J.A.C.K.

Category: Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, donors | Date: Apr 30 2009 | By: jack

Hello again,

Bralima is a brewery which started a few months ago in Lubumbashi and which has been in Kinshasa (capital of the DRC)since 1923. It is owned by Heineken International. 

I met a lady last year but I actually didn’t know her husband was one of the Bralima managers of Lubumbashi. She visited JACK several times and asked me one day: “What does JACK need?” And because we still had no kitchen at the Refuge and because everything (food, mil bottles) was prepared in my house, I answered a container would be welcome.

So, later on, Franck was contaced to chose a container at the Bralima brewery and…

it took a few days only before the container arrived at the JACK Refuge.

 This is really a “big” donation, and JACK thanks the Fondation Bralima and its team for this. Now, we still have to put power and to build and buy all we need for the kitchen….

Encore merci pour ce geste!

Roxane

6 responses so far

Category: Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, Rescued Chimps | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: jack

Hi Everyone,

Please, don’t worry about Santa and Kimo: their wounds have healed and they are doing extremely fine now.

Kimo is the baby with the neurological problems. Do you remember?

Kimo, November 2008 when he arrived at JACK

Well, since he’s enjoying every day games in the open air enclosure, climbing trees and playing with branches has helped develop the muscles of his fingers. Today, Kimo no longer loses his balance and dares going very high up in the trees with Santa and Maïka.

Kimo playing in the trees

Kimo has put up some weight and seems to become the “boss” of the quarantine group of little ones. Sometimes, when I see him walking, he looks like Chita, the alpha male.

They both have black spots on the face and they both walk in  “dominant” ways…

Roxane

2 responses so far

Category: Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, Rescued Chimps | Date: Apr 28 2009 | By: jack

Hello Friends of JACK,

Although Santa (formerly called “Mapima” on the Web) and little Kimo have already finished their 3-month-quarantine-period, they haven’t been introduced yet into the main enclosure .

Santa (right) and Kimo in their quarantine enclosure

Some weeks ago, we tried to present them to Chita, Bachi and Shasa. It was positive.

Santa coming close to Chita’s hand

Then, some other chimps of the group were added for presentation and Santa already showed signs of fear…

Kimo & Santa in the presentation enclosure

We didn’t want to rush them and presentation took some time. Bachi and Maya were the two chimpanzees of the main group who really protected the two little ones against a few rough ones….

Maya keeping an eye on the 2 new ones

At least, D-day arrived for Kimo and Santa to stay with the group into the main enclosure. Franck stayed with them but couldn’t leave them. Santa actually refused any contact with the elder females and was very aggressive. Kina, one of the females, maybe upset by Santa’s aggressiveness, grabbed her by the left ankle and ran away with Santa crying and shouting… Santa was taken out of the main enclosure; she had been bitten on the lower lip.

Franck in the main enclosure holding Kimo in his arms

Kimo stayed a bit longer in the group and dared walking around. Unfortunately, one of the young males (Wimbi) bit his right ear and Kimo showed such stress in his eyes Franck decided to stop everything…

Today, Kimo and Santa are still in the quarantine area as they apparently seem not ready to start a new life in the group. One positive thing though: both get on very well with Africa, Dian, Pasa and little Maïka and all love to play in the open air quarantine place…

Roxane

7 responses so far

Category: Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., donors | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: jack

Hello dear Friends,

This time, I’ll talk about an association called “Little Jak” which was created in 2006 just after the fire/sabotage that killed two of our baby ones.

Little Jak is located in France, not far from Lyon, and is run by Mr. Thivillon Pierre, the CEO of a Zoological park known for its gorillas: the Espace Zoologique de Saint-Martin-la-Plaine.

Franck & Pierre Thivillon

The aim of Little Jak is to collect funds for the orphans of our JACK Refuge, DRC. Funds are transferred regularly to Lubumbashi and very often we receive parcels from Little Jak full of interesting things: nappies, milk, milk bottles, teets, medication, etc.

My husband has always had good contacts with Mr Thivillon. When Franck was a little boy, he visited the gorillas of Saint-Martin-la-Plaine nearly every week and in some ways, these meetings with Mr Thivillon developed his passion for Great Apes.

Today, Little Jak and its team is working very hard and we do thank each of them for the good work! Merci à toutes et à tous pour votre dévouement!

Some of the members deserve to be known.  This is the case of two new and precious members of Little Jak: Carole and Hakim, a young couple very determined to make things work out positively. Their wish to help Chita and his mates is so strong they very often spend sleepless nights.

Last year, for instance, although Carole & Hakim still weren’t members of Little Jak, they collected funds and managed to send JACK a big parcel full of medication. Merci Carole et Hakim. Sans vous, les choses ne seraient pas ce qu’elles sont aujourd’hui!

Patricia is also a good friend of JACK.  Her husband and herself are fond of primates and have been with us for nearly two years now! It’s thanks to Patricia that PASA has now his hair growing back because she has recently sent us tablets. Merci à vous deux, Paty et Eric, pour être à nos côtés et pour nous encourager!!!

