The information about the letter writing campaign to the president of Rwanda is on the Wildlife Direct page on this blog. See that tab up there? Click it for the info and sample letter.
Recently I took the plunge and become the adoptive mother of a baby bonobo. It seems a lot of people have never even heard of bonobos, yet they’re the most critically endangered of the Great Apes. They share 98.7 percent of our DNA, as do the chimpanzees, which makes them our cousins and we have to do everything we can to save them from disappearing. We need them.
There are a few great places on the innernets where you can learn about bonobos and efforts to save them from extinction. One of those places is Vanessa Woods’ blog Bonobo Handshake. Vanessa and her husband are researchers and are, right now, at Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She’ll blog about her research at Bonobo Handshake and she’ll blog about the daily lives of the bonobos and their incredibly dedicated “mamas” and doctors and the sanctuary’s founder, Claudine Andre, at Wildlife Direct. There’s also the Bonobo Conservation Initiative
So, without further ado, here is my baby bonobo, Lukuru.
Lukuru was brought to Lola Ya Bonobo in May, after her family was killed for bushmeat and she was meant to be sold as a pet. It costs $20 per month to feed and house the bonobos and pay for the “mamas” who take care of them every day and give them lots of love. Bonobos are very loving apes. They solve their problems with sex and they’re very peaceful and the females dominate the families. They’re pretty much the opposite of us and our cousins, the chimpanzees.
If you’d like to help one of these beautiful apes grow up and make more babies, please head over to Friends of Bonobos and make and adoption. You can pay $20 a month for a year or a lump sum of $240. I can’t wait to get progress reports on Lukuru. Some day, she’s going to be a beautiful bonobo and have lots of boyfriends.
s.
Filed under: endangered species, primates Tagged: | bonobo, friends of bonobos, lola ya bonobo
She is quite a looker! You’re going to have a busy little lady on your hands, methinks.
Man, SO cute! And I love that the females dominate the families. WOOHOO!
Congratulations on your new little baby!