Godefroid:
I remember in your last blog you said you were only able to find footprints and nests. Are you having any luck seeing the chimps yet?

Hello Godefroid,
Thanks for your detailed answer which helped me a lot to understand what you are doing.
I just watched the film where the rangers of Mutsora talk about the birds. Is there a way you could explain what they are saying? I know some of it is French, but it is very difficult to understand because of the sound quality and I don’t understand the other language. How are those rangers connected to what you are doing? It looks like they are well equipped. Do they have their own blog or who sponsers them?
I agree that you would need some funds to equip your volunteers. What motivates those men to help you? And another question, how far away is he fighting now, because in the southern Virungapark there seems to be some heavy fighting. How large are the chimp populations? What are the dangers they are exposed to?
It’s good to know that there is enought food around for them.
Keep up the spirit and I’ll see if I can get some donation for you.
By the way what language do people speak in the area?

Do these chimps eat monkeys as well? Also, what happens to them when they raid the villager’s stores of fruit? Do they like to eat veggies? Sorry for so many questions but I find their diet very interesting!Thanks Godefroid for the pictures and for taking care of our “cousins”!

I believe chimps hunt monkeys when they’re in the neighborhood. Here’s a 1994 study of chimps hunting red colobus monkeys in Tanzania: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14319382.700-science-monkeys-fall-victim-to-chimp-hunting-bands-.html

I recall hearing Jane Goodall say once that chimps hunted one species of monkey nearly to extinction because the chimps liked the taste.

Sound familiar?

s.

Dear Pam Shell/Beach C.A
The monitoring team in his daily routine activity of monitoring chimps saw two chimpanzees in the area, but as the monitoring team does not have a camera , he was not able to illustrate his encounter with these great apes,and after seeing the monitoring team the greats apes runed away in order to avoid the human being presence, also i will let you know that from Mwenda area during the day, whenever you reach the area, you will understand screams of chimps from the mountainous area, NOT ONLY FOOtprints and nest but also vocal communication as well

Hello Marlis!
I am very glad to hear from you again, thank for having understand what yu asked for from my last post on my blog, on the video about nesting birds site on which we are talking with my collegues rangers, i am talking with then about why since more than 20 years these birds have establish their permenant nesting site in that particular area, you know i Godefroid like to much to exchange ideas with my collegues, i got a chance to go for futher studies in wildlife management course in Tanzania as i am back in my sector and i have settled back, i do not have to keep the knowledge acquired in Mweka wildlife college for myself but i have to share it with others collegues Rangers, so that they understand what is wildlife management not only protecting big mammals but birds as well,invertebrates,so on that video of birds we are discussing with them why birds have decided to put their nest in that particular area,so i’m telling them that birds have realised that there is enough security in the area, because it is a head quater of the northern part of the Virunga national park on the foothill of the Ruwenzori mountain,no body can disturb them, and also i have explained to them that, in this particular nesting site of birds there is the necessary welfare such as water, because it is a riverine area and there is plenty of food such as invertebrates like grasshoppers, fruits and the necessary row materials for building their nest,and they have got a good shelter the tree on which they have putted their nest,yes rangers are well dressed but not very well equiped, Rangers in Congo they are under resourced, the little equipment what we have his provided by international support from international conservation organisation active in the virunga national park area,such as Frankfurt Zoological Society, wildlife direct(A.C.F),Zoological Society of London, WWF,Wildlife conservation Society rift Albertin Programe,and the like,
Speaking how these rangers they are connecting on what i am doing, first of all they are my collegues,also when the OAN people face a big problem related to conservation of the area under O.A.N , the community conservation reserve such as poaching,logging; deforestation,encroachment of the reserve bouandary, the local community can request the national park head quater assistance,and we can help the local community to reestablish discipline by stopping the progress of the illegals activities whithin the community forest reserve,because if the reserve is affected on the long run, the same illegals activity can affect the national park also
Thank you for having realised that i will need some funds to help my volunteers, you know the forest is for the local communities, so when icompleted my studies in Wildlife Management back from Tanzania;i decided to help these local people in order to encourege local initiatives related to conservation in order to ensure long term conservation of the Ruwenzori ecosystem , i will promote ecotourism activities when everythings will be runned very well when we will have habituated chimps to human presence and we will use this particular resource in a sustainable way by promoting ecotourism activities in the area,so protection of all the ruwenzori ecosystem and poverty alleviation of local people because they will be taking benefit from these tourism activities which will be taking place in the area.
In the area we do speak Kiswahili and the local language of indigenous in the area is kinande or kikonzo, there is also pygmees but in minority.
The figthing is very far from where we are almost 300 km as you know we are in the northern sector of the Virunga national park bodering with the republic of uganda.
Speaking about the population size of Chimpanzee,it need a census or inventory should be conducted in the area, both in The community forest and in the National Park because they are contiguous,but withoutn being confidents i can say that the total population size of chimps population in the Ruwenzori ecosystem may be estimated to 1000 individuals or more.
Why do you not speak french?On myside i do speak both french and English as well ,although my english is not so fluent
Thank you very much Marlis and have a nice week-end

Hello THERESA SISKIND!
In the area chimps do eat white and black colobus monkey and others cecopithecus ssp, even young baboons.That have been witneess in this area also, so when it happen that they raid on villagers farms fruits, or drinking local brew made from banana, villagers do chasse them away, it is a human wildlife conflicts and our main mission is to change local people attitude towards these primate when they reach villagers farm, but it is not easy it will take time,you know they are omnivoruous, so up to know i still making a collection about their diet from plants species what i found they have foraging on
Thank you!

Dear Sheryl,Washington D.C!
It is true chimps do hunt on colobus monkeys,the young baboons found in their neighborhood,even do harvest and eat honey.But they are omnivoruous,and mostly fruits eaters and feed also on invertebrates

I am grateful to Minna M,Wanda and Andrew F for reading my blog and thank you for your donations to the Ruwenzori chimps project,this will support various activities which are taking place in the Ruwenzori mountain ecosystem on the D.R.C side and will promote the protection of the wild Ruwenzori chimps

Salut Godefroid,
j’étais vraiment contente de tes explications très détaillées et de ton enthousiasme. Les oiseaux dans ton film qui ont leur nids dans les arbres directement au-dessus de la station des gardiens sont bien sages et ingénieux, non?
C’est une très bonne idée de partager ton savoir avec les autres rangers pour que tout le monde apprenne mieux à protéger les animaux.
L’idée aussi d’encourager des villageois de la région de participer activement dans la protection me parait admirable, comme c’est vrai que la région, une fois l’écotourisme fleurira, en profitera beaucoup.
La seule chose qui m’inquiète un peu est le conflit en Uganda et les soldats de Taylor. La proximité de cette zone de conflit cause de grands problèmes aussi pour l’écotourisme. Quelle est ton évaluation de ce danger?
Comment s’appellent les fruit que tu as décrit (les deux dernières photos)?
Tu auras aussi besoin de caméras pour les volontier qui font des patrouilles, non? Si tu as des photos intéressants des chimpanzés plus de gens seront intéressés par ton blog.
Demain je vais transférer une donation (petit cadeau de Noel) pour ton projet.
Il serait aussi intéressant de faire la connaissance de tes volontaires et de leur situation et biensur de toi et ta famille, comment tu vis etc.
D’ailleur, comment est-ce que vous fetez Noel? Et comment est-ce qu’on dit chimpanzé en Kisuaheli.
Est-ce que le pygmées dans votre région vivent toujours dans la foret dans leurs cabanes traditionnelles et est-ce qu’il est vrai qu’il chantent admirablement?
Je te souhaite une bonne semaine.
Meilleur veux de l’Allemagne.
Malis

Hello Marlis!
I am so happy because i have been able to aswer yours questions and ,and so happy because you have written to me in french,that is so great,speaking about the trouble which is taking place in the region,it is true that it is a permenant threats to conservation, but what can we do,our task is to protect wildlife ,
The fruits name is called Muthembo in local language,i am not so good in plants identification , the day a botanist will visit the area i will try to identify the plant with him so that i can give you the good aswer, also remember that i did my training in Tanzania a country which has got a quite different vegetation compared to Congo, so now i am in forest ecosystem while Tanzania is an arid zone with vast savana full of acacia spp.
Speaking about the monitoring team of O.A.N association, yes they need a camera because if i am not able to provide my reader with a picture of chimps it is not because they are not seen, no, but it is because the monitoring team does not have a camera, some time they do meet with the great apes while i am not with them and also i am not permenant with them,so if the monitoring team can get a camera soon within a week you will get the picture of the Ruwenzori chimps but remember that they are wild chimps and i promise soon i wild do my level best to post about every one volunteer of the monitoring team with whom i do work and i will explain about the way they live, i will also post about myself and my modest familly.
I will celebrate X-mass with my familly in Beni which is a small town 40 km from my station where i work
Chimpanzee in Kiswahili is called Sokomutu translating it in English it means “Is it someone ?”
About pygmees find around Mwenda they have been evicted from the virunga national park when it was established even people from Muenda where we have started the conservation of the community wildlife forest, but up to know they still living in close contact with the forest ,there is no way out to change a pygmee behavior, really they are good singers,and they know very well the forest when you are working with them there is no need of using a compass
for orientation in the forest
Thank you very much for the cadeau you have promissed to my project
Have a wonderfull time,
Receive greeting from Mutsora station /The head quater of the northern sector of the Virunga national park on the foothill of Ruwenzori mountain
Godefroid

Jambo Godefroid,
(habari Godefroid!)

U mzima? (ni mzima)

gardien des Sokomotu, pour ta répose détaillée et visuelle qui me facilite de m’imaginer la vie d’un gardien et les taches que tu confrontes.
J’ai trouvé Beni sur la carte et j’espère que ton séjour dans ce village va se passer bien. Je crois que c’était und région qui a eu beaucoup de difficultées dans le passé et - comme j’ai dit auparavant - j’admire beaucoup ton attitude positive, ton élan mais aussi ton jugement réaliste.
Je me rappelle que tu avais expliqué dans ton blog que les villageois ont besoin de quelque sorte de reconnaissance pour leur travail. J’ai encore une fois regardé la photo avec les volontairs, ceux avec les machètes, et si je regarde l’expression de leurs visages je vois exactement ce que tu as dit. Et je vois aussi des visages qui me paraissent un peu desillusionnés. Corrige-moi si je me trompe mais je vois des hommes qui on vu beaucoup et qui sont un peu “à bout de souffle”. La question qui se pose pour moi est s’ils ont l’esprit et la dédication pour ce projet. Je sais que toi tu es le seul juge de leur charactère et motivation. Je veux bien croire que sa peut se faire et qu’avec un peu de soutien et reconnaissance ils seront un groupe dans lequel on peut avoir confiance. Je veux bien contribuer avec une donation pour des bottes et un poncho mais tu as aussi besoin de payment régulier pour eux, n’est-ce pas? Et l’attention pour les donations est pour le moment plutôt dans le sud pour la protection des gorilles. Est-e que tu vas attendre jusqu’à ce que tu aies reçus l’argent pour toute l’équipe?
Je suis aussi très fasciné de ton idée de cooperer avec les pygmées et d’apprendre leur savoir de la forêt.
La forêt est leur habitat naturel et ils s’y sentent à l’aise. Peut être tu pourrais un peut expliquer ce que tu as appris des pygmées et comment on peut tourner leur sagesse de la forêt à la protection des animaux.
Ahsante!
Kwa heri et Lala salama

Aachaye kweli huirudia
Jina jema hungara gizani

Marlis

Amjambo Marlis! mimi ni mzima kabisa,everythings is very fine. As you have said my volunteers needs each and everythings you have mentioned about, you know we do not have any sponser, but i do beleive in the positive attitude of my local people, they are devoted to their job although it is so difficult but they like it and i am 100% sure that if they get a sponsor they can operate miracles, your donation in boots and poncho are mostly welcome, thank you in advance also thank you for the interest you are showing to our project, really i do appreciate, i am sure that future of the project is so brigth.Next year i will be visiting pygmees regulary so that i can provide you with news from their area which is so close to the forest ecosystem of Virunga-Nord;
Asante sana Marlis!Jina jema ina gara gizani, safi sana nafurahi kwa namna una juwa kiswahili
Godefroid Wambale

Hello Godefroid,
I have not been able to decipher all your Kisuaheli like “gara gizani” or “mzima kabisa” as I am just working with a dictionary, I don’t actually speak the language.
I sent you a 60$ open donation so you can use it where you need it most.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing from the development of your project, you visiting the pygmees and your guards.I have every confidence that you will keep up the spirit. Stay safe

Hello Marlis!
Thank you very much for the open donation you have done on my blog,really i do appreciate and i say thank you for your generosity by donating 60$ to my blog in order to facilitate the huge task i have got on the Ruwenzori mountain, Merçi beaucoup.Thank you also for the interest you have on conserving the great apes and all the biodiversity on the Ruwenzori mountain, let’s hope that it will develop and that the essence of my life of this earth.By next year just on the beginning at around the 15 th of january i will do all my best to post about pygmees found in the Mwenda area, i will provide you with useful informations about these characters even Rangers from the area you will be getting news about them,Marlis i like to much conserving wildlife even beyond the national park boundaries,i will keep up the spirit nothing can stop me.
Mzima kabisa means: i am very well.
nGara gizani means:lightning in the darkness; why do not you organise a swahili speakers club so that you get opportunity to speak and improve your Kiswahili which is becoming international language and can facilitate you when travelling i eastern and central africa when communicating with people .
With my best wishes and thanks
Godefroid Wambale