As it turns out, some animals don’t see color, race…or species. When a tiger at the Kansas Safari Zoological Park abandoned her three cubs the day after they were bor, a golden retriever took her place. She nurses them, licks them cleans them…loves them. Miraculously, she had just weaned her own litter of pups when these tiger cubs came along.

Watch the video here.

This is a true example of connection, collaboration and unconditional love. A great example to live by.
Do you think a bonobo mother would help a baby from another species???

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Lucy doing a handstand! She’s so big now! photo by Marian Brickner

Delfi Messinger is the Director of Animal Programs at the Jacksonville Zoo, home of Lucy, Kaleb, Lorel and Lexi. And, YES, this means that she can go see the bonobos whenever she wants! Delfi was also a key player in the creation of I’m Lucy. Without her kindness, her love for bonobos and her gracious permission for our photographer, Marian Brickner, to take a zillion pictures of Lucy and her family, this book would not exist today. Many, many thanks to you, Delfi.

We got the chance to talk to Delfi the other day and, literally, had to force ourselves to hang up the phone. She has so many incredible stories, we could have listened all day.

We originally contacted Delfi because of the post we wrote on May 6th where we wondered: are zoos good or bad? This post has been read more than any other post and folks seem very passionate about the subject…so we wanted to go straight to the source at one of our favorite zoos, and see what’s up. Here’s what she had to say:

Bonobo Kids: We know that there are good zoos and bad zoos - and we know that Jacksonville is a very good zoo. Can you tell us why?

Delfi: I’d love to use bonobos specifically to illustrate this point - they are such a great example of why Jacksonville is such a good zoo.

First, we’re an AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) zoo, and incidentally all bonobos in the U.S. are in AZA zoos which means they are in the best facilities in terms of care and conservation and education. The bonobos in Europe are in the European equivalent of AZA zoos.

Jacksonville got the bonobos in 1998, so we’ve had them for 10 years. And one of the cool things about this zoo, like San Diego (which also has bonobos) is that we have pretty good, warm weather, so the bonobos get to be outside most of the year. We always keep them as close as we can to their real habitat. We pay close attention to the rule that what goes on in mother nature is essential to meeting the apes’ psychological and emotional natures.

For example, with bonobos, they stay with their mothers for years, nursing until they are about five. Then, the males continue to stay with their mothers for life, and it’s the females that leave the group when they are teenagers (around 10 years old) - then, they bond with the females of a new group. This is markedly different from other animal groups, where it’s the male that leaves. As a zoo community, we need to facilitate this natural movement, and we have to do it across zoo lines.

So, back to why Jacksonville is such a great zoo. We work closely with Species Survival Plan (SSP) to manage our bonobos. Many endangered zoo animals are managed by SSPs. They monitor all of the bonobos and help facilitate the survival of the species. They incorporate many factors to do this, including, talking to the IRs (Institutional Representatives) which includes people like me and the actual bonobo handlers at the zoos and direct knowledge of the bonobos’ actual personalities. For instance, you would need to be careful with the move of a super dominate female because she needs to get along with the other females at the new zoo. The SSP also studies the genetics of each animal as well, making sure that new family pairings will create strong baby bonobos, ensuring their survival.

Coming tomorrow: The story of a bonobo arrival at the Jacksonville Zoo…our favorite bonobo story to date!

Delfi also has a wonderful blog where she talks about her amazing work saving bonobos and chimps in Africa and her daily work at the Jacksonville Zoo. You’ll see some great photos of Lucy, Kaleb and the rest of the bonobo crew!

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Perry Beeman from The Des Moines Register dug a little deeper into the flood situation at the Iowa Great Ape Trust to discover that the bonobos were in fact a little scared by the rising flood waters, while the orangutans, whose natural habitat regularly floods, were calm, cool and collected. Most fascinating to us bonobo lovers is that we know the bonobos were uncomfortable with the situation not just because of their behavior - and our interpretation of their behavior - but because of Kanzi and his ability to communicate with humans.

Using his lexigram (picture board with symbols representing words and concepts), Kanzi was able to tell his people that he was afraid of ‘water gorillas’ (beavers) and ‘big water’. Thankfully, this communication works both ways and the scientists were able to tell the bonobos that the water would stop and that they’d be okay. Another way that researchers let the apes know that everything was okay was to stick to their routines, making sure to do some of their standard research activities everyday. Click here to read Beeman’s full article.

But the best news is that the flood waters have receded and a massive clean-up is underway. Thankfully the danger has passed, and all of the apes are okay. Good luck to the clean-up crews and everyone at the Great Ape Trust…and thanks for all that you do!

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As part of a program led by the United Nation’s Environmental Program (UNEP), Spain has just contributed $368,000 (U.S.) to help preserve the biodiversity (plants and animals) of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. The money will go directly to the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) whose mission is to help conserve endangered and critically important animals and ecosystems in the DRC. This list includes gorillas, bonobos, elephants, okapi, hippos and many more.

