The West Tisbury School on Martha’s Vineyard has a very special group of 1st and 2nd graders who are very interested in how they can help endangered animals. Click on the link to see their amazing pictures and hear their voices as they let us know exactly what’s happening to some of the earth’s most beautiful animals and what they and we can do to help save them.
http://voicethread.com/share/841011/

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Check out the January issue of Animal World USA Magazine by clicking on the cover and downloading the pdf. A fantastic review of I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo appears on page 10!

http://www.animalworldusa.org

Then be sure to read on as this is a fantastic magazine dedicated to the world’s animals and the people who love them! Also, make sure to check out Animal World USA’s “Weeks for the Animals” to see if your city has one coming soon.

http://www.weeksfortheanimals.org

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Our “mother” organization, the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) was recently honored by the Congolese community of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area for for its “outstanding achievements in community development and nature conservation.” The Nkoyi award is normally given to Congolese individuals who have demonstrated achievement in their respective field of work. BCI was selected as an exception to that rule.

Congratulations BCI and thanks for all your hard work!

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Kanzi with Lexicon video from the Great Ape Trust

Most Bonobo Lovers are doubtless familiar with the outstanding work by Sue
Savage-Rumbaugh with a group of bonobos, the most famous member being Kanzi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi.

I have had the privilege of getting to know Sue, and a few months ago had
the amazing experience of visiting her and the bonobo group at the Great Ape
Trust of Iowa in Des Moines http://www.greatapetrust.org/. I was allowed to
go inside the glass enclosure such that there was only a chicken-wire-type
separation between me and them, so there I was, experiencing their reality
after many years of being a fan in the bleachers. Kind of like it must have
been in the ’60s if you got to be in the front row of a Beatles concert!

I had cool interactions with Kanzi’s foster mother Matata (his birth mother
is Lorel, Lucy’s mom in I’m Lucy) and with his sister Panbanisha
http://www.greatapetrust.org/bonobo/meet/panbanisha.php, but most of the
time Kanzi and I sat, face-to-face, as close to one another as we could get
given the chicken wire, staring into each other’s eyes and hanging out.
Occasionally he’d indicate something on his keyboard, but mostly it was me
telling him how wonderful I thought he was and his apparently taking it in
with deep pleasure.

While it’s obvious in the photographs in I’m Lucy, it was only after looking
into Kanzi’s eyes that I took in the fact that bonobo irises go across the
whole eye rather than being a central circles surrounded by white like our
eyes. This has the amazing consequence that it feels like gazing into dark
pools of, well, wisdom. I sometimes have trouble making prolonged eye
contact with another human — there’s this tendency to look away — but with
Kanzi I think we could have done it all day.

The facilities at the Great Ape Trust are splendid — lots of uncultivated
land where they can wander about and set up their own activities. I’ll be
reporting on all this in future posts. Meanwhile, here’s to Sue and the many
others at Great Ape Trust who are caring so kindly for these bonobos and
helping us understand their extraordinary capabilities.

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I go to Jacksonville, Florida once or twice a year to document Lucy growing up. I have being going there since 2004 when Lucy was one. (Lucy was born December 1, 2003) .

I was there last March, 2009, and just at that time Kuni (Kaleb’s mom) became pregnant with the baby due in late October.

It was decided that I should come around November 7th when the baby would be a few weeks old and I would photograph it.  I made my plane reservation in July!

When I arrived with my camera equipment to the platform where I was to photograph, Kuni and her baby girl were not out on exhibit. The baby had been born on November 6! She was barely one day old! She was kept inside with her support group consisting of Lucy, Lorell and Aquili (the possible Dad) because the keepers wanted to keep an eye on her to make sure she was nursing enough.

However, on Sunday, I was invited to be in the back to observe Kuni and the baby. I was given a notebook and pencil and asked to keep notes on the nursing. The baby nursed plenty I was happy to report.

I sat in a chair and watched the group for FOUR hours.  As we know bonobos get the same illnesses that humans do so I had had my TB test, and needed to wear a mask over my nose and mouth the entire time I was there.

The next day Kuni and her baby (as yet unnamed) were out on exhibit. I got the pictures. Delfi Messinger, the Director of Animals at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, used these two pictures to make the announcement of the new baby bonobo.

