J.A.C.K.

Category: Congo - DRC, Illegal trade, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, Rescued Chimps, Uncategorized | Date: Oct 22 2009 | By: jack

Hi Everyone,

Yes, not good news, again!

Elia is a young female chimpanzee that arrived at JACK a few hours ago.

She was kept in a small parrot cage. The owner had bought her here in Lubumbashi and was trying to sell her at a higher price.

We had recently heard about a chimp in that area of the city of Lubumbashi and yesterday the Inspectors of Environment assisted by police officers went to seize the young chimp.

Elia was scared but ready to leave the small parrot cage full of dirt.

Getting her in our crate was extremely easy as she didn’t show any resistance …

At J.A.C.K, no problem at all. Elia seemed a bit nervous but was apparently  glad to have a bigger cage where she could play, jump, hang onto the bars, etc.

Elia is very thin but very active. We estimate she is about 3 to 4 years old. She eats, drinks and plays all the time and always asks for contact. She is very cute and doesn’t show any signs of aggressiveness.

Maybe, if all the analyses are ok, Elia will have the opportunity to stay with Rosie. Both will thus feel less lonely during their isolation period.

But first we want Elia to adjust and to understand that she’s in good hands now!

Thank you,

Roxane

7 responses so far

Category: Congo - DRC, Illegal trade, J.A.C.K., galago - bushbaby, rescues | Date: Oct 16 2009 | By: jack

Friends of JACK,

Romeo arrived two days ago at J.A.C.K. But Romeo isn’t a chimpanzee. Romeo is a galago.

A Congolese farmer had found a very small bushbaby on his field and came to us for help. He had heard there was a project at the Lubumbashi Zoo taking care of seized galagos.

Franck was very surprised to be handed such young animal and knew from the early beginning this case wouldn’t be easy at all. So, at home, we gave the baby his first diluted milk (70% boiled water and 30% milk)and it was obvious the little bushbaby had been separated for too long from his mum and that he hadn’t had food for several hours.

The baby drank easily with a sterile syringe. Because of the severe dehydration of the little one, our vet Jean-Claude cautiously administrated him subcutaneous fluids.

Although exhausted, Romeo seemed full of life, made a lot of baby galago noises once hungry.

Franck had organised a puppet in which he had put a clock to simulate the regular heartbeats of Romeo’s mum and the baby loved the cling to the puppet.

Both Franck and I had hope and to be sure we would work in the perfect way to save Romeo, I managed to be in touch with two wonderful people of the Duke Lemur Centre (North Carolina), Julie and Bobby.

Bobby is a veterinarian and gave us tons of interesting details and we learned a lot! His advice was most welcome: it was the first time we had to deal with such young baby…

But from the beginning, Bobby had also mentioned this rescue would be difficult and that the baby might not make it.  Franck put extra attention on the baby and fed Romeo every 2 to 3 hours day and night.

Yesterday, all went well except in the evening. Romeo didn’t want to drink. We were worried. Even at night, he refused his milk and hardly ever made galago noises.

Romeo left us at 4 o’clock this morning and must be with his mummy now who has surely been killed and eaten up. Congolese people like galago meat. That’s the reason why this species is also considered as endangered species in the DRC and this is also the reason why we started this project: to stop the slaughter and to teach people how to preserve and respect their environment!

Thank you Bobby/Julie for all this energy spent in helping us so hard!

Good bye little Romeo… we are so sorry

Roxane

3 responses so far

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

Dear All,

Masika, the baby that arrived about two weeks ago is doing fine. It took her just a few days to adjust to her new environment and she now knows everyone of the Refuge.

She really likes Papa Augustin’s company.  He is the first one who comes to greet her in the mornings with some food.

Masika’s name has been changed into “Rosie” as to keep in mind the name of Rosmarie Ruf who rescued the baby female after it had been seized by ICCN authorities.

Although Rosie is in very good condition, she can’t join the goup of the Kivu’s. Quarantine is very important and we can’t take the risk of losing chimps.

Rosie can already hear, smell and see others of her own kind and unlike any newcomers will be introduced once isolation period is finished.  So, everyone of the project takes good care of her so that she doesn’t feel that lonely…

I’ll post more pictures later on,

Roxane

3 responses so far

Category: Chimpanzee, Congo - DRC, Illegal trade, J.A.C.K., seized chimpanzees | Date: Oct 08 2009 | By: jack

Hi Everyone,

In my former post, we had a happy rescue story. But also as mentioned, saving wildlife doesn’t always have happy ends. Today, I’ll talk about Ikia, a baby chimpanzee, who unlike so many others, had lost her family and hope…

End of June 2009- Julius, a Congolese man working in the city of Kalemie (Eastern DRC), saved a baby chimpanzee he had seen stranded in a bag.

The baby female surely was meant to head for Lubumbashi on the Kalemie-Lubumbashi train,

but Julius got really interested in the content of the bag…

 That’s how Ikia entered in Julius’life…

Early July 2009 - Not knowing exactly how to look after a young traumatised chimp, Julius managed to get in touch with our Refuge in Lubumbashi. He wanted the best for the little one and needed advice and help.

Franck and I were in Europe, so it was Chantal who first had contacts with Julius. She was running the project and sent me Julius’ email address so that I could correspond and help the young man of  Kalemie…

Ikia was in a bad condition. She needed medical assistance and a lot of love and attention. Julius did a wonderful job and was assisted by other friends when he had to travel.

July 16, 2009 - Once all the paperwork had been done, transfer to Lubumbashi took place thanks to people wishing to help the baby.

Chantal welcomed Ikia at the airport with the ICCN authorities and the representatives of the Ministry of Environment.

At the Refuge, our team welcomed a traumatised, weak and extremely stressed baby.

Ikia was lethargic, remained at the bottom of the box.

Carefully, Ikia was set into quarantine for observation and care. 

Assisted by the vet and a young man from France volunteering at the Zoo of Lubumbashi (Cyril), Chantal did all she could to help the new baby. But Papa Augustin and the others were extremely worried as it was clear the baby had had enough….

July 17, 2009- Ikia’s last day. Early in the morning, Papa Augustin took Ikia to feed her and to give her love and care…

Although  the team knew something was going wrong,  everyone wanted to keep on believing Ikia was going to recover soon…. But Ikia had gone already. Papa Augustin held her in his arms when Ikia decided to give up the fight and to let herself die of desperateness.

Everyone cried and felt guilty of not having done more… This was the first time the team went through such sad experience….

Our team and some friends of J.A.C.K. organised a small burial ceremony.

Ikia now lies in piece at the Refuge. This has been a painful event to everyone and it was even more frustrating for Franck and myself who weren’t  in the DRC at that time…

Rescuing animals can be very tough and each time a new confiscated baby arrives, it is a challenge to us. Sometimes, we struggle very hard to give the newcomer hope and confidence. And sometimes, it doesn’t work…

Julius did a great job although he had never worked with Great Apes before. He started blogging about Ikia and you can read her story and see more pictures of her on the following link:

http://ikia1962.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_pagedir=Previous&_c11_BlogPart_handle=cns!3A28F4683963E719!180&_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart

Thank you Julius for your help and for all you did!

Thank you Chantal for all that energy spent in giving Ikia the best!

And great thanks to all the people who were involved in this rescue!

Your assistance was precious!

Ikia, I have never met you, but you’ll stay forever in my heart!

Roxane

13 responses so far

Category: Chimpanzee, Congo - DRC, Illegal trade, J.A.C.K., Refuge Centre, seized chimpanzees | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: jack

Dear Friends,

Let me introduce you Masika (picture below) a baby chimpanzee now at J.A.C.K.

Masika arrived a few days ago on the 29th of September.  Rosmarie of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (Epulu,DRC) actually contacted us on September 13th asking if J.A.C.K. could take the baby chimpanzee she had rescued. 

Masika belonged to a soldier and was confiscated by ICCN authorities of Epulu. The baby female was transferred at Rosmarie’s place and she accepted to take care of the little one. But feeling the best place for Masika was to be among others of her own kind and knowing about our NGO, Rosmarie decided to contact J.A.C.K.  That’s how Masika came into our lives!

But how to transfer Masika to Lubumbashi? The Okapi Reserve is so far ?

There were several people who made the transfer possible. First we need to mention MAF CONGO which accepted to take baby Masika from Epulu to Goma. If Rosmarie hadn’t had this flying opportunity, she would have travelled by road (Epulu-Beni = minimum 6hours driving!) and spent 1 night in Beni before continuing on the next day to Goma. That’s why the MAF CONGO air company was so important: it made the journey shorter to Goma! 
 
In Goma, Rosmarie had already contacted different people. Serge in charge of FZS logistics did a wonderful job and so did Lucy Faveau and Robert Muir who agreed to help with the procedure. We won’t forget the participation of the ICCN in Goma nor Dr Emmanuel de Merode who was aware of this transfer.

Also, Patricia played an important role too. Manager of a local airline company, ITAB, she accepted to take Masika on board to cover the last stretch between Goma and Lubumbashi. It isn’t the first time Patricia, her husband and her team assist us because the Kivu 4 arrived last February in Lubumbashi thanks to their kindness.

Without the intervention of all these helpful people, transfer of Massika from Epulu to Lubumbashi wouldn’t have taken place and we are all grateful for their participation and kindness. Again, this action shows that different NGO’s and institutions can work as a team! Thank you to all of you and thank you too, Rosmarie, for having saved baby Masika!!

In Lubumbashi, Franck and the inspectors of the Ministry of Environment welcomed baby Masika. 

Franck drove her to the Refuge where the JACK team was eagerly waiting for her!

Papa Bukasa (left) and Papa Augustin (right)

Papa Augustin took Masika immediately in his arms and cheerily welcomed her with chimp noises…

Because of her young age and because Masika was too thin and could pass through the bars of our quarantine cages, I took her home where she is now looked after by Carole.  

Masika is now the 24th chimp of our J.A.C.K. Refuge and is the 27th to be rescued by us.

Why 27th? We have lost JAK and TOUZO(remember!). But in my next post, I’ll talk about Ikia, a baby female who arrived at J.A.C.K. last July but who didn’t make it…. Unfortunately, rescues haven’t always happy ends,…

I’ll update soon on Masika’s settling in,

Thank you

Roxane

5 responses so far