The African apes don't get much good news these days. But the Congo has just announced they are setting up a preserve to protect the bonobo. The size of the Sankuru Nature Reserve is 11,803 square miles (in real money, 30 569.629 square kilometers), which makes it nearly half the size of Tasmania, or bigger than Massachusetts or Hawai'i.
This is a cooperative venture between a partnership involving American and Congolese conservation groups and government agencies, and they are addressing the local practices of hunting bonobos as well. All bonobos in the wild live in the Congo.
Hat tip John Hawks
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That's wonderful news. Thanks for sharing, John.
This report mentions that the reserve is also good news for the okapi, blue monkey, owl-faced monkey and others.
"they are addressing the local practices of hunting bonobos as well."
I was a little bit concerned that this was just empty rhetoric but it turns out that lots of work has already been done.
From here:
Sally Jewell Coxe, president of the Washington-based Bonobo Conservation Initiation, said the group has been working to establish the reserve since 2005, when it started meeting with leaders in villagers that ring the area to persuade them to stop hunting the ape.
Though local lore holds that washing a baby with the ashy remains of a bonobo will make the child strong, Coxe said many area villages have committed to ending the practice.
"We have agreements with many of the local villages that are on the edges of the park, and they will be the managers and be very involved in it," she said.
This is great news, the Great Apes have been under threat for years, now they will have to enforce the National Park to deter the bush meat trade. I trust they will be successful.