Soso's Satellite Home and a Community Meeting in a Remote Village
Posted at 8:52 am February 8, 2006 by Bethan Morgan
I blogged in December about the little drill called Soso that I rescued from a roadside seller in late 2004. Drills are the most endangered primate in Africa, and we know very little about their behavior, feeding habits, or even their conservation status in the wild. Yesterday I visited Soso, now happily ensconced in the Limbe Wildlife Center (LWC) with his best friend, Eumujock, another drill orphan from the bushmeat trade here in Cameroon, Africa.
As you can see from the photo at left, Soso is in a "satellite' holding area adjoining the main enclosure (Eumujock is below him). In a few weeks, Soso and Eumujock will be released into the main enclosure, after getting to know the drills next door through the safety of metal bars over the past months. Without mothers to protect them, young primates are often at risk when entering a new social group, so Soso and friends will be released into the main enclosure at the same time so that they can look after each other.
Meanwhile, I visited the people of Locndeng on Friday. Locndeng is a very small village on the northern edge of what we hope will soon be the Ebo National Park. The Ebo forest is where the San Diego Zoo's CRES established a Research Station in April 2005, and my hard-working team of Cameroonian biologists is surveying the forest every day, trying to find the elusive drills as well as the gorillas, chimpanzees, and seven other primate species!
I went to Locndeng to talk to the people about our work: it is very important that they understand and are reminded about what we are doing in the heart of the forest and why we are doing it. I was accompanied by a social anthropologist from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Cameroon. CRES is working with WWF in this region to try to sensitize the population about the benefits that a protected area may have for them, as well as for Cameroon as a whole. We were also accompanied by the local "Chief of Post' for the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife, who greatly appreciated our efforts in talking to the people.
Our meeting went very well, despite being interrupted by an enormous thunderstorm which rattled the schoolroom tin roof so much that we were afraid it would collapse. Locndeng is one of many villages in this area whose main source of income is from selling wild meat. As we entered the village, we were horrified to see a fully grown red river hog (the size of a large pig) being carried on someone's back, dripping with blood. Seeing wild meat is not an unusual sight in Cameroon, but red river hogs are becoming very scarce and are protected to the highest degree by Cameroonian laws. We can only hope that our sustained efforts will ameliorate what is already a serious and very complex social and biological issue.
Dr. Bethan Morgan is a CRES Conservation Research Fellow in Cameroon.
Here's more information about Dr. Morgan's study.
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February 8th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Thank you for this sobering but necessary view of some of the obstacles to survival that our fellow animals face.
February 9th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Thank you, Bethan, for your report and update on Soso. He has become a very handsome young drill. Is there any hope at all that he and Eumujock might someday be returned to the wild? Your work in Camaroon is so important! And thanks also to CRES and the WWF and the Cameroon Ministry of Forests and Wildlife. Let's pray that together they might stop the illegal bushmeat trade and killing.
February 10th, 2006 at 10:39 am
Last night I saw a GlobeTrekker travelogue on Cameroon. The Limbe Wildlife Center was one of the sites featured! Although the general tone of the show was light-hearted, it was noted that the increasing human population and the poverty level contribute to the tragedy of the bushmeat trade. I have the highest regard for everyone involved in the attempts to stop the killing and misery.
February 19th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Found you on web. So interesting, wish I had the chance of the work you are doing. Message from Wales. Best love and wishes. We often talk about you.
April 4th, 2006 at 4:05 am
Bethan, Delighted at your success for all the hard work , patience and commitment you've focused on conservancy in Cameroon. A wonderful place and people.