Of course, we thank the Park of Saint-Martin-la-Plaine and its team!!! But, we mainly thank Mr Thivillon and his wife, Eliane, to assist us as much as they can. They have done so much for JACK!

Merci de nous soutenir, Pierre et Eliane, et surtout de nous encourager et de nous faire confiance. Votre soutien nous est précieux!

Little Jak has a website telling how they started and how they help JACK/DRC. But their new website is coming soon and I’ll keep you posted once it is ready!

Before ending, JACK wishes to thank all the members of Little Jak Association as well the the different people who have adopted some of the JACK chimpanzees. Their adoptions represent a great support to our Congolese NGO and I couldn’t speak about Little Jak without mentioning their participation to our Cause… Merci à vous tous, vous les membres, Parrains et Marraines qui participez au bon développement de notre Cause… Sachez que nous vous sommes reconnaissants pour tout ce soutien tant moral que financier… Sans votre appui, nous n’y arriverions pas!

Roxane

5 responses so far

Category: Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, Rescued Chimps | Date: Apr 24 2009 | By: jack

Hello Everyone,

Do you remember PASA? The little “Kivu 4″ that arrived at JACK end of February and who nearly had no hair???

Well, if you look at him now, you can see that he’s doing a lot better and that his hair is coming back!

Winter has already started here in Central Africa and I was afraid PASA would be too “naked” to face the cold and chilly nights. At JACK, we have been providing balanced food, vitamins and of course a lot of love and attention. But, thanks to some herbal medication sent by Patricia, a good friend of JACK living in France, our little one is gaining strength AND fur!

Merci à toi Paty de nous suivre et de nous aider du mieux que tu peux!

Thank you so much Patricia for all that love and care you send us from France!!

Roxane

11 responses so far

Category: Chimpanzee, Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Rescued Chimps | Date: Apr 14 2009 | By: jack

Hi Friends of JACK!

Doguy, the baby chimp with eye problems, had to be sedated again last Thursday as keratitis  commenced again.

After his first sedation, Doguy had a one-month-antibiotic-treatment. All went perfectly well and our vet decided to stop everything to see what was to come next.

Unfortunately, about 10 days after Doguy had stopped Tetracycline, his right eye started crying again and the white spot was again visible. The vet advised a new Tetracycline-treatment but no result came out of this new cure as bacteria apparently had developed resistance to this kind of medication.

Once again, I have contacted Tristan, Doguy’s Guardian Angel, and thanks to him a vet in the States is ready to ship us something from the US. I hope this will work as we can’t keep on sedating little Doguy like this… We feel extremely desperate because here in Lubumbashi we can’t find any reliable medication.

I’ll keep you posted,

Thank you,

Roxane

6 responses so far

Category: Chimpanzee, Congo - DRC, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, seized chimpanzees | Date: Apr 08 2009 | By: jack

Flu has gone!!!

All the chimps are well again and we do take many precautions now as weather starts to become a bit chillier and winter is approaching…

Santa is completely fine and stayed with us about 2 1/2 weeks because of her respiratory problems. While being with us, she met little Maïka who is now doing well too.

Santa

Santa and Maïka have become good friends and both had  great fun together at my place.

Santa & Maïka playing at home

Having two small chimps to take care of requires a lot of attention and patience.

Maïka (left) and Santa (right)

Today, Santa’s back at theRefuge with Kimo and Maïka spends her days with them playing in the bushy quarantine area.

Santa & Kimo

At the beginning, Kimo slammed Maïka a lot: he was jealous Santa took care of her too much. But now, the three of them are getting on very well together and it seems Maïka really enjoys staying with them.

Papa Augustin with Kimo (left), Santa (right) and Maïka (top)

Flu has interupted all kind of introductions between the group and the chimps that had already started to be presented. So, Mwisho and Coco are still on the list to join the group as well as Kimo and Santa… I’ll keep you posted…

Thank You,

Roxane

6 responses so far

Category: Background, Congo - DRC, Illegal trade, J.A.C.K., Rescued Chimps, Uncategorized, seized chimpanzees | Date: Apr 07 2009 | By: jack

Dear Friends of JACK,

The month of April is very particular to Franck and myself : it was on the 6th of April 2006 that we first  met JAK, a dying baby chimpanzee for sale on the streets of Lubumbashi…

JAK is the first chimpanzee ever confiscated in the Southern DRC province of Katanga.

When meeting him we didn’t know he was going to be assassinated by saboteurs willing to stop us.

Nor did we expect the J.A.C.K. project would take huge steps forward shortly after the sabotage…

But one thing is sure, JAK has become a symbol for the Conservation and the Protection of his own kind  as thanks to him, the lives of other chimpanzees have been and are being saved.

Thank you, JAK!

We miss you so much !

Roxane

6 responses so far