Ekolo ya Bonobo could close. The world's only bonobo reintegration reserve, located in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been at a standstill since 13 June 2023. The reason: violence perpetrated by as yet unidentified armed assailants in Basankusu, in the Equateur province where the reserve is located. One primate was shot dead.
This is a precautionary measure, and it is not yet known how long it will last. Those in charge of the Ekolo ya Bonobo reserve have decided to suspend their activities in order to get a clearer picture of the violence that the reserve faced during the first two weeks of June 2023.
The only protected area in the world where bonobos rehabilitated or born in Lola ya Bonobo are reintroduced into the wild, the Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been plunged into terror and panic. The assailants shot dead a primate and set fire to camps close to the park, before descending on the commercial and administrative centre of Basankusu, where they marched along the main thoroughfares.
For the moment, the motives and origins of the instigators remain unclear. No organisation or group of people has claimed responsibility for these acts of violence. The traditional chiefs of all the partner communities, including the Ilonga Pôo, whose sacred forest makes up 25% of the reserve’s current surface area (47,515 hectares), have all distanced themselves from the perpetrators of the violence.
The concerns of ABC Ekolo ya Bonobo
In a statement published on 7 July 2023, Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC), the nature conservation organisation that manages the reserve, deplored the significant material damage resulting from the intentional burning of village camps and facilities, the deliberate slaughter of a bonobo, a species that is fully protected by law, access to the reserve with weapons, and acts of rebellion against the law enforcement officers who had been sent to restore calm and peace.
“We hope that the investigations currently under way will enable us to understand who these people are and what their demands are, so that we can sit down and work together, within the framework of the Conflict Resolution Committee, which is a body specific to the reserve, to resolve this situation peacefully”, Fanny Minesi, Director General of Abc Ekolo ya Bonobo, told RFI.
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The size of the bonobo population is unknown, as only 30% of the species’ historical range has been studied. The bonobo is a particularly threatened species due to its exclusive distribution in the DRC, a region ravaged by war, deforestation, diamond mining and hunting for its meat.
Boris Ngounou
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