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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Imagine a soccer team where the players refuse to work together. Each of the players wants to score a goal but they insist 1. on doing it their own way, and 2. that the other players are getting in their way. We think this scenario would look like this: members of the same team are trying to take the ball from each other, running in opposite directions, getting hurt, becoming angry…and ultimately losing sight of the ball, their teammates and the goal.

Wow. That’s pretty messed up, don’t you think?

Sadly, this is a theme that can be seen throughout the world. Whether people are on the same team trying to create positive change in their community or country, save the environment or even save the bonobos, within their efforts they lose sight of who they are trying to help, who their helping partners are and their final goal of freedom, a healthy world or protected bonobos.

With so many talented people working so hard to make this world a better place, imagine if differences and personal agendas could be set aside! Imagine if we all worked together – a united front.

Do you have any real life examples of when you worked alone, and it was hard, versus working as a team, when your efforts were successful?

Tell us about your experiences, we’d love to hear them.

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This picture taken by Marian Brickner is of Lucy’s Aunt Louise and her son Virgil looking into a frozen bucket of Kool-Aid at the CIncinnati Zoo. When we first saw the picture, we thought it looked like the bonobos were laughing, so we asked Marian about that day.

She told us, “They ARE laughing. The Kool-Aid had sunflower seeds and raisins in it, they eventually got it all out – in bucket form.”

Louise is the younger sister of Lorel (Lucy’s mom). Virgil is 11 years-old here and Louise is about 34.
We love her hand on his back.

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It’s true – you do learn something new everyday. What we learned today is that even though the United States, as a country, celebrates Arbor Day on the last Friday in April (as proclaimed by President Nixon in 1970) – each state, and many other countries, has established its own Arbor Day – and they are all happening right around now. It’s springtime, and the trees are blooming.

But what is so great about Arbor Day? Is it just about planting trees?

Actually, it is all about planting trees! Planting trees protects the environment by canceling out some of the harmful impacts of climate change.

How does it work?
Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main gases causing global warming, and in turn trees release oxygen into the atmosphere. They clean up the air and they make it healthy for all living creatures. Forests are in second place, behind oceans, when it comes to helping with the CO2 overload – one acre of forestland holds between 150 – 200 tons of CO2 in its first 40 years. As a result, planting new trees remains one of the least expensive, most effective (and most beautiful) means of drawing extra CO2 from our atmosphere.

Go plant a tree.
Cheap and good for the environment? We LOVE it! So plant a tree – for arbor day or because every day is Earth Day. PLANT A TREE, SAVE THE BONOBOS, SAVE THE WORLD!

And…send pictures of you with your tree(s)! You know we love photos of you doing great things!

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In the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba river basins in the DRC where the bonobos live, humans have it very rough – we couldn’t say if they have it better or worse than the bonobos. However, we can say that the human women have it worse than the human men in the DRC. In the United States, women are free to get jobs, go to school and live by themselves – you may think it’s strange that we’re even mentioning those things because we are so used to these freedoms! But, in the Congo, this is not the norm. Women and girls rarely get to go to school or explore a career in computers or medicine or anything; they are kept close to home with very specific work and chores.

So, we were very excited to hear of the adventures of three scientists (John Hart, Ashley Vosper, and Terese Hart) working in the DRC with a mission: to work with local villagers to conserve these river basins in the heart of the Congo and the home of the bonobo ape and another rarely seen animal, the rain forest giraffe (okapi). They are searching for the ‘elusive bonobo’ and doing incredible work to help the people and the land of the Congo. Here they are:

In order for these scientists to find bonobos in the wild, they work with local villagers who are their guides as they trek through the dense Lengola Forest. Recently two women have joined the group as guides! Nyota and Clarisse are incredibly knowledgeable about the forest, and they also help cook among many other trekking and camp chores.

Here is Clarisse with John and some other team members:

Next, is my favorite picture. It shows two Batiamoniga Village women who were so excited that Clarisse and Nyota were on the exploration team, that they carried their packs for them through their village! What a great way to show support for someone else’s work.

Everyone at Bonobo Kids sends a huge ‘HELLO & THANK YOU!” to the entire team. Your courage and your actions are an inspiration to us all.

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Of course you all remember the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary – a wonderful refuge right in the Congo. They do the incredible work of saving young, orphaned bonobos who are often sick and traumatized and nursing them back to health. The bonobos thrive under the care of their surrogate, or substitute, mama – check this out:

This is a picture of little Lomela when she first came to Lola Ya Bonobo. Her tummy was extended from malnutrition and she hardly had any hair. Very sad to say the least.

But this is Lomela now! WOW!

The mamas report that she is very sweet, friendly and playful. In this picture, she has her hand in the food bucket.
GREAT NEWS! Thanks to Lola Ya Bonobo…

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Researchers in the field are finding evidence of hunting and decreased bonobo numbers in protected areas (national parks) in the DRC. They believe that soldier groups are hiding in the parks and hunting bonobos to sell for money.

Here is the evidence: humans leave trash, bullet shells and belongings behind at their temporary camp sites. The field researchers also note that while they hear bonobo calls and see their nests and droppings, they aren’t seeing the actual bonobos – they used to see bonobos all the time. They believe that the bonobo population has decreased an additional 20%!

We’ve written about this issue before – wondering how the Congolese park authorities can possibly monitor a huge space, like the Sankuru Nature Reserve – formed by the Bonobo Conservation Initiative and the Congolese government, that is almost 12,000 square miles.

