Searching the Elusive Bonobo in Congo

Category: Places, Threats, people, wildlife | Date: May 30 2008 | By: teresehart

Mama A.T. visits her impoverished but prodigal brood

A red colobus monkey, with baby in its lap, watches us at Losekola

The territorial administrator or Mama A.T., as she is called, greets an Obenge child. The TL2 compound is in the background.

Adele, the territorial administrator from Opala left a devoted husband and two adoring toddlers in order to accompany us to Obenge. She was more than a week away, not only from her family, but also from the territorial administration. WE appreciated it; the visit was a good thing for the TL2 project and definitely put Obenge on the map of the local administration.

We started looked for a campsite as night fell. Mama A.T. was sitting just in front of me in the dugout.

Over the years, John and I have known many territorial administrators who used their position to gain gratuities and beltline. But Mama A.T. from Obenge did not invite bribes …. This was business.

I accompanied Mama A.T. on her stroll through Obenge. People were amazed and delighted that she had come to visit them.

Mama A.T. took full advantage to warn the citizen’s of Obenge to stay away from brigands and the illicit activities by which they live. Her examples were Colonel Thoms and Major Ranger, the two Maimai that recently “ruled” this little village. We toured Obenge together and she questioned many of its inhabitants.

The whole village of Obenge gathered to listen to the Mama A.T.’s message.

All of this was to be expected, after all she did come as far as Obenge, but what really surprised us is that she agreed - and eagerly – to accompany us to the primate camp, Losekola, a ten kilometer trek through the forest. She really wanted to know what we did, what we were all about.

There is no short cut for dignitaries. The territorial administrator crosses the Losekola River on her way to our camp.

Afterwards I wondered if part of the reason she pushed all the way to Losekola was because the Bishop of Isangi told her that our real activity was diamond mining – and she wanted to see for herself. If so, we congratulate her. It is always easier to just believe rumor.

Together with mama A.T. on the primate study site near Losekola camp.

Whatever reason she came, we were able to show her the trail grid, the monkeys, and importantly, the skeletons left from the elephants poached by Colonel Thom and Major Ranger.

With bones from a poached elephant on the Losekola trail grid.

We were not the ones to tell Mama AT about the elephant killing but rather Jean Mutetela. He was at his forest fishing camp when the poachers came. We stood around a knee-high skull from which the ivory had been severed while Mutetela told us how it took a full day to flay and hack the meat from the carcass.
He told how Colonel Thoms’s men made a two night camp at the site of the slaughter then carried the meat back to his own camp where they built several large smoking racks to dry it. The whole camp was buzzing with flies.

Jean Mutetela, in front of the destroyed shelter, explains the poaching epidsodes.

And how the elephant family returned to the scene.

The surprising bit of the story was what happened afterwards. Mutetela described this with wide open eyes. The family of elephants came back. He pointed to the destroyed shelter the poachers had built. The elephants trampled the shelter and they scattered what was left of the carcass. And – Mutetela paused , “ they still come back sometimes – just to visit their mother’s bones.”

Mama A.T. recovers from a wasp sting at Losekola camp.

5 responses so far

Category: About the project, Places, people | Date: May 24 2008 | By: teresehart

The Lomami’s long empty highway with forest curbstone…… two days to think of metaphor and hyperbole

We heard only one airplane fly overhead in the two weeks that I was finally up the Lomami. John commented on it immediately, “most unusual.” Planes stay away from the central forest between the three rivers. They fly north along the roads and Congo River or south along the savanna roads and forest border, but not over the TL2 where the few old colonial motor tracts are now foot-trails, too overgrown to be visible from above. More importantly, there is NO air strip for an emergency landing, NO open dirt road for the last-chance “soft” crash, nothing.

Our drivers (Albert, Nestor and Tipe) readying the motobikes for the first, Kisangani-Opala, section of the trip.

The only real highway is the waterway. Even the road north of Opala to Kisangani, is barely more than a bicycle trail.

The road itself was the main obstacle during the last 60 km of the return to Kisangani. We stuck to Congo’s west bank on the way back and reached Kisangani after 23 hrs.

In short, getting to Obenge and back was an adventure, an adventure that helped me to understand just how there can still be so many mysteries hidden in the TL2 forests.

Traveling by road between Kisangani and Opala, river-crossings become major delays. A storm put-off crossing the Tshopo by an hour then the “ferry” needed bailing.

After we finally loaded the motobikes into the dugout, the crossing was fast and efficient.

This is how we did it: From Kisangani to Opala we took rather unreliable rented AG 100s and 125s. Not much choice!! We started with three but only entered Opala with two as one had a complete breakdown part way through the second day. I was traveling with Ashley and we were bringing gear needed to keep the teams on the ground through June (and coffee and chocolate to John).

Crossing the huge expanse of the Congo at Yanonge, the helmsman and front paddle were also incredibly rapid and unhesitant.

With a combination of breakdowns and many river crossings (Tshopo, then Congo, then Lobaye and finally Lomami) between Kisangani and Opala, it took two days on motorcycle (“moto”). Then, two more days in motorized dugout south from Opala.

At the Lobaye River crossing we met some of Major John’s men patrolling bicycle packs to keep munitions from traveling south where they could be used for another elephant slaughter.

By far the most comfortable part of the travel was on the Lomami River, the dugout south from Opala. Also, the most informative. We were traveling with Madame the Territorial Administrator (A.T.) as well as other dignitaries from Opala. This was an opportunity to discuss at a higher level the pros and cons of conservation in this remote area. We were also providing a means of transport for the A.T. to visit this far flung corner of her territory, an area she had not yet seen but knew as the erstwhile hideout of the infamous Colonel Thoms , the brigand accused of over a hundred rapes in her territory just the year before. He and his men had held Obenge in their grip.

