Lola Ya Bonobo was founded by Claudine Andre. She does amazing things to help bonobos. She lived in Africa with her Dad who was a veterinarian and she started helping animals. One day she found a bonobo at a zoo who was sick and somebody said “don’t worry about this one, they never make it.” She did take care of the sick baby and the bonobo lived! Then more people started giving her bonobos and she didn’t know what to do with them so she started a sanctuary for bonobos near Kinshasa which is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That is the only country in which bonobos live.
The bonobos at Lola Ya Bonobo are given a human “Mother” because they have lost their bonobo Mothers. These women look after the bonobos and feed and bathe them until they are old enough to mostly look after themselves.
It is very expensive to take care of so many bonobos but you can help. You can donate to Lola Ya Bonobo at their blog
http://lolayabonobo.wildlifedirect.org/
If you visit the blog, you can see a picture of Salonga the bonobo with her new baby just a few days old. Bonobo parents are very dedicated which is one reason why orphaned bonobos need so much love and attention. Lola Ya Bonobo is the only place in the world that looks after a large number of infant bonobos.
Also, you could “adopt “ a bonobo. Here is a picture of one I adopted. His name is Boyoma and he is a bit of a troublemaker but I think he is very nice.
Doesn't he look like fun?
You can visit the Lola Ya Bonobo website and read more about their work and how to adopt a bonobo
http://www.friendsofbonobos.org/
Without Lola Ya Bonobo, there would be even fewer bonobos in the world than there are now. Let’s do whatever we can to support their great work.
