Last week I visited Franck & Roxane at J.A.C.K. - Jeunes Animaux Confisques du Katanga, a project that provides refuge to orphan baby chimps that have been legally confiscated by the Congolese authorities. In DR Congo the law clearly states you cannot buy a chimp, sell a chimp, traffic a chimp or keep a chimp in captivity. So when these chimps are confiscated, they need to be looked after. And that is where Franck & Roxane come in.

Roxane & I at the refuge center.

But their work does not stop there. They lobby incessantly from Lubumbashi, near the Zambian border, to raise the visibility of the plight of chimps in captivity in DRC. For each captive chimp, 10 have been killed in the wild. Now that is food for thought.

Franck & Chita, the oldest male chimp of the 13 at the refuge center. JACK started in April 2006 - and became a fully fledged NGO in October 2006.

Each morning Franck & Roxane make up the milk at their home for the 13 chimps and take it to the refuge centre which sits in a lush and tranquil corner of Lubumbashi Zoo.

Surrogate mothers Angeline and Arta help out - it really is each chimp for him/herself!

The project has not been going long, but has already made a substantial impact. Roxane was actually born in Belgium, and Franck has lived in DRC for 15 years - so their networks to have the maximum impact on the illegal chimp trade is significant. The political effort of their work is not to be underestimated.

Not all the chimps want to hug Roxane!

But most of them do.

Don’t buy me! / Don’t eat me! / Don’t sell me! / Respect me!

The chimps push and shove to get first the milk, then the bread, then the fruit, and then the yogurt and honey.

Franck & Roxane feed the chimps with a natural diet, as they would eat in the forest. One of the main problems with chimpanzees in captivity is that they are either malnourished, or simply fed inappropriate foods like sweets that lead to cavities.

I was ecstatic to give Chita some milk.

I could not resist shooting some video - so here are a couple of clips. Enjoy!

This will be my final post on Manioc Valley - it has been a real treat “meeting” you all. Please support Franck & Roxane - it really is a daily struggle for them, but one they embrace courageously. See you here or on the Gorilla Blog very soon!

Samantha

Technorati : chimp, congo, drc, wildlifedirect

help us and share this