The captain for the Armed Forces posted in Opala accompagnied the A.T. as her bodyguard. Despite the appearance of shock-trooper he was the most enthusiastic natural history observer in the delegation.

There were particular perks in being with the A.T. It definitely gave us a certain status and also (no small thing) gave us access to a share in the gifts of fish, bananas and rice that were showered on her.

A local fishermen paddled up with a huge catfish gift for Madame A.T.

He then pushed off and continued checking his hooks and lines.

We passed scattered fisher families camped in lone shelters on the forested banks, one here and one there, continuously south of Opala. There were very few permanent settlements, even tiny ones, before we reached Obenge.

Obenge landing

The delivery of coffee and chocolate was finally effected four days after departure from Kisangani. Amidst great celebration of course!!

Belgian coffee and a sawed-off plastic water bottle for filter. Result: 4 star.

Coffee perched on knee, John works with Muhindo on bird identifications.

6 responses so far

Category: Places, bonobo, people, wildlife | Date: May 05 2008 | By: admin

Those Puzzling Primates of TL2 !

Waiting for the UNKNOWN. Conveniently this unknown is a ground monkey (Lesula) so John’s comfortable position is appropriate with a cup of coffee to keep the eyes keen.

There are monkeys out there between the three rivers that no one recognizes. They are not in our field guides. We’ve sent photos to the most renown of African Primatologists. Result: a lot of raised eyebrows. And the more we find out the higher our eyebrows go.

The field teams cover hundreds of kilometers on each exploration circuit, and always with limited supplies and limited time. If they see something bizarre, unidentifiable, they will write it down, try to get a photo but then move on.

The mystery monkey, ngoyi-blanc, looking down on the field teams.

If we suspect something really unknown (and we do), we have to be in one place to watch, to record and to watch some more. We have to send samples for genetic analysis. Are we sure these primates are not just a handful of hybrids? What do they eat? How do they forage? How social are they?

Losekola has a great field team. Kahindo, standing, has been receiving dawn to dusk training from John who says he is well on the way to being an inveterate naturalist.

The following is from John’s notes:
We explained our needs in Obenge. Jean Mutetela , a local hunter-fisherman, suggested we set up a study area at his camp in a stretch of forest, west of Obenge, along the Losekola river. When we described our two biggest mysteries – he said we would find them there.

Jean Mutetela holding Lesula-shedded stems of their favorite Marantaceae food

The two mystery monkeys are Lesula – a secretive ground monkey and Ngoyi a confusing canopy species. We eventually realized that the confusion came from the fact that the same local name- Ngoyi - was given to two different monkeys. Ngoyi 1 is a little known variety of the blue monkey and the other -Ngoyi 2 - well, whatever it is; it is certainly less known than Ngoy1.

We were first alerted to the unknown, Lesula, when we saw this captive in Opala.

Not only was Jean Mutetela happy to come on as a guide, he quickly agreed that there would be no further hunting on the study area. “I’ll stay busy with my fish traps on the Tutu River, when I am not with you looking for monkeys.”

Mama Madawa from Obenge tends the Losekola kitchen and about everything else that needs tending in camp

Over the past week Kahindo and I, accompanied by Washie, local guide and experienced monkey hunter, have developed a profile of the Losekola monkey community. Eight species of monkey along with the bonobo roam the 4 km2 study area.. The red colobus is the most spectacular with startlingly bright russet coat. They travel in large loose groups of up to 75 animals or more, invariably accompanied by one or two other species spread through the tops of many trees. Because of the thick fretwork of branches and leaves, it takes a lot of watching to see who all is above us.

The red colobus taking a closer look

Washie uses hunters’ tricks to excite the animals into calling, so that we can locate and identify them. One of the more effective is his imitation of the rasping squeal made by fighting monkeys, which invariably elicits “comment” from other monkeys hidden in the treetops.

My favorite though, is Washie’s imitation of the shrill call of the Crowned Eagle, Africa’s largest raptor, and a monkey-hunting specialist. Using a leaf blade to gain the proper cadence and tremolo, Washie produces a remarkable eagle imitation that raises a chorus of alarm from dispersed monkeys. Amazingly, they don’t flee.

Washie in perfect imitation of the Crowned Eagle

Sometimes Washie will rapidly whip a thin branch, with a tuft of leaves at the tip to imitate the sound of the powerful wing beats of the eagle. His finale (performed only rarely so as not to habituate the monkeys to the “cry wolf”) is his combination of wing beats, foot stomping and the anguished cry of a monkey in the talons. The sound of the combat is irresistible, especially to the red colobus, some of whom swing down close to peer at us.

Terese: Can you tell from the above? John is very excited. As he says, these new discoveries send his old field naturalist blood racing. HOW IS IT THAT THESE NEW MONKEYS WENT UNDISCOVERED. John’s assessment : this area is so remote that we are the first binocular sporting biologist to venture into the depth of the TL2 and any primate specimens from Obenge arrived as heavily smoked and unrecognizable bushmeat in centers like Kisangani.

And here is the thrill: I (Terese) am on my way to Losekola tomorrow. First to Kisangani, then a very long day on a motorcycle to Opala and three days in the dugout to Obenge, then a day on foot to Losekola. This will be my last post until the end of the MONTH but then – a first-hand account!

A beaming John sending me an email from Losekola via Bgan. “Make sure you and Ashley bring chocolate and good coffee”

9 responses so far