|  Bonobos
are in extreme peril.
(Photo: Baby Waola, an orphan bonobo rescued by BCI and CREF,
whose hand was cut off in a snare.)
Their population, small to begin with, is fragmented and decreasing.
Based on the best evidence available, bonobos now only exist
in pockets throughout their original range and surveys point
to a decline in their populations. At this point, no one knows
how many bonobos remain. Estimates range from 5,000 to 50,000
bonobos left in the wild. Surveys are on-going. In the past
few years, BCI and our partners have discovered bonobos in several
important areas where they had previously not been known to
exist—and we are continuing the search!
 Hunting
and habitat destruction are the two greatest threats to wild
bonobo populations.
(Photo: Smoked primates command a high price at commercial
bushmeat markets.)
The bonobo habitat encompasses the last bastion of the Congo
Basin rainforest: the world's second largest and a prime target
for loggers. Despite a government and World Bank moratorium
on new logging concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) and efforts to improve governance in this sector, illegal
operations continue. Pictured below are the illegal logging
operations of Congo Futur, in one of the most important regions
of bonobo habitat, very near to new bonobo reserves in development.
People living within the equatorial forests hunt wild animals,
bushmeat, as a way of life and means for survival. Increasingly,
however, people are also hunting wild animals, including bonobos,
for sale in the commercial bushmeat trade. Because the infrastructure
is so broken down due to the recent war and years of neglect,
smoked meat is one of the only commodities that can withstand
the long journeys to market by foot or dugout canoe (the only
means of transport for most villagers). Increased hunting for
the bushmeat trade is decimating wildlife throughout central
Africa.
 The
Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) is the only international
organization dedicated solely to bonobo conservation.
(Photo: An illegal logging concession in prime bonobo habitat,
operated by Congo Futur.)
BCI is a small, efficient and innovative nonprofit organization
with offices in Washington, D.C. and in Kinshasa and Mbandaka,
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and a growing number
of conservation centers within the bonobo habitat. Together
with local and international partners, BCI works at the grassroots
level, engaging Congolese communities to protect bonobos and
the rainforest, and with the DRC government to create new protected
areas and enforce laws against hunting bonobos and other endangered
species.
Having identified the top threats that bonobos face in the
wild, BCI has joined local partners to develop projects intended
to address each of these issues. BCI initiatives include:
• Habitat protection
• Livelihood and agricultural support programs
• Education and awareness programs
• Capacity building
• Action and Enforcement
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