Claudine André
Encyclopedia
Claudine André, is a Belgian conservationist
. She founded Lola ya bonobo
in 1994, which is a bonobo
sanctuary, just south of Kinshasa
, at Mont Ngafula
, in the Lukaya Valley
, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The aim of the sanctuary is to collect young bonobos
, most having been orphaned due to the actions of poachers, and eventually reintroduce them into a forest reserve. During the same year, Claudine André started the Friends of Animals in the Congo, of which she is still president.
in Kinshasa
, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the 1990s, Claudine worked as a volunteer in Kinshasa Zoo, because the animals had been neglected and were starving. Elsewhere in the country, people were finding traditional food production difficult, because of the war, and turned instead to bushmeat
to feed themselves and their families. This in turn led to orphaned bonobo turning up for sale on the streets of Kinshasa - and it was from this situation that Claudine started Lola ya bonobo
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
. She founded Lola ya bonobo
Lola ya Bonobo
Founded by Claudine Andre in 1994, Lola ya Bonobo is the world's only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. Since 2002, the sanctuary has been located at the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya, just outside of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
in 1994, which is a bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
sanctuary, just south of Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, at Mont Ngafula
Mont Ngafula
Mont Ngafula is a municipality in the Lukunga district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.It is in the hilly southern area of Kinshasa and is intersected by the Lukaya River valley in its southern portion....
, in the Lukaya Valley
Lukaya
Lukaya is a town in Kalungu District, in Central Uganda. It is one of the municipalities in Kalungu District.-Location:Lukaya lies on the Masaka-Kampala Highway, close to the shores of Lake Victoria and just south of the Equator. The town is approximately , by road, northeast of Masaka, the largest...
, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The aim of the sanctuary is to collect young bonobos
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
, most having been orphaned due to the actions of poachers, and eventually reintroduce them into a forest reserve. During the same year, Claudine André started the Friends of Animals in the Congo, of which she is still president.
Earlier life
Claudine arrived in Congo as a child, with her father, who was a veterinary surgeon, and has lived there ever since. She ran an art boutique, sourcing and selling rare art works. She married Victor and has five children. When war disrupted daily lifeFirst Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
in Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the 1990s, Claudine worked as a volunteer in Kinshasa Zoo, because the animals had been neglected and were starving. Elsewhere in the country, people were finding traditional food production difficult, because of the war, and turned instead to bushmeat
Bushmeat
Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...
to feed themselves and their families. This in turn led to orphaned bonobo turning up for sale on the streets of Kinshasa - and it was from this situation that Claudine started Lola ya bonobo
Lola ya Bonobo
Founded by Claudine Andre in 1994, Lola ya Bonobo is the world's only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. Since 2002, the sanctuary has been located at the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya, just outside of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
Bibliographie
- Claudine André, Une tendresse sauvage, Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 2006. ISBN 2702135943
- Claudine André, Lola ya Bonobo : Le paradis des Bonobos - République Démocratique du Congo, Éditions Oka, Paris, 2010. ISBN 978-2953729801