BONOBOS IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (2006-2007)
During the last two years as part of my early training in the PhD programme at Harvard University I studied bonobo (Pan paniscus) behavioural ecology at a site where researchers have not worked before. I travelled twice to the DRC for several months each time with the help of BCI (Bonobo Conservation Initiative).
Kokolopori is an area in the Djolu administrative zone in the central part of the DRC. It includes 30 or so villages and hamlets stretched out along a dirt road that winds through the forest. The local people there under the leadership of Albert Lokasola established a NGO called Vie Sauvage in order to protect the bonobos. Albert has been working together with Sally Coxe of the BCI since 2000 to promote sustainable development in the area and the protection of the forests and the wildlife. There are plans to create a protected area in Kokolopori.
In 2006 I established camp in the forest of the Hali-Hali bonobos which have been followed by local trackers since approximately 2000. We were able to follow them and record their behaviour on a regular basis. These apes appeared to be big seed-eaters, something that has not been recognised for bonobos until now spending nearly 60% of all their feeding time during one season feeding on a species of legume seeds. They also consume the fruits of a holoparasitic plant which has only rarely been seen in Central Africa.
