To understand DRC state of regulations and actions…

DRC had ratified CITES agreements protecting Great Apes in 1976 and since then, nothing has been done to protect Chimpanzees throughout Katanga .

For years, Franck and Roxane CHANTEREAU have seen babies used as pets in expatriate families, as well as witnessed these poor little ones being sold for small change on the streets of Lubumbashi .

Over the past 16 years, Franck has recorded alarming observations of ape infants arriving in Lubumbashi for the local ‘pet’ demand or heading for Zambia and South Africa for international trade (train and roads from north to south DRC are passing through Lubumbashi).

In 1995, Franck asked worldwide wildlife conservation institutions to do something. But, the answer was : “DRC (former Zaïre)  is a dangerous country: due to its political unrest,  no action can be taken”. It was clear that nobody wanted to help or to be involved.

Franck’s informal report emphasized two main appalling facts which, unfortunately, are still valid today:

Ø       Per month, about 3 babies are passing through Lubumbashi . But the original genocide takes place before that, in the forest, where an estimated 10 animals die for every baby taken, because the chimpanzee lives “en famille” and protect their little ones. So, for 3 babies that arrived in Lubumbashi, an average of 30 chimpanzees die per month and over 400 are lost from the wild every year… Over the ten year period since Franck’s records began, therefore, the traffic through Lubumbashi alone accounts for in excess of 4000 chimpanzees lost…

Ø       Poachers do capture young infants on demand. People “ordering” young chimpanzees are expatriates, but also members of the Congolese Army and other “high ranking” Congolese who use their uniforms or their power to detain, smuggle and sell little chimpanzees.

It is not in the local mentality to protect wildlife. Most of the country is underfed and eats what can be eaten. A good example of this can be seen in their Swahili language : the word for “wildlife” (“nyama ”) is the same word used for “meat”. Great Apes are a valuable dish in Northern and Western DRC, and also in the North of Katanga.

People in DRC just ignore that Chimpanzees and Great Apes are protected and continue their ancestral habits of hunting and killing these wonderful animals.  One Congolese tribe believes that if you cook and crush the bones of an ape, the child who will drink this powder will be as strong as the chimpanzee that was assassinated…. Local beliefs are still very strong, mainly in the forests, and do play a part in the Great Ape extinction.