Searching for Bonobo in Congo

August 2018 had its good side. It was all about capacity building, camaraderie and resetting our compasses.

Seven of us left Kindu and headed towards Nairobi. But first we spent a week in intense concentration on our porch in Kindu analyzing data, putting together talks.

This is not work on the porch but the step before: field work in Mpechi that figured in talks of both David (front in blue) and Junior (beside John in green hat).

We pulled together information about bonobo killing, the two TL2 red colobus species, and new sightings of the rare dryas species.

Lukuru’s president, Jo Thompson, and our colleague and professor from Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Kate Detwiler, organized a symposium on the primates of Lomami for the International Primate Society (IPS) Congress in Nairobi. Altogether we had eleven presentations.

Jo here with some of the Congo team. From left: Koko, Junior, David, Jo, Leon and Matthieu. Junior had not yet acclimated to Nairobi’s chill.

We turned into tourists as soon as we crossed from Congo to Rwanda and definitely were dodging through a different climate and conditions once in Nairobi — where the IPS Congress was a big affair:

The Congo contingent met important people to the project previously only known by email (from left in center: Ken, Dirck and Annette).

Some interested observers just hung over the roof: No badge – No entry.

The talks went well — or well enough for a first group effort.

Palpable tension just minutes before the symposium.

And afterward we took a couple more days at Lolldaiga Hills where we were definitely tourists. What we saw:

The Congo team was counting as the behemoth moved through.

Something to see in all directions.

Close enough to see the oxpecker along for a ride and a snack.

With our FAU colleagues, Kate and Daniele, at a Lolldaiga sundowner.

Let me show you what you saw.

Superb starling was our mascot for this superb visit.

But August was two faced. While in Kenya we followed the menacing messages from back home. They came quickly: delorme, thuraya, phone text : the northeast buffer zone of Lomami National Park was growing toxic. That is the next post.

For the photos: thankyou Daniele and also Jo and Koko.