You are the most brilliant kids in the entire universe, so let’s hear your ideas. How can the land and the bonobos be protected? We’ll post your most creative answers…and who knows what may happen, we could get your ideas to the Congolese government and put them into action!

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So you want to help the bonobos, right? Well…think about that when we ask you this next question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Have ever wondered what you would be if you wanted a job that would help the bonobos? Here is a list of professions that help save the bonobos and save the world. As always, you better write and tell us if we forgot something!

Primatologist: Primatologists, like Jane Goodall, study primates (235 species of lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans)

Zoo Keeper: Zookeepers take care of specific animals in zoos –feeding, cleaning, playing, watching their health. They specialize in specific animals and (the good ones) develop unique and special relationships with their animals.

Field Researcher: Field Researchers are in the field doing research! For the bonobos, this means traveling to the Congo and studying the bonobos in their natural habitat – wow!

Photographer: If you like the art more than the science, photographers document the bonobos for books, websites, scientists and more. Our super-duper-fantastic photographer, Marian Brickner, took the pictures for I’m Lucy at the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida.

Writer: Another job that isn’t totally science-related would be writing. A writer could write fiction (made up stories) or non-fiction (true stories and facts) about bonobos. Bonobo Kids writes for this blog, Mathea Levine wrote I’m Lucy. Writing is a great way to spread information and tell everyone about bonobos!

Veterinarian: Veterinarians are animal doctors. Usually, we hear about ‘vets’ that take care of our pets – dogs, cats, birds, etc….but, some vets specialize in wild or exotic animals.

Environmentalist: Environmentalists work in many different ways to save the environment. They study global warming, animal habitats, rainforests, pollution, recycling and more. Their goal is to create solutions to help the planet.

Conservationist: A conservationist is someone who works to protect natural resources to prevent the extinction or destruction of the natural resources – likes oil (fuel), water, animals, plants and more.

Activist: Activists work hard to ‘activate’, or set in motion, people and events around an issue. For instance, if you wanted to be a bonobo activist, you would tell people to come to www.bonobokids.com and get involved, you would tell people about I’m Lucy, you might think up a cool fundraiser to raise money for Bonobo Kids or another charity organization. Basically, you would shake things up and make a difference!

Tell us what you’re thinking…what do YOU want to be? How do you want to make a difference?

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It’s true – there is a connection! Did you know that regular old crayons (think Crayola) have petroleum in them? Petroleum is a fossil fuel – we often call it ‘oil’ and it runs cars, heats homes, etc. Is this something you want in your crayons?

We don’t think so because:

• Petroleum can cause health problems – it’s pretty intense stuff! Have you ever smelled the fumes when your parents are filling up your car at the gas station?

• Petroleum is TERRIBLE for the environment: When people drill for oil, they destroy the land above the oil which hurts creatures’ natural habitats, plants & trees.

• During the transport of oil, there have been several oil spills which cause severe damage to ocean ecosystems. There was recently a spill at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

• As petroleum is burned for energy, carbon-dioxide is released into the air which contributes to global warming.
• Wars are fought over oil. Ever heard of the Middle East?

• In the summer of 2007, oil was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at Lake Albert – home of our beloved bonobos. Humans are so desperate to get the oil that they hurt each other, the land of the DRC and the bonobos & other creatures living there in the process.

Here’s what you can do:

Ask your parents, your teachers and your school to get non-petroleum crayons!

There is a safe, non-toxic brand of crayons that is petroleum-free called STOCKMAR!!!
Visit their site here! They are made with beeswax and they are super sturdy which means they won’t break in half when you are drawing really hard!
Have fun – and tell everyone you know. If everyone uses petroleum-free crayons, there will be one less reason for oil drillers to disrupt the natural habitats of the bonobos and other wonderful creatures!

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In that wonderful Time article I told you about on Friday, the author discusses the Sankuru Nature Reserve – here is the scoop on this incredible accomplishment for the DRC, bonobos and the world:

Our friends at the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) have partnered with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to create a new nature reserve to protect the bonobos and the environment. The Sankuru Nature Reserve, covers a huge rainforest area within the DRC where the endangered bonobos live. The reserve site is larger than the state of Massachusetts, and covers 11,803 square miles of tropical rainforest that are extremely rich in biodiversity.

In a time when the DRC’s rainforests and bonobos are facing extinction – two events that would be devastating to the Earth – this partnership and conservation action is excellent, but not the happy end to the story. Now that the Sankuru Reserve is in place, the protection for the forests and the animals must be enforced. Imagine trying to protect the borders of Massachusetts so that no one could get in without permission! It is a huge job and it has never been more important to help, contribute, donate, write letters, buy I’m Lucy books…whatever you can do!!!

More than bonobos! In addition to the bonobo, the Sankuru Reserve contains the okapi (Okapia johnstoni), an exotic short necked forest giraffe who also live in the DRC, but were not previously found outside of their known range far to the northeast. Survey teams from the Congo’s Center for Research in Ecology and Forestry (CREF) sponsored by BCI made this exciting discovery. Sankuru also contains elephants, which have been hunted out in many other areas of the Congo forest, plus at least 10 other species of primates, including the rare owl faced monkey and blue monkey.

What is a nature reserve? A nature reserve, sometimes called a nature preserve, is a protected area for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. This means that in the Sankuru Nature Reserve, hunting and deforestation is not allowed. For wildlife, sometimes a sanctuary, like the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary, protects, researches and gives medical attention to wildlife that is not able to participate in their natural environment due to harm done to the animals or to their habitats by people.

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