition, authorities allowed us to keep him the first weeks at home (we didn’t have any quarantine area at that time).
Wanza having a shower But, to feed him was not easy. WANZA ate peanuts and bananas only. He didn’t know what an apple was and even refused milk!
The first apple! The owner of Wanza went all nights in different bars and gave him beers. So,imagine, the little ape got drunk every night and because the baby chimpanzee made funny things and tricks, people paid his owner… So, Wanza underwent something like a treatment for alcoholism once he arrived at J.A.C.K. and it took us about 54 days to make him appreciate milk. At the beginning, Wanza had water with some sugar or syrup and fruit juices. One day, while preparing the milk bottles of the other chimps, some milk powder fell on the floor. Wanza licked it and asked for more. He then got one bowl of water and one with some milk powder. As he went from one bowl to another, he thus started to prepare his own milk mixture which helped him in drinking a real milk bottle.
Wanza eating milkpowder
The first milk bottle Introduction of Wanza into the group went fine: Wanza got on immediately with Chita, the alpha male.
Wanza in the group Because Wanza has taken in so much alcohol, his growth has been slowed down. Compared to the other babies, Wanza is still very short and hasn’t put on much weight. Alcohol can also have an influence on hormones, and, maybe, Wanza will never be able to have babies. Therefore, blood samples of Wanza will be taken and send to Europe in order to check his hormones. You can’t carry out such analysis here in….
Wanza Well, it seems you now know a bit more about Wanza. Today, we can say his flu is nearly over as he’s again playful and is doing a lot better. Fever was so high last week that I decided to keep him home for a few days. The vet came last weekend and made some injections (antibiotics + vitamins). Not an easy task! Wanza was very nervous and aggressive. Therefore, the vet decided to make him sleep for a while. Fortunately, everything went fine ! (I hate anesthesia!!)
Anesthesia last week
After anesthesia I was trying to send my post with Wanza waking up on my knees Since Wanza had his injections, his condition has improved. He’s now in quarantine at the Refuge Centre were most of the others are coughing, sneezing and having a running nose. Ten out of our 13 chimps have been contaminated by the visitor’s stupidity and 7 of them have had flu and some fever. These seven are now isolated for treatment and will stay in quarantine for at least one more week.
Wanza Dear Cathy, I hope I have answered your question. Franck and I are very busy as, in addition to the Refuge Center, we have our own jobs. I really wish I could write you more often about J.A.C.K. and I’ll do my best to send you posts more than once a week. Before ending , the chimps of J.A.C.K. want to thank Theresa for her monthly donation (30$) as well as Wanda (20$), Cathy R (50$), Pamela R (20$) and Antonio C (60$) for their single donations. As most of the group is sick and need medication, these donations will help us giving the orphans all the medical assistance they need. THANK YOU! Roxane, Franck & the chimps
Good morning everyone! This post is very particular as it gives you more information on how we started. But, before giving you all these details, J.A.C.K. wishes to thank Theresa for her wonderful donation that will help us electrifying the day enclosure for the quarantine chimps. Quarantine babies will in that way enjoy an open air area full of trees instead of remaining in their quarantine cages. Thanks again, Theresa! Also, before reading, keep this in mind: J.A.C.K. is the name of our NGO, JAC is the baby that arrived last September (the little one you know already)and JAK is the first baby we started with. Well, our story started on April 6th 2006 when the FIRST seizure of a chimpanzee baby ever took place in Katanga. The sick little one had been seen for sale in Lubumbashi on the back of a bicycle and if Franck and my brother hadn’t called the director of Katanga National Parks (I.C.C.N.), the baby would have been sold.
JAK
JAK at the Zoo That’s the way JAK came into our lives. The authorities who had seized him brought him at the Lubumbashi Zoo. The baby was very dehydrated and suffered from terrible diarrheas. Having poor chances to survive, the authorities accepted to hand over JAK to Franck.
JAK handed over to Franck JAK was a young ape of about 1 and ½ year. When he arrived, he was very weak and couldn’t even walk!! He stayed with us for about 2 months.
JAK sick Meanwhile, other seizures took place in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa (capital of DRC) and, thanks to an agreement Franck had made with the director of Lubumbashi Zoo, we managed to get an old enclosure at the zoo where to put the babies. The abandoned enclosure was made of two small islands restored by Franck: the chimpanzees could run, play and enjoy the sun in their new open air enclosure that was surrounded by a moat. This was the beginning of our NGO.
The small island
4 happy chimpanzee orphans
On the island By September 2006, we were taking care of five little chimpanzee babies during day. There were four males (JAK, BACHI, CHITA and TOUZO) and one female, SHASA. JAK was doing great and had a very good friend: TOUZO. Inseparable, they shared the same games, the same nests.
JAK & TOUZO But our story went through terrible moments. On the 5th of September, very early in the morning, saboteurs set a fire in the night enclosure of the five sleeping babies. Three survived (CHITA, BACHI and SHASA), one died (JAK) and one was severely burnt (TOUZO).
JAK burnt to death
TOUZO severely burnt
TOUZO Franck and I were prostrated with grief. JAK had been the first baby chimpanzee we had started with and now he was gone forever….
