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

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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 6^th 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 5^th 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.

Technorati : chimpanzee, congo, drc, jack, lubumbashi, wildlifedirect

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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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