Archive for the ‘DRC’ Category
Hi, everyone! Please, have a look at the following pictures…
Yes, yesterday, Tongo was introduced to our sweet little JANE.
JANE was still in her small quarantine enclosure and Tongo was close to her with Faustin.
JANE had no hesitation at all, opened her arms widely and couldn’t stop from hugging the little one…
We had tears in our eyes: these moments were precious, full of love and tenderness. And, once Tongo went a bit too far from her, JANE started crying. Tongo seemed to enjoy to be with his new friend but he very often felt lost especially when he noticed Faustin had taken some distance. Also, because JANE is going to move in her new quarantine place, Faustin showed Tongo the enclosure where he is soon going to stay with his friend.
It is now just a matter of time - we are sure JANE is going to accept Tongo quickly and that she will take good care of him.
Faustin is staying with us a few more days. Introduction will be finished by then and we do hope all will be fine afterwards…
Every day at JACK is a new experience for little Tongo, and thanks to JANE, he won’t be alone any more… Roxane
Dear Friends, Good news! Faustin, the veterinary assistant who came with Tongo, is going to stay a bit longer.
Yes! He was due to leave early this morning. But, thanks to SAMANTHA who managed to change the flight, Faustin will be flying back to Kivu on Thursday 28th.
His presence here at J.A.C.K. is too important. Tongo is extremely young and we couldn’t just let him starting this new life so abruptly.
Faustin is excellent and teaches a lot of things to Tongo. Our aim is to put Tongo with Jane sothat they spend their quarantine period together. Introducing chimps to one another - even if they are young - isn’t an easy task. So, Faustin will help us to “smoothen” this experience.
Jane met Tongo already. She had a long stick and gently tried to touch Tongo. The little one didn’t do anything - he just stared at Jane…
We really do appreciate Faustin. It is unusual to meet people overhere who are ready to save wildlife. And what Faustin does is just amazing: would you know a lot of people who would leave their family and fly somewhere else in order to look after a chimpanzee 24 hours a day??
Faustin is an incredible model and many people should be like him.
Aksanti mingi, Faustin! Thank you for your help !
Roxane & Franck
After a long wait at the Goma airport, Tongo and Faustin finally managed to get on the plane and to take off. The flight wasn’t that long, but these few hours lasted for ages….Franck and I were very impatient !! Finally, late in the evening, Faustin and Tongo arrived. Franck and the authorities were waiting for him.
Tongo had been put in a carton box beause his cage was too big to enter the plane.
When we opened the box, Tongo was fast asleep.
It took him quite some time to realise he was somewhere else. It was a good thing that Faustin was with us because, although Tongo was extremely tired, he was very lost !
Today, Tongo is doing great.
This morning he even paid a visit to the orphans of the Refuge.
All the females were very interested in the new little one - epecially Shasa who couldn’t stop staring at Tongo…. Tongo is the second chimp that has been brought at J.A.C.K. in less than two weeks. You can imagine all the efforts, the work and the expenses that this represents ! J.A.C.K. is still at the beginning and we really wish that people get more involved into the cause.
Our Refuge Centre is essential to law enforcement in the DRC. If centres like us don’t exist, authorities wouldn’t know what to do with confiscated wildlife. In some countries they have euthanasia as an immediate solution because there are no centres - we cannot accept this!
J.A.C.K. would like to thank all the people who helped Tongo and more particularly (1) the Military Authorities who confiscated Tongo, (2) Dr Emmanuel de Merode, , Chief Warden of Virunga National Park, (3) Pierre, (4) the team of MGVP , (5) Eddy who travelled with Faustin and Tongo and, of course, SAMANTHA thanks to whom this rescue has been a great success !
Roxane
JANE is doing well and starts to be very playfull.
She had some parasites but is now healthy eats very well, adores fruit and is fond of yoghurt….
Because JANE was very thin, we had to put her in a small quarantine enclosure, but Franck has already been working on her new place thanks to your welding machine.
JANE will soon move to a bigger quarantine enclosure and, of course, she will also be able to play and climb the trees of the open air quarantine enclosure that we have built.
But, JANE won’t be alone any more as some of you know already that little Tongo is due to arrive from Goma. Yes, Tongo was seized a few days ago in Goma by I.C.C.N. authorities and they have asked us if we could help Tongo. Of course, we said “YES” !!! Franck has just left for the airport. So, I’ll send you the first pictures of Tongo arriving in Lubumbashi. Meanwhile, enjoy this last picture: this is how I’ve just left JANE tonight :
she had wrapped herself up in her blankets!! Too cute, isn’t she? Roxane
Dear Friends, These days have been extremely busy because a new baby chimpanzee called JANE was seized and brought a few days ago at JACK.