Baby JAK
JAK Baby JAK had been taken away from us and we couldn’t let these cruel and barbaric people win. This sabotage was obviously meant to stop us, but we couldn’t stop all we had started. CHITA, BACHI, SHASA and TOUZO needed us more than ever and Franck and I decided to continue our work.
CHITA (on Franck’s back), BACHI (left) and SHASA (right) The manager of the Lubumbashi Zoo had insisted on burying JAK at the zoo, not far from the place the tragedy had occurred. Authorities and friends joined us on that very, very sad day.
JAK’s grave Thanks to Mr. Doug CRESS of PASA (Pan African Sanctuary Alliance) and to Mrs. Sylvia SIDDLE of CHIMFUNSHI WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE (Zambia), a Zambian vet qualified in third-degree burns was sent to Lubumbashi in order to help us. TOUZO was badly burnt as he had jumped through the flames. Special medical assistance was needed to give him another chance.
TOUZO
TOUZO TOUZO strove against pain for one week. The Zambian vet, Ian, did all he could to improve TOUZO’s condition and to heal his wounds.
Vet Ian and TOUZO
Vet Ian did a wonderful job! Thank you, Ian!! But the burnings caused severe damage to his little body: TOUZO was losing fingers and toes, his left eye was lost, his right ear was falling off and about 90 % of his body was peeling … Little TOUZO wouldn’t have been able to walk anymore as the muscles of his legs were completely destroyed.
TOUZO was dying and still loved to be hugged Little TOUZO died just one week after the fire. He now rests in peace next to JAK as they had been inseparable and very best friends.
JAK & TOUZO together to all eternity As I told you in my former post, “life here can be very tough”. Some of the pictures I have sent aren’t nice at all, sorry for that, but they are part of our history and people must exactly know what happened. This event was a real nightmare, and Franck and I were deeply affected because two very precious and cherished creatures had been taken away from us.
Farewell precious little ones… In order to keep that first seizure still alive in our minds, Franck and I decided to use JAK’s name for our NGO. To put emphasize on the seizures, a “C” was added to obtain “Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga” (= Young Confiscated Animals in Katanga). The tragedy was a tough experience, but it made us stronger as people around the world - and in DRC! - started to have some interest in our work and now we can feel we are no longer alone.
J.A.C.K. stands for Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga – Young Confiscated Animals in Katanga . It is a self-funded NGO set up by Franck and I in 2006 in Lubumbashi , capital of the Southern Congolese province of Katanga .
DRC & Katanga What you must know before I start telling you our story is that DRC had ratified CITES agreements protecting Great Apes in 1976 and that, since then, nothing has been done to protect Chimpanzees throughout Katanga .
Chimps for sale on a market (2006) For years, we have seen babies used as pets in expatriate families, and we have witnessed these poor little ones being sold for small change on the streets of Lubumbashi .
Chimp for sale, 1995 Over the past 13 years, Franck has recorded alarming observations of ape infants arriving in Lubumbashi for the local ‘pet’ demand or heading for Zambia and South Africa for international trade. In 1995, Franck asked worldwide wildlife conservation institutions to do something. But, the answer was: ”DRC (former Zaïre) is a dangerous country: due to its political unrest, no action can be taken”. It was clear that nobody wanted to help nor to be involved.
Chimp for sale, 1996 Franck’s informal report emphasized two main appalling facts which, unfortunately, are still valid today: (1) Per month, about 3 babies are passing through Lubumbashi . If you keep in mind that an estimated 10 animals die for every baby taken, an average of 30 chimpanzees die per month and over 400 are lost from the wild every year… Over the ten year period since records began, therefore, the traffic through Lubumbashi alone accounts for in excess of 4000 chimpanzees lost…
Baby chimpanzee for sale at Kindu market (2) Poachers do capture young infants on demand. People “ordering” young chimpanzees are expatriates, but also members of the Congolese Army and other “high ranking” Congolese who use their uniforms or their power to detain, smuggle and sell little chimpanzees.
Beaten up, hardly fed and died as authorities couldn’t seize him; this poor little one belonged to a Congolese soldier. It is not in the local mentality to protect wildlife. Most of the country is underfed and eats what can be eaten. A good example of this can be seen in their Swahili language: the word for “wildlife” (“nyama ”) is the same word used for “meat”. Great Apes are a valuable dish in Northern and Western DRC , and also in the North of Katanga.
Bushmeat People here just ignore that Chimpanzees and Great Apes are protected and continue their ancestral habits of hunting and killing these wonderful animals. One Congolese tribe believes that if you cook and crush the bones of an ape, the child who will drink this powder will be as strong as the chimpanzee that was assassinated…. Local beliefs are still very strong, mainly in the forests, and do play a part in the Great Ape extinction.
Bushmeat So, Franck and I couldn’t stay observing and see all these horrible things happen here in Lubumbashi. We wanted to do something to help Great Apes. Therefore, our Chimpanzee Refuge Centre was created in 2006 and the NGO J.A.C.K. now exists to facilitate wildlife confiscations by the authorities through providing a safe place for the orphans to live for the time being. Another post is coming soon about the way we really started, as here, you’ll see, life can sometimes be very tough! J.A.C.K. Dear Theresa, thank you so much for your prayers and for your donation (100$). More details on Jac and the other 12 orphans will be posted soon. Zamba & Doguy |
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With the Congolese authorities, we are working to end the illegal trade of chimpanzees in eastern DRC. 
