Planckendael Zoo begins partnership to protect endangered bonobos in DRC
Planckendael Zoo has agreed a partnership with the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) to jointly manage an area of 3,600 square kilometres that’s home to thousands of bonobos.
Bonobos are endangered great apes that are only found in the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Lomako Yokokala reserve, where an estimated 4,000 of the animals live, is deep in the Congolese rainforest.
Antwerp Zoo Foundation, Planckendael’s conservation arm, will work with the ICCN to deploy rangers to combat poaching, illegal logging and other threats.
The partners will also develop a pilot project using “bonobo credits” in Lisoko, where humans live alongside bonobos. If the apes or other endangered species are not hunted and the tropical rainforest on their territory remains protected, the community will receive a financial contribution.
“The long-term cooperation with ICCN is exceptional in Africa,” says Jef Dupain, director of the Antwerp Zoo Foundation in Kinshasa. “Here, nature projects often depend on short-term funding. We do not act as an external financier but as a fully fledged co-manager of the reserve with a team on the ground.”
Planckendael is the international studbook keeper for bonobos and has been conducting field research in Congo since 1994. The new partnership, which will run for 15 years, extends this work to focus on the animals’ environment.
“Protecting animals is not just about ensuring that populations survive in zoos, but also about ensuring that the animals thrive in their natural environment, where they naturally occur,” says Dries Herpoelaert, general director of Planckendael Zoo and the Antwerp Zoo Foundation. “We at Planckendael Zoo can contribute to this by protecting their natural habitat.”
Planckendael, in Mechelen, is home to 20 bonobos, one of the largest groups in Europe. The zoo opened an expanded enclosure in 2019, with multiple indoor spaces, an outdoor island, termite-mound structures, climbing trees and other enrichment features.
#FlandersNewsService | A tracker in the DRC © PHOTO ANTWERP ZOO FOUNDATION
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