Words by Jack Fletcher
Pictures by  www.friendsofbonobos.org / Barcroft Media

A group of orphan bonobos are set to be released into the wild in what
will be a world’s first for the endangered species of primate.

Residing in the picturesque sanctuary of Lola ya Bonobo in the forests
of the Democratic Republic of Congo, these 16 (8 males and 8 females)
bonobos will be be released in two batches on the 14th and 28th June.

For full story and pictures:

For Claudine Andre, founder of the Lola la Bonobo, the release will
mark the culmination of 15 years of campaigning and conservation work
to replenish the endangered population.

“The release of the bonobo back into the wild will be the pinnacle of
all we have accomplished,” says Claudine from Belgium.

“For the last 15 years we have worked tirelessly on education and
conservation – this is the most important step of all.”

Like chimpanzees, bonobos are our closest living relative, sharing
98.7% of our DNA.

However unlike chimpanzees, who are male dominated, frequently hunt
and sometimes kill other chimps, the bonobos are relatively peaceful.

Groups are female dominated and they are known to use sex to resolve
social tensions.

Hailing only from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the bonobo has
fallen victim to a decade of civil war in the country. With its
habitat invaded the bonobo is considered to be an endangered species
with only a handful left in the wild.

Founded by Claudine in 1994, Lola ya Bonobo (meaning ‘paradise for
bonobos’) is the world’s only bonobo sanctuary and the NGO of Les Amis
des Bonobos du Congo (ABC).

Since 2002, the sanctuary has been located at Les Petites Chutes de la
Lukaya, just outside of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Home to 52 bonobos who live in 30 hectares of primary forest, Claudine
and her team have been preparing for the reintroduction of
rehabilitated bonobos since 2005.

When they first arrive at the sanctuary, the orphan bonobos are
integrated into a group of peers where four human mothers act as
surrogates.

After 12-24 months infants have confidence they are introduced into a
mixed age / mixed sex social group of 15-20 individuals living in up
to 20 hectares of high primary tropical forest.

Living in social groups the bonobos become conditioned to a microcosm
of their future wild environment.

“Bonobos are the only great ape for which a method for release of
captive animals into the wild has not been developed,” says Claudine.

“The reintroduction of bonobos is a wonderful opportunity for the
preservation of the genetic diversity and the repopulation of areas
where bonobos might have disappeared.”

Gaining support from all over the world, including ‘Friends of
Bonobos’ from the USA, the release program will be monitored by
research groups from Harvard and Duke Universities.

“There are very few bonobos in the wild remaining and given the very
real possibility they will be wiped out we need to develop techniques
to repopulate areas,” says Dr Brian Hare.

“However, we need to perfect the techniques and so we are hoping to
learn what works and what doesn’t from this experience so that if,
sadly, we one day only have bonobos at Lola ya Bonobo and not in the
forest – we will know how to do this and know how to eliminate the
risks to assure success.”

The bonobos will be released in a 20,000 hectare (50,000 acre) forest
near Basanku in the Equateur region of Congo, Dr Hare – who will be
aided by Congolese and expat scientists, is confident the
reintroduction will be a success.

“The good news is that the two major problems that are faced with most
other primate re-introductions are not an issue here,” says Dr Hare.

“We do not have to worry about aggressive interactions with wild
bonobos because bonobos do not have lethal aggression and the risk of
disease transmission from the sanctuary bonobos to wild bonobos should
be very limited, since there are no wild bonobos in the area and the
sanctuary bonobos have been monitored (and vaccinated) for the last 3
years in preparation.

“We have every reason to believe we will be successful now, but it
would be foolish to think we cannot learn some valuable lessons that
could improve our ability to do this better in the future when we
don’t have room for any error.”

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