AWF Blog

• Building the Bonobo Center in the Congo

  Posted: September 23, 2008, 2:23 pm by Paul

  In our Congo Heartland, construction on a bonobo research and conservation center is making great progress dispute all odds. The site is at Ndele in the middle of the 3,600 km² Lomako-Yokokala Faunal Reserve, and is not so easy to get to.

  A boat carrying 60 tons of construction materials took 30 days to travel up the Lomako River to the site of the research center. Not one single item was lost along the way.

  Jef Dupain (director of the Heartland) told me “some of our people went swimming upriver Lomako, crossing forest and swamps, to go and get 35 liters of fuel to continue the transport! (I have seen the crocodiles, and I have seen the current, and I know about snakes in swampy area). This is simply heroic work done by our team.”

  People were so happy to see the boat — it’s the first one up the Lomako River in 20-30 years — that they had a dance party. Check out the short video clip on YouTube:

  [www.youtube.com]

  The research and conservation center will consist of a building with a laboratory, a living area and dining room, and office; and housing for scientists and visitors. The center will also be a place to help train and educate Congolese conservationists, strengthening local conservation measures.

  Construction is scheduled to be completed in two months. I’m going to join Jef and the team to do some communications/marketing activities when it’s complete. That is, if I can survive the journey up the river to get there.

  A typical scene along the Lomako River. Photo by Craig R. Sholley

• Fixing the Camera Trap

  Posted: September 23, 2008, 11:14 am by Nakedi

  It is a struggle to capture leopard pictures at this point. We are heading towards the end of the dry season and somehow animal movements have been altered. I cannot say this with confidence because I am currently sampling the southern part of the concession, which is a rugged terrain and has a limited number of roads. At the same time however, water is the limiting factor for most animals and as a result their movements should be in association with the distribution of water points.

  The kudus are hit the worst because there are no leaves for them to browse on, so they are dying. This is further exacerbated by their tendency to panic, which drains them of a lot of energy (I think!). For their sake I hope it rains soon.

  The vultures on the other hand are thriving; this is by far their best time of the year.

  The burnt camera was fixed and it is now working properly, sort of. The problem was with the burnt screen, which was blocking out the lens. I was sitting with Jared Glasson, one of the guides from Singita Kruger National Park when we started brainstorming about fixing the camera.

  Jared used to be an engineer before he decided to become a guide. He is some kind of a brainiac. After throwing ideas around, we decided that the camera’s problem was with the screen. We then decided to remove the screen and replace it with laminating sheets.

  Jared fixing the burnt camera trap.

  Next I took it to the field to test it against the elements and it came up with a very curious pachyderm wondering what he/she had stumbled across.

  A curious hippo examining the camera.

  Next the resilient camera captured a large male leopard, but it will be difficult to identify as the image is kind of blurry.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes