In a week’s time, the Great Primate Handshake will once again whirr into action as volunteers and staff meet on the shores of Mombasa, Kenya, on the 19th June – ready to raise awareness of primate conservation.
In unison with the Handshake’s launch, Lola Ya Bonobo, a sanctuary supported by the Great Primate Handshake (we host and built their two websites) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be releasing rehabilitated bonobos into a protected reserve this Sunday (14th June). A second release will take place on the 28th June, at which point the Handshake expedition will be making its way to JGI Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
Lola ya Bonobo – and its parent organization, Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC) – has spent over five years preparing for the release. In addition to an exhaustive search for a suitable forest site, the sanctuary held stakeholder meetings with local communities and political leaders to garner support, and undertook lengthy education and sensitization programs. The bonobos were also carefully screened for health problems, in addition to a battery of physical and psychological evaluations.
June is certainly an exciting and pionnering month for both Lola and the Handshake, as we both prepare ready for the off.
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