The J.A.C.K billboard, seen as you come up to the chimpanzee area.
The sign says (in French and Swahili), "Don't buy me!", "Don't eat me!", "Don't sell me!", "Respect me!" And that is a real chimp sitting on top of the sign.
A couple of the chimps in their outdoor enclosure.
All of the expat kids (and a couple of adults on the ends) in front of the J.A.C.K. sign.Hello everyone,
I thought it was about time I wrote about our field trip to the zoo. This zoo (The Zoo of Lubumbashi) used to be a world renowned zoo. But during the war, all the animals were eaten, as people here in the Congo were starving. Slowly, the zoo has been rebuilt, and animals once again reside at the zoo. There are not a lot of animals here: a couple of tigers, lions, elephants, and crocodiles, some birds and snakes, lots of monkeys, and chimpanzees. The zoo has very few precautions put in place, as far as not getting too close to the animals goes. Most of the cages have no fencing around them, so you can be right next to a cage, and animals can stick their hands/paws out and grab you! Mostly it is the monkeys that try. There are also no good paths to walk along, so often you are trekking through muddy fields to see the next animal. And in one part of the zoo, you have to cross this balance beam type of thing (over a small river of water) to get to the other side of the zoo. I had thought there were crocodiles in this little river, but I was told that there were not, so that was good. I’m telling you, if this zoo were in the States, it would be one lawsuit after another!
The most interesting part of the zoo is the chimpanzees. All the chimpanzees are there as part of a rescue program, called J.A.C.K, which stands for Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga (Young Confiscated Animals in Katanga). Katanga is the province that Lubumbashi is in. Founded in April 2006, J.A.C.K. is a refuge center for orphaned chimpanzee babies confiscated by the Ministry of Environment. This program works with the Congolese government to end the illegal trade of chimpanzees in eastern DRC. Unfortunately, people here still seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to eat chimpanzees. The other problem is that expatriates (us) see these baby chimps on the street for sale, and they buy them, thinking they are helping to save them. The problem is that the local people know that we will buy them (thinking we’re doing the right thing), so they continue to obtain more of them. For every baby chimp that is for sale on the street, an average of 10 adult chimps were killed, trying to protect the baby.
I believe there are about 20 chimps now at the zoo. They are in a special part of the zoo, part of which is not open to the public. We were able to get into the part not opened to the public because we have connections there. A couple of the expat families are very involved with the chimps and they go twice a day to feed them, and can sometimes play with the babies. The chimpanzees have a large outdoor enclosure to play in, and at night, they go into a covered area.
Most of these chimpanzees have been badly abused by humans. One of the chimps was an alcoholic, forced by his human owner to drink alcohol at bars and then perform stupid tricks for other patrons of the bar. Another came to J.A.C.K with burns all over his body. His owner would put cigarettes out on the chimp’s back. A third was treated just like a human child. The couple got her because they thought they could not have children of their own. However, they ended up getting pregnant with their own child, and then no longer wanted the baby chimp. They actually started physically abusing this baby chimp. Regrettably, almost all of the chimps at J.A.C.K. have similar (or worse) backgrounds. If you want to read more about J.A.C.K. the website is http://jack.wildlifedirect.org/.
I thought it was about time I wrote about our field trip to the zoo. This zoo (The Zoo of Lubumbashi) used to be a world renowned zoo. But during the war, all the animals were eaten, as people here in the Congo were starving. Slowly, the zoo has been rebuilt, and animals once again reside at the zoo. There are not a lot of animals here: a couple of tigers, lions, elephants, and crocodiles, some birds and snakes, lots of monkeys, and chimpanzees. The zoo has very few precautions put in place, as far as not getting too close to the animals goes. Most of the cages have no fencing around them, so you can be right next to a cage, and animals can stick their hands/paws out and grab you! Mostly it is the monkeys that try. There are also no good paths to walk along, so often you are trekking through muddy fields to see the next animal. And in one part of the zoo, you have to cross this balance beam type of thing (over a small river of water) to get to the other side of the zoo. I had thought there were crocodiles in this little river, but I was told that there were not, so that was good. I’m telling you, if this zoo were in the States, it would be one lawsuit after another!
The most interesting part of the zoo is the chimpanzees. All the chimpanzees are there as part of a rescue program, called J.A.C.K, which stands for Jeunes Animaux Confisqués au Katanga (Young Confiscated Animals in Katanga). Katanga is the province that Lubumbashi is in. Founded in April 2006, J.A.C.K. is a refuge center for orphaned chimpanzee babies confiscated by the Ministry of Environment. This program works with the Congolese government to end the illegal trade of chimpanzees in eastern DRC. Unfortunately, people here still seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to eat chimpanzees. The other problem is that expatriates (us) see these baby chimps on the street for sale, and they buy them, thinking they are helping to save them. The problem is that the local people know that we will buy them (thinking we’re doing the right thing), so they continue to obtain more of them. For every baby chimp that is for sale on the street, an average of 10 adult chimps were killed, trying to protect the baby.
I believe there are about 20 chimps now at the zoo. They are in a special part of the zoo, part of which is not open to the public. We were able to get into the part not opened to the public because we have connections there. A couple of the expat families are very involved with the chimps and they go twice a day to feed them, and can sometimes play with the babies. The chimpanzees have a large outdoor enclosure to play in, and at night, they go into a covered area.
Most of these chimpanzees have been badly abused by humans. One of the chimps was an alcoholic, forced by his human owner to drink alcohol at bars and then perform stupid tricks for other patrons of the bar. Another came to J.A.C.K with burns all over his body. His owner would put cigarettes out on the chimp’s back. A third was treated just like a human child. The couple got her because they thought they could not have children of their own. However, they ended up getting pregnant with their own child, and then no longer wanted the baby chimp. They actually started physically abusing this baby chimp. Regrettably, almost all of the chimps at J.A.C.K. have similar (or worse) backgrounds. If you want to read more about J.A.C.K. the website is http://jack.wildlifedirect.org/.
That's about it for now. Hope everyone is well.
Laurie
