Institute News

In the coming months, staff at the Jane Goodall Institute’s (JGI) Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center (TCRC) in the Republic of Congo will begin reintroducing a number of the sanctuary’s mandrills into Conkouati Douli National Park. The mandrill release, under the supervision of JGI Project Manager Miles Woodruff, entails a series of forest surveys to assess the park’s suitability for the animals.

To date, this survey process, in addition to providing data for the mandrill release, has also contributed to the disruption of illegal hunting in the area, resulting in several bushmeat confiscations and, most recently, the arrest of one of the most notorious elephant poachers in the country.

While conducting a survey in the park, Noel Kiyindou, a JGI researcher, heard automatic rifle fire from elephant poachers hunting nearby and recorded the location using a GPS tracking device. The JGI team quickly alerted Rolland Missilou, the park conservator, and he organized an effort to capture the poachers.

Note: This video includes graphic images.

Meet Motambo, the newest arrival at the Jane Goodall Institute's Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in the Republic of Congo. When Motambo first arrived, it was clear from his symptoms that he had a severe case of tetanus, most likely from a laceration on his arm from a wire snare. With close medical attention and care from JGI's staff at Tchimpounga, Motambo is on the mend and healing.

Thanks to generous donations, staff members at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga sanctuary are set to begin the process of releasing eight rehabilitated mandrills back into the wild. In the weeks to come, these eight mandrills will be able to call the Conkouati–Douli National Forest in the Republic of Congo home.

In the wild, mandrills live in massive groups called hordes, which can consist of more than 700 leaf-chomping, bug-munching, fruit-loving individuals. Mandrills are quick in the trees, fast on their feet, and call some of the roughest forest on the planet home. This makes it tough to follow them on the ground, which is one of the reasons why so little is known about these large, brightly colored, saber-toothed primates. It’s also the reason, JGI field staff will be tracking them with high-tech global positioning system (GPS) radio collars.

Our words can't do justice to the exciting first moments of the Tchimpounga chimps' release, watch the video:

And see how these six chimps are thriving today:

Struggling to make a living in her small village of Butimba in western Uganda, Sawiya Mbubi was sceptical three years ago when she first heard about JGI’s Sustainable Livelihood conservation project  that proposed a way to build a more sustainable life for the people in her village.   Extreme poverty and lack of access to clean water and sanitation made life difficult for this mother of four young children, and her days were filled with meeting the basic survival needs for herself and her family, leaving little time for anything else.

Today she is a teacher at the local primary school where she is also the Roots & Shoots assistant, she is successfully farming her own food using more sustainable techniques, and is an active member of one of the most successful tree nurseries in the project area. 

Sawiya has also become one of the biggest supporters of JGI’s Sustainable Livelihood project, and is rallying the people in her community to adopt a more sustainable way of life.

JGI’s Sustainable Livelihood conservation programs are in place in Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to empower villagers to build sustainable livelihoods while promoting regional conservation goals such as reforestation and ending the illegal bushmeat trade.

The project in Uganda is now in its fourth year and seeing the positive results of significant integrated conservation and development work. 

The project is supported by a matching grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and we rely on support from Canadians each year to ensure we continue to receive the CIDA funding that allows us to do this important work.

Sawiya is noticing that her family is feeling healthier because of the more nutritious varieties of vegetables she has planted in her kitchen garden.  And she is delighted to have a proper latrine, a tip-tap wash system, and a fuel efficient stove.  But what’s exciting her most about this project is the farming of tree nurseries because it represents a good investment for the community.  “By next year the trees will be ready for harvest and sale” says Sawiya.  “And, if we keep planting trees, we will have a sustainable and ongoing source of income for my village”.