The guides haven’t seen bonobos in about three months. But we went into the Lomako forest anyway and I thought at least we’ll get some good exercise and fresh rain forest air.
Little did I know what I was in for.
At the AWF bonobo research and conservation center in the Congo’s Lomako Reserve, scouts go out [...]

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Nothing starts your day like an angry mob at 7am.
A group of fifty or so men are gathering outside the yard of the house we’re staying at. Things get heated – men begin shouting and waving their arms in frustration. They’re yelling in Lingala, so I look to Jef for help. He shrugs. “They want [...]

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[Reporting from the Congo Heartland]
We had clear skies and a cool temperature as we pushed our two giant wooden canoes (pirogues) off the bank into the Maringa River. The crowd that had gathered to watch us pack now waved and shouted, wishing us bon voyage.
Two pirogues, 14 people, 16 cans of fuel, 12 or so [...]

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A while back I wrote about the progress being made on the bonobo research and conservation center in our Congo Heartland. I’m joining a 15 person expedition organized by Jef Dupain, director of the Heartland, to visit the site, check on construction as it nears completion, install a VSAT internet connection, and prepare some media [...]

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We’ve been following the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where rebels took command of Virunga National Park’s headquarters. What about the rangers and the mountain gorillas? Jamie from IGCP sent me this news:
“There are still 52 park staff in the Mikeno Sector [the sector of the park where the mountain gorillas [...]

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Staff of the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) have been evacuated from DR Congo, as things remain tense between the Congolese army and rebel militia.
Staff were moved from the office in Goma across the border to the town of Gisenyi in Rwanda.
From IGCP’s Jamie in Rwanda:
“Eugene [Rutagarama - the IGCP Director] organized an emergency trip [...]

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Fighting has broken out again in eastern DR Congo between rebels under General Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese Army. The rebels, who have been hiding out in Virunga National Park, have just taken the park headquarters. The park is home to about 200 of the 720 mountain gorillas.
“Over 50 rangers were forced to flee into [...]

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This week I’m at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona with a delegation from AWF. The WCC is like a Star Trek convention for conservation geeks.
8,000 people from all around the world - policy-makers, NGOs, governments, academics - come together for 10 days of workshops and discussions that guide global conservation issues. Issues like [...]

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In our Congo Heartland, construction on a bonobo research and conservation center is making great progress dispute all odds. The site is at Ndele in the middle of the 3,600 km² Lomako-Yokokala Faunal Reserve, and is not so easy to get to.
A boat carrying 60 tons of construction materials took 30 days to travel up [...]

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Sorry for the hiatus - I’m back, and want to share a story best told in photos. A few weekends ago, I had the honor of being the Assistant Best Man in a traditional Samburu wedding near Wamba, Kenya. The groom, Jeremiah, is a wildlife scout I met while visiting Shivani’s lion research and conservation [...]

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