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When the actual meal rolls around there are many ways to have a totally green Thanksgiving.
1.    Buy organic and buy local.
2.    Use biodegradable cups and plates. Whatever you do – don’t use paper or plastic!
3.    When you go to the store buy things that have the least amount of packaging and try to buy packaging that is environmentally friendly.
4.    Donate leftover food to a shelter or a food bank.

And most important SAY THANKS!

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While planning your Thanksgiving and organizing your dinner/party there are many ways to be green!

1. Send eco-friendly, paper-free invitations made of hemp, banana stalks, organic cotton, kenaf or bamboo. To reduce waste and cost, use postcards instead of envelopes. Or better yet, email all your friends invitations!
2. Suggest ride sharing! Include a list of other guests and where they live so people can organize rides.
3. Decorate with organic flowers, branches, dried flowers and (naturally) live poinsettias.
4. Reduce, reuse and recycle. While shopping use cloths bags instead of plastic or paper and use cloth napkins at your dinner.
5. Plant a tree. Winter season is a good time to plant trees and shrubs so take this time to plant a tree and keep the green growing. This could be a really fun activity while you’re waiting for dinner to be ready or in between the turkey and the pumpkin pie.
6. Buy local. Many local turkey farms and bakeries ask that you put your order in early…don’t forget!

Up next? Part 2. A Green Thanksgiving MEAL!

And don’t forget to check out and enter our HUGE CONTEST!!!

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Last Thursday 23 fourth and fifth grade students received a hands on lesson in habitat restoration. They helped James Tucker tackle his six acres of reed canary grass and improve the stream habitat for salmon, by planting about 90 trees in an hour.
Eventually the willow, Oregon ash, western red cedar, wild rose and other trees and shrubs will outcompete the grass and save the habitat.

Killing the invasive grass will also help the salmon population because the grasses block the streams and stop the salmon from migrating.

Every day kids like you can get involved to help the environment, ask your teachers and parents what you can do locally to help out! Better yet, ask local farmers and local green organizations!

Don’t forget to enter our HUGE CONTEST!

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Don’t forget about our awesome contest! Click Here for Details.

The Bonobo Conservation Initiave and the Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership are participating in the 2008 Global Giving Project Challenge. Their project is to make college possible for 70 Congolese students. They have until November 20th to get donations of $10 or more from 75 different people in order to win a permanent spot on the Global Giving website that raises awareness about their cause and helps get them more donations.

These donations will support the Djolu Technical College of rural sciences in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the only college in a 40,000 square mile area. The school offers 70 bright, motivated young people in this impoverished area their only chance of getting a college degree.

• $10 pays a professor to teach a two-hour class for 30 students
• $20 buys enough textbooks for one student per year
• $35 covers one year of room and board for one student
• $100 pays one year’s tuition for one student

To donate visit the Global Giving website and make a difference for these 70 students today!

Thanks!

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So, here’s the deal: We would like YOU to give a friend, family member, school, etc. a copy of I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo, and in exchange for that gift/donation you’ll be entered into our raffle. A bonobo will be adopted in the raffle winner’s name – and you’ll get all of the goodies (certificates, pictures and a great feeling that you’ve done something really good!) The adoption benefits the incredible work of the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI).

We wanted to make gift giving part of this contest because ’tis the season – and we know that this crowd is always looking for eco-friendly gifts or green gifts – gifts that really make a difference in the world. So…this is your opportunity! Give I’m Lucy this holiday season! (Hey, if you win the bonobo adoption, you can even give that as a gift!)

How to win this contest:

1. Buy the book and give, I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo – a wonderful story about a bonobo family with an inspirational afterword by Jane Goodall! Just click here (the book must be bought through our website to enter). Also, FYI, all profits from the book go to BCI and Jane Goodall’s youth organization, Roots & Shoots.

2. Come back to the Bonobo Challenge Blog and leave a comment on this post. (This is a must – so bookmark this page!!!)

3. In the comment, tell us who you gave the book to and we’ll verify your purchase. (You don’t need to name names – just tell us ‘friend’ or ’sister’…we’d love to hear your story!)

4. Then, we’ll add your name to the raffle.

5. On Monday, December 15th, we’ll do a random drawing and announce the winner of the adopted bonobo!

6. Yes! You can enter several times, just buy and donate several books! Each book counts as a name in the raffle bucket!!! Please leave one comment per book so that each donation is counted!

Good luck!!!

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