Spain has made this announcement during a gathering of 191 countries in Bonn, Germany discussing biodiversity and working together to find ways to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. Germany is also set to make a donation to efforts in the DRC, and the UNEP is encouraging other countries to join as well.

This work is critical for conservation of our creatures and our planet - it will provide education, protection, laws and law enforcement. From all of us at Bonobo Kids, we say: “Thanks Spain!!!”

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There are currently about 170 bonobos in zoos across the world. And, while zoos are usually great, sometimes bad things can happen at zoos. On Christmas Day, 2007, a Siberian Tiger escaped from its zoo home and attacked three people in the zoo. Which makes us wonder for the bazillionth time:

Are zoos good or are zoos bad? What do you think?

We realize that this is a complicated question, so we’re going to make two lists, a good list and a bad list, to help you decide. Of course, you may have things to add, so please send them our way – we always love to hear from you!

GOOD
Conservation – Zoos keep animals that are endangered safe from extinction by offering them protection from hunters and habitat destruction.
Multiplication – Zoos work hard to make sure that endangered animals are having babies so that the species does not become extinct. This involves keeping track of different families of animals within each species for the healthiest, strongest babies.
Education – Zoos offer people the ability to see and learn about animals from all over the world. When people see the animals face to face, they understand that the animal is a being who deserves to be treated well. Zoos also educate people on the dangers of extinction and the importance of keeping our environment clean.
Fundraising – Zoos do an excellent job of raising money to help save endangered animals and their habitats.
Fun – Zoos are beautiful and fun. On a warm, sunny day, in a terrific zoo (like the St. Louis Zoo and the Jacksonville Zoo) – we love to walk around and see the animals.

BAD
Captivity- The best thing would be for wild animals to be wild in their natural habitats. No matter how much a zoo may make their lion den look like a lion den, it’s really still a cage where lions can not do the hunting and running that they were born to do.
Conditions- Not all zoos are beautiful and rich! Some animals live in dirty conditions and actual cages. (Animal Protection Institute is one of the many organizations working to protect captive animals.)
Treatment- Not all zookeepers love animals and there are many reports of animal abuse.
Accidents - Like the tiger incident, sometimes wild animals escape and act like wild animals.
Health – Because animals aren’t in their natural habitat eating what they are meant to eat and getting the exercise they are meant to get, they can become inactive and sick.
Entertainment- Many zoos and circuses use animals for entertainment, asking the animals to do things that they wouldn’t naturally do in the wild (like throw balls or stand on their hind legs).

Tell us what you think…Are good zoos good and bad zoos bad? Are they all bad? Are they all good? We can’t wait to hear from you and to post as many of your answers as possible!

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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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What rainforest destruction looks like.

As you know, the bonobos live in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa. You also know that losing the rainforests due to deforestation (taking the trees for lumber and paper) means more than just losing the rainforests. It means losing the bonobos and countless other creatures that live in the rainforest. It means terrible damage to the Earth’s fragile environment because the plants and trees in the rainforest breathe in carbon dioxide so that it doesn’t move into our atmosphere and damage the ozone layer.

We found a great website, www.mongabay.com, that provides great information about rainforests all over the world, including the DRC. Like all of us at Bonobo Kids, they are working hard to save the rainforests and their creatures. They also see the big picture and they have some great ideas for how to help.

Here is the Mongabay list for saving rainforests and entire ecosystems around the world by focusing on “TREES”:
Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help rainforests.
Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land where forests have been cut down.
Encourage people to live in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment
Establish parks to protect rainforests and wildlife
Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment [and don’t use companies and products like DOVE from UNILEVER that do major damage - see yesterday’s post!]

We love the way they spelled TREES with their solutions.
Your bonobokids challenge: Put TREES into action and let us know how you do it!!! We know you’ll think of awesome ways to save our world!!!

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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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Cyril Ruoso / JH Editorial / Minden Pictures

There is a wonderful article in Time Magazine about bonobos, the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), BCI’s founder - Sally Coxe, and conservation efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It’s not written for kids, so we’re going to break it down for you!

But first, look at this picture! That bonobo kid is only a few hours old!!!

Something really exciting is happening in the DRC - conservation efforts which include creating safe space for bonobos and other species, as well as the rainforests, are having positive effects on the people of the DRC. This is because the conservation activities need people to make them happen and those people must be cared for and supported.

For example, the Congolese government worked with BCI to establish the Sankuru Reserve, but it is the Congolese people that live in and around Sankuru that are working to protect the reserve - so the conservation efforts extend to provide these people with schools, hospitals, education and more.

This is what is called the ripple effect. Like a stone thrown into a pond makes a wave of ripples on the water, when the conservation begins, its positive effects are felt nationwide. This is also a fantastic example of CONNECTION. It is impossible to take action without that action affecting someone or something else. When we recycle, we help the bonobos. When we turn off lights we don’t need to have on, we help the environment. When we share information, we help each other.

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