Miroslav Bobek

Ushiriki, the chimpanzee in the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center

Twice to the EASTERN CONGO to see (not only) gorillas

Text: Miroslav Bobek, director of the Prague Zoo; Photo: Miroslav Bobek

Over the last few months, I have twice had the opportunity to visit the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. First, it was in October last year, when we just “hopped” here from Kinshasa, the second time it happened in January this year. This time, we were heading to South Kivu with the architect prof. Zdeněk Fránek and the head of the Prague Zoo construction department Ing. Lukáš Divoký. Our zoo had already supported the Kahuzi-Biega National Park before and we still are following up on these activities today. However, I am not going to describe various work meetings, site visits, and price investigations for construction material, instead, I will focus on the three unforgettable meetings with African apes.

Nyaba Deux, the eastern gorilla female with her twins

6 October 2021: Meeting Bonane and his sons

It is strongly advised not to travel to the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are still many militias operating here, which are a remnant of a tragic period of the Rwandan genocide and two wars in the Congo. Therefore, we had paid our highest attention to organizing our trip to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. At the Goma airport, we were then picked up by a driver who had been security cleared in advance. He drove us to the boat and when it landed, another contact was already waiting for us, who took us to a guarded hotel in Bukavu where we were picked up by four park rangers armed with submachine guns the next morning.

The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is crucial especially for protecting the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) that lives only in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Sadly, all the suff ering that the region has suff ered in the last decades has aff ected this gorilla subspecies too.

In their off -road car, the rangers drove us near one of the two fully habituated groups of eastern gorillas. There we met our guide, Lambert. From now on, we followed him on foot – and in less than an hour, I was looking in the eyes of a big silverback male, Bonane. It´s nearly impossible for words to describe the intensity of what you are experiencing when spending time in close proximity to such an amazing and unique creature. It is something unbelievably strong and unrepeatable. Bonane was peacefully walking through young vegetation, tearing the tasty leaves, and digging up bamboo rhizomes. Hanging with him were also two young males Wilungula and Deschryver, but unlike him, they even ventured up into the tree crowns. For a long time and in detail, I had a chance to observe especially Wilungula. Meanwhile, I learnt that in the middle of July he got trapped by the poachers. Only the Gorilla Doctors´ intervention helped him.

The situation of eastern gorillas is extremely bad. According to the research published several years ago, there are probably only 3,800 of them left. The problem is poaching, which is thriving in war-torn and arm militia-controlled regions, but the blame also goes to deforestation and legal as well as illegal extraction of raw materials. In the Kahuzi-Biega area, it is mostly gold, cassiterite, and coltan. (From coltan we get niobium and most importantly tantalum that is necessary to produce electronics. That´s why our zoo also collects old cell phones and tablets which are being recycled afterwards. Since 2010, we have collected almost 80,000 of them.) Further problems in eastern gorillas’ protection were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides other things, it led to a substantial decrease in the number of tourists coming to see the gorillas, which means the national park lost a signifi cant source of income.

Therefore, although I have mentioned the security risks and diffi culties of such a journey earlier in the text, visiting eastern gorillas is certainly worth it and in addition, it would also be for the benefi t of their protection. This is also one of the reasons why we had decided to help develop the local infrastructure for tourists already during our fi rst visit to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

18 January 2022: One of the 109 sad stories

It takes about one hour to get to the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Centre (LPRC) from the city of Bukavu. It is located in the premises of the research institute built in the 1950s by the Belgians, and it is eight years since the charismatic Basque biologist Itsaso Vélez del Burgo Guinea became its head. The centre provides care for many species of primates, but chimpanzees dominate. When I last visited, there were 109 of them in the LPRC, with seven of them coming during the last three months. In the

Bonane and the other members of his group are perfectly accustomed to the presence of people

east of the Congo too, covid has worsened the already bad situation of the wild animals even further…

Itsaso was giving us a tour of the centre, showed us the primates in spacious enclosers, including one newly built, and then took us to the feeding of infant chimpanzees. This took place inside and the infants were reaching out to us through the thick iron bars. It was a heartbreaking view. I knew very well that it would be impossible without those iron bars, but they only illustrated the tragic fate of the chimpanzee babies ripped from their families…

I picked one photo among all those I took at the feeding and asked Itsaso to brief me on the story of the baby chimpanzee which was captured there. So, what she told me was not intentionally chosen to be published because of its impact. It is an “ordinary” story of one of the 109 chimpanzees in the LPRC.

