Newsletter No. 3 Decembre 2004

… they’re

too small,

these nuts…

2

Forest wisdom

Contents

In this edition:

• Editorial• The knowledge of our ancestors• The life of Grégoire Nohon• The WCF and the schools• The life of our chimpanzees: Tosca and

her family• The tamtam ...

“Forest Wisdom” is published and distributed bythe Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF)*with financial support from the Great ApeConservation Fund (GACF) of the Fish andWildlife Service of the US Department of theInterior, the Leipzig Zoo and the CriticalEcosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)

A Newsletter for all of you

• Villagers living near a national park,and for

• Everyone who cares about the conser-vation of the forests and wildlife

Forest wisdom

• Tells the life of certain inhabitants ofthe forest: the chimpanzees

• Shows the problems and threats to theforest

• Supplies information• Answers your questions and invites you

to contribute to this newsletter• Invites you to protect the great forest,

this national heritage which is also yours

*WCF – Europe c/o Max-Planck-Institut fürevolutionäre