Just like Coco, JANE has gone through a long story. We have known about her since October 2007. One day, a Congolese man came to visit our Refuge and mentioned his uncle was detaining a young chimpanzee in his back yard.
When Franck and I saw the little chimp for the first time, we had a shock. The baby was a female chimpanzee of about 2 years that seemed to be in a healthy condition.
But, her enclosure was terrible! Imagine, the chimpanzee was kept in …a car!!! Yes, “Tarzan” (that was her name) was living in an old 4×4 Pajero and wasn’t very often allowed to leave her enclosure…
The car was horrible! The dirt was never removed …
…and the young chimp used to sit at the window to get some fresh air.
A few days later, the nephew of the owner called Franck saying ” you can come and fetch “Tarzan“. She must stay with animals of her own kind”.
When Franck arrived at the place with the inspectors of the Ministry of Environment to seize the ape, “Tarzan” hab been moved to another place, the nephew had left and the other people of the house said the owner didn’t want his chimp to be taken away from him…
How strange? What was going on? After long investigations, the Ministry of Environment heard the owner of “Tarzan” was extremely powerfulin the DRC.
Imagine, what was to be done? No-one can go against such highranking person. Who is going to confiscate something from him? So, to us, it meant “Tarzan” was lost and her name was to be written on the list of all the ”unseizable” young chimpanzees kept by high authorities of the DRC.
Last week, Franck received another call. This time, it was said the owner of “Tarzan” wanted to get rid of her because she had started disturbing the whole neighbourhood. Franck didn’t have a lot of expactations, went to see “Tarzan” and noticed that she was fine but that she had “shrimped” in size. She looked smaller than last year. The inspector of Environment accompanying Franck had the same impression. But then, “Tarzan’s” life took a new turn. Franck met her owner who frankly explained “I am an authority and I must be an example“. Franck couldn’t believe his ears. This meant that all this work that JACK has been achieving for two years now is slowly getting results. Unbelievable!
Once the seizure documents were signed, “Tarzan” left her Pajero and was driven to JACK.
At JACK, the two boys of our quarantine, Mwisho and Coco, saw her immediately, made welcoming noises and were very excited.
“Tarzan” was very scared and hold my hand tightly…
Today, little “Tarzan” is doing fine.
Although she is very slim, but I am sure time will help her to recover and to enjoy this new life full of attention, love and care. Also, she has got a new name as Franck decided to call her… JANE ! With JANE arriving at the Refuge Centre, it means that we are now taking care of 16 young chimpanzees and that today an average of one infant ape is seized by local authorities of Katanga each 3 months!! Your donations are crucial to the development of the legal Refuge for seized Chimpanzees of the DRC. Before ending, JACK wishes to thank the owner of “Tarzan” for what he has done for the State of Congo - this man must be a model to so many others ! Thank You, Roxane
Friends of JACK, You have already met Shasa, our eldest chimpanzee female who now takes good care of JAC.
Shasa arrived two years ago from Kinshasa, capital of DRC. A friend of us, Karen, had seen her for sale on a famous Kinshasa market and Karen managed to move heaven and earth to make the local authorities seize the baby chimp.
Shasa arrived at Jack in July 2006 and stayed a few weeks at Karen’s place who wanted the little chimp to adjust herself to her new life…
Shasa also is a survival of the terrible fire that took place in September 2006.
This young female chimpanzee is amazing and has several particularities : (1) she is blind in one eye Little Shasa lost her left eye during seizure. Once the police arrived to confiscate her, the owner of the little chimp just put her in a bag and ran away. While trying to escape, the man hit the bag against a car…and, when Shasa came out of the bag in the police station, her left eye was bleeding. A vet had a look and said the eye was lost…
(2) she has very long limbs and might belong to a rare chimp sub-species There are different sub-species of chimpanzees and most of the chimpanzees of Eastern DRC are short, strong and thickset. Given Shasa comes from Northern DRC, we believe she belongs to a very rare sub-species called “Bili Apes” (named after a local Congolese town) known to have a totally different culture than common chimpanzees. Bili apes are ground-nesting chimps (they don’t build their nests in trees) and are said to have a “lion-eating reputation”… (Read more about these Apes in the Guardian) Shasa’s morphology is different from the other orphans of the Refuge. If you compare the picture here below, you’ll see that JAC (= coming from Eastern DRC) hasn’t got the same morphology as Shasa (=Northern DRC).
Jac(left) and Shasa (right) Chimpanzees have longer limbs than humans. Shasa might belong to this tall and strong species of chimps and DNA analysis will be carried out to know it for sure. I’ll keep you posted!!!
Franck and I have seen a male of that sub-species in Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage (Zambia) and, Bili (that’s his name) is very very unusual. He was brought at the Zambian sanctuary in September 2004 thanks to Mr Karl Ammann, a famous independent wildlife photographer and author who made investigations on the existance and the nature of these Bili Apes.
Franck and Bili (3) she loves water! Yes, chimpanzees usually hate water because they can’t swim. Well, Shasa apparently seems to be very different because she loves bathing!
She swims at least three times a day - and more when the weather is very hot!
And then, she climbs on the highest branch to dry herself in the sun….
A few weeks ago, I mentionned Shasa was JAC’s mother. Today, she has got a real influence on him as, imagine, every morning now, JAC has a bath. See by yourself on the following picture!! Incredible!
Jac bathing When she arrived, Shasa was just a tiny little baby chimpanzee. Shasa 2 years ago Today, she has become a very big chimpanzee with a lot of power in the main group.
Shasa today If Karen, our friend, hadn’t seen her, Shasa would have been lost and we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to know this wonderful female. Thank you again, Karen !!! Roxane
Friends of JACK, I have just noticed I haven’t given you the most recent donations’list. Here are the following donations received since lastMay: A/ single donations - May: Cathy R (150$), Wanda H (25$+ 25$), Sheryl B (25$), Anonymous (2000$) - June: Danalea S (50$) and Oliver T (50$); - July : Thurlow (100$) and Candice D (200$) B/ monthly donations - May : Anonymous (30$ + 10$), Birgitta S (10$) and Kevin C (10$); - June : Anonymous (30$ + 10$), Birgitta S (10$) and Kevin C (10$); - July : Anonymous (30$ + 10$), Birgitta S (10$) and Kevin C (10$). Again, thank you dear Friends for your donations which are of great support for the continuation of our project.
Roxane
Hi Everyone, As Chantal told you last week, my family and I took 12 days off. Since we started JACK two years ago, we had never had the opportunity to take more than 2-3 days off all together. When you are starting up a Centre like JACK, it isn’t easy to find a reliable person ready to take over such huge responsibilities. So, Chantal felt fine to run JACK on her own, obliged us to have a break and did an excellent job! THANK YOU again, Chantal, for having devoted your time to the Refuge and to the chimps! In a previous post, I spoke about the welding machine we ordered and wanted to buy with your donations. Well, a few days ago, Franck bought the machine and it is now at the refuge.
Because the price of the machine had been increased, Mister Deepak Parnami, the manager of the YAMAHA Shop of Lubumbashi, agreed to make a discount keeping thus the same amount as asked and collected thanks to your kindness. Thank you again, Mister Parmani ! The purchase of this machine is very very important. JACK must improve its facilities and provide better night accomodation to the growing chimpanzee orphans. The works will start in September and will be finished by the beginning of the rainy season (early November). I’ll keep you posted and will send you the pictures !!!
Again a great THANK YOU to all of you : this purchase couldn’t have taken place if you hadn’t sent JACK the money ! And, remember, your donations are crucial to the development of our small rescue center for young chimps seized by local authorities!!!
Roxane
My name is Chantal. I am a volunteer at JACK and I am also baby JAC’s “godmother” as JACK started a chimpanzee adoption programme a few months ago and I have adopted “JAC“.
Roxane and her family needed a well deserved vacation and I proposed to take care of the chimps during their absence. During the summer vacation (July and August) almost all expats go back to their home country and I was all by myself to assume that huge responsibility. But OK, there I was…..with all the recommendations given by Roxane (she left me with quite detailed instructions on whom to contact, what to buy, where to go, what to do, etc…) So let me tell you how a week looks like for Roxane (or at least, like I experienced it). First, you get up at 6.00 am, prepare the milk for the chimps, make sure the yoghurt, fruit, vegetables and bread are ready.
The last check before going to the refuge The day mobile must be loaded, the notebooks where the nannies make their daily reports must be read and, before leaving, you have to check if you need to take any medicine with you and see that the blankets for Mwisho and Coco are ready (they are in quarantine and it’s winter time so they need blankets for the day). My car is loaded and ready to leave
When you have everything, it is already 7.15 am and time to go to the refuge. At the refuge, the first thing to do is to check if electricity is on in the open enclosure and to see if all the nannies are present (most of the time there is one late…).
Checking the electrical fences Then, you have to hurry to feed the chimps who you know are impatient and don’t stand when we are late.
JAC too impatient an crying for his milk Because it is winter, you have to wait till the temperature is high enough (around 25°C) to let them in the open enclosure. While doing so,you check if there is no one that looks sick or hurt.
Once this is done, you collect the dirty blankets, the dirty bottles, the night mobile and check if anything is needed for the refuge. By then it is already 8.30-8.45 am.You bring the dirty things back for cleaning and start running for the food provisions. A call to the bread provider, another one to the papaya provider, another to the two farms (fruit or vegetables), to the store (for milk and other fruit if you need more than the farm can give) and you spend the day driving from one place to the other one (sometimes as far as 30 kms outside the city).
Collecting bread from a local bakery
Selecting fruit and collecting vegetables on farms
By 3.30 pm you must be back for the 2nd run of milk bottles: you prepare the bottles, make sure the night mobile is loaded, see if you have the food for all, prepare coffee (with sugar!) for the night team, count the blankets and put special eucalyptus oil on them (it prevents the cold). Preparing warm milk at Roxane’s place Then, again, you rush to the refuge (as already told, the babies don’t like to wait). At the centre, you must make sure to show only the milk bottles when you get in as Mwisho won’t accept his milk if he sees the food.
Last milk bottles of the day Once Mwisho and Coco of quarantine have had their drink, you prepare the fruit and vegetables in the night enclosure and get the babies in for their milk. Once this is done, you let them in the main night enclosure where they get their meal.
When everything is OK with the chimps, it’s time to take care of our two new little boarders: bush-babies. They usually come out of their “nest” around 5.00 pm and wait for us to feed them. They are just adorable.
JACK has started a new project with bushbabies, also eaten and poached in DRC By then, it is already around 5.15 pm and if everything has gone right, the nannies have now departed and the night team has arrived. You check the open enclosure, make sure the pool and the chimps’playground are clean and if there is no rubbish thrown by visitors.
Cleaning the refuge and the playground Then it’s almost night (sun goes down pretty early in Congo in the winter season) and time to go back home to clean the boxes and the milk bottles to start a new day. But this “ideal“ day occurs only once in a while. What I forgot to mention is that Roxane not only takes care of the refuge but she is also teaching, managing a hotel, updating JACK blog, taking care of her kids and husband ! She is just AMAZING! For me this has been an interesting experience though being all by myself was sometimes stressing especially as I live in the suburbs of Lubumbashi while Roxane lives in the center and, apart from the refuge, I had to take care of two dogs located in different parts of the city. Driving in Lubumbashi can be extremely irritating, not only because people don’t seem to know anything about driving rules but mainly because as a foreigner you keep being harassed by the local police who want you to pay them a drink: there is not a single day when I wasn’t stopped sometimes up to 3 times. Almost everything went well: one of the nannies got hurt and had to be hurried to hospital for sewing the deep cut she got as she was bleeding a lot. Mwisho took my finger instead of the banana I handed him and bit it: lucky for me it was a “gentle bite” and though it was painful and we could definitely see his teeth printed deep into my finger, he didn’t shut his mouth otherwise I would probably have only half a finger left over by now. Like in most parts of the city, we have no water since 72 hours at the refuge so I had to bring containers from Roxane’s place to fill in the big container we have at the refuge.
Water is needed to clean the blankets and the enclosures but also to prepare food and milk Shasa has now taught little Jac (Jac is my godson and he is the “naughty boy” of the group: he does all kinds of mischievous tricks but I just adore him) to bathe and they do this every morning and afternoon, sometimes taking up to four baths a day. Shasa bathes completely while Jac bathes till the waist. The other chimps don’t seem to like bathing as they never get into the water.
JAC bathing
JAC, my “naughty boy” in my arms Coco and Mwisho have become good friends and play together quite a lot which is real nice to watch. Coco had unfortunately caught a cold because Mwisho usually steals all his blankets and in the morning, we often find Coco with only one blanket while Mwisho has got 5. Today, Coco is doing fine and the flu has gone.
Coco and Mwisho playing Roxane and her family are coming back tomorrow at noon and l am leaving for Belgium tomorrow at 3.00 pm: THANKS GOD, the chimps are doing well, they are happy and safe Written by Chantal Jacques (volunteer at JACK refuge and Jac’s godmother)
Hi all! Just wanted to give you some update of Jac, our little friend I started blogging with…
Introduced into the main group last February, Jac received protection of the eldest female, Shasa.
SHASA taking care of Jac
Today, Jac has found his place in the main group and gets on well with all his mates.
Jac has made a lot of progress and his appearance has changed completely: compare both pictures below - you can hardly say it is the same baby chimpanzee… BEFORE (september 2007)
AFTER (June 2008)
Rescuing him has been a tough and stressful experience, but it was worth doing it! Jac has recovered all that pain he suffered from and now seems to be happy among the other chimps of our group… Dear Friends, although now each of you can see the donations on the blog, I do thank you again for your help and support. Donations are very important for the development of our Refuge. Thank you a lot! Roxane |
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With the Congolese authorities, we are working to end the illegal trade of chimpanzees in eastern DRC. 