Well then: In the photograph, there is a young male named Ushiriki. He became a victim of poachers and in the summer of 2018, he was confi scated by Congolese soldiers somewhere. However, they demanded 500 American dollars for “feeding him” to be paid by the rescue centre. Only after a long scramble, he was taken from them by the aforementioned rangers of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and passed to the LPRC on 9 September 2018. Ushiriki was in a real bad shape – he was suff ering from an infection, malaria, anaemia, and parasites – and almost did not eat. His healing was going on for weeks. When I was visiting, Ushiriki had already been fi ne for a long time, but I still have a feeling that even in my photo you can see the sadness in his eyes…

21 January 2022: The most beautiful day

The driver put his submachine gun between the front seats of the Landcruiser, but the other Kahuzi-Biega National Park rangers were holding theirs in hands even after we went off the main road and started climbing the muddy, deep ruts road to the top of the hill. The car skidded and tilted till we fi nally stopped by a wooden sign saying BUGULUMIZA. It was standing at the foot of a transmitter station guarded by another group of rangers. And along with them, there was also Hobereau Kitumaini whom we already met the day before. He was interviewing me for the Gorilla FM radio.

The environmental Gorilla FM radio station was founded in 2019 at the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and broadcasts in French, Swahili, and two of the several local languages, Moshi and Kitembo. They say it managed to break the ice in many people regarding the National Park and as for the local unique eastern gorillas and their habituated groups, not a single day passes without them being broadcasted about. We too did contribute with our material on gorillas. At the end of our interview, which covered mostly our planned help to the National Park, discussing particularly the design and construction of an educational centre including a catering facility, I gave Hobereau a French audio version of the fairy tales about our Prague young gorilla Moja. He included one into broadcasting right away.

Hobereau came to the top of Bugulumiza to fi x something on the transmitter which allows the Gorilla FM radio station to transmit the signal. Actually, he mentioned already after the interview that they would really appreciate even such technology that already came out of service in Europe.

The Kahuzi-Biega National Park rangers at the morning muster Rangers looking around the landscape from the top of the Bugulumiza hill

However, we did not come all the way up here because of the transmitter. That day, there was an eight-member group of Bonane, the silverback nearby. In the rain, still accompanied by the armed rangers and with our guide Lambert leading, we took off to see them. After a few hundred meters we got off the trail and started descending a steep hill through the vegetation. Lambert cut a stick for me, but I could be leaning on it just for a few steps. Suddenly, there was a gorilla´s growl. Lambert, followed immediately by the rest of us, froze. And then I saw him! At the foot of the cliff , Bonane was sitting in the foliage! I put my stick away, took out a camera and started pressing the camera shutter. My hands were shaking from excitement. When I lowered the camera to check the captured images, Lambert poked me and pointed to a tree crown right above Bonane. Wilungula boy was climbing it!

I will probably never forget the following hour. Bonane got up and took a few steps away. We followed him – and fi nally, a view of the whole group opened up before our eyes! At one glance, we could see all eight gorillas, most of which were just a few meters from us. We were able to admire awesome Bonane, old friends of us Deschryver and Wilungula, their mothers Siri and Mukono (she was trapped by the poachers once, so her arm is crippled, later she even lost one eye by accident), and the highlight of the unique spectacle – Nyaba Deux with her 18-month-old twins! I wish you could be there, all the more so because I am not able to describe in words what I was feeling at the moment…

Happy, we ascended back to our cars to return to the Park Service and then to the hotel in Bukavu. When my mobile connected to the net, I started sending photos of Bonane´s family to my family and friends. Meanwhile, two emails managed to come. Delivering the information from the Czech Radio that they will give their discarded technology to the Gorilla FM radio.

How you can help

You can support the Prague Zoo´s endangered species rescue projects by sending any sum you wish to the fundraising account We Help Them Survive, account number 43–6804660247/0100. You can also help by visiting the Zoo or purchasing selected types of souvenirs.

Visiting the Kahuzi-Biega National Park is another way how to support protecting eastern gorillas. For further information please go to www.kahuzibieganationalpark.com.

Lwiro rescue centre will appreciate the fi nancial support that you can provide also through their webpage www.lwiroprimates.org.