Two years ago I embarked on an opportunity of a lifetime. It changed my life for it helped me gain independence, confidence, and skills that every aspiring scientist should have as they move forward with their conservation career.  Of course, if you know me at all, it involved animals. To be more specific, it involved [...]

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We are in a small town called Djolu. Never heard of it? I am not surprised. This is a village in the central part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Actually, if you look at a map of Africa, Djolu looks like it is smack dab in the middle of the continent. We arrived [...]

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Getting to see a bonobo in its natural habitat is  a rare and thrilling privilege;  there’s no way to truly capture being there, but as a start, I thought I’d share with you a video taken some months ago of a bonobo sighted in the research area.  I will try to share more videos when [...]

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Last week, the Lomako Conservation Science Centre (LCSC) has been honored by a visit from prominent national and international institutions. The delegation consisted of the following: 1. Embassy of Canada in Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) – Sigrid Anna Johnson, Ambassador 2. Embassy of France: – Olivier Richard, Counselor of Embassy 3. Institute Congolese [...]

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It’s as if the spirit of Papa Bosco Ikwa is with us! After a long period of searching fruitlessly for bonobos, out with our tracking team we have located a group of 13 individuals — 4 males and 6 females carrying two juveniles and a baby. Bonobos are not like mountain gorillas, which live in [...]

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Last time I wrote was to highlight the exciting news of the AWF-led delegation that came to visit the Lomako Forest and tour the Lomako Conservation Science Centre. Today, I am writing with much sadder news that I know all who came to visit will also grieve over – our experienced tracker and chief of [...]

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Le mercredi 18 mars dernier nous étions dans la grande joie de voir le site de recherche de Ndele que nous avons commencé les études sur la socio-écologie des bonobos et les travaux de construction du site sous tente depuis 2004 dans la Réserve de Faune de Lomako-Yokokala (RFLY), une aire protégée dont nous sommes [...]

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We are getting ready for the opening of the Lomako Conservation Science Centre, which is in the heart of the DRC. Many people wonder how one actually gets there. It’s quite an adventure. So let me tell you… You leave Kinshasa by plane, from either Ndolo airport or Ndjili international airport, destination : Basankusu in [...]

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We are still having difficulties locating the bonobos in our research area, but we are finding their food traces of Haumania and Palisota as well as their nests a bit further afield, approximately 7 kilometers from camp. The reason lying behind this lack of sightings in the area remains unknown and we are asking ourselves [...]

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In June 2006, with the support of the local population in Lomako and Bongandanga, the Lomako-Yokokala Faunal Reserve (3,625 km2) was created and these two communities (Befale and Bongandanga) where recruited and trained by the Congolese wildlife authority, ICCN, with help from AWF, as guards who where to watch over the reserve; various development projects [...]

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