Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary

Lola ya Bonobo is run by the Congolese non-profit Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC), founded in 1994 by Belgian-born conservationist Claudine André. The idea began when orphaned bonobos started turning up for sale on the streets of Kinshasa. The sanctuary has been at its present site, beside the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya waterfalls just south of the Kimwenza suburb, since 2002.

The numbers inside the fence change as new orphans arrive and groups move on. Published figures have ranged from 52 bonobos in 2007 to more than 70 by 2017. Alongside the animal care, the sanctuary educates large numbers of Congolese visitors, including schoolchildren, about the bonobo as part of the country's own natural heritage.

Bonobos are found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo River separates them from chimpanzees and gorillas, and their whole range is an island-like block of forest south of the river, roughly a fifth of the country. They were not recognised as a species separate from chimpanzees until the 1930s, which makes them the last of the great apes to be described scientifically.

The IUCN Red List classifies the bonobo as Endangered. Nobody knows exactly how many remain, because only about 30% of the historic range has ever been surveyed. Estimates suggest a minimum of 15,000 to 20,000 animals, with the overall trend heading down. A 2013 range-wide study found that only 28% of the range was suitable bonobo habitat, and just over a quarter of that suitable habitat lay inside protected areas.

The pressures are habitat loss, a growing and moving human population, years of conflict and instability, and hunting. Bonobos are often described as trusting around people, which makes them easy to catch. Hunters kill the mothers for bushmeat and sell the infants as pets, and those infants are the orphans that end up at Lola.

The sanctuary sits in protected forest, with wire-fenced enclosures where groups of older bonobos forage and rest. Younger bonobos spend time with caregivers in a nursery area, where climbing frames, ropes, old tyres and a large trampoline give them room to run, climb and bounce. Living in a natural environment is part of how rescued animals heal and thrive.

Watching the groups, the resemblance to people is hard to miss: sitting in pairs, handling food carefully, glancing at one another. The sanctuary's own video ends on that thought, that in a bonobo's expressive eyes we see a reflection of ourselves, and a responsibility to protect what remains.

Claudine André came to Congo from Belgium at a young age. After a chance meeting with a bonobo at the Kinshasa zoo, she dedicated her life to the species and built a place where orphans could be cared for properly. Today her daughter, Fanny Minesi, is general director of ABC, overseeing the sanctuary, the release site at Ekolo ya Bonobo, the education programmes and visitor services.

The caregivers who work with the bonobos every day are the heart of the programme, supported by staff that include graduates in biology and ecology from the University of Kinshasa. Lola ya Bonobo belongs to the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, the network of primate sanctuaries across the continent. Visits and donations help fund the daily cost of feeding and caring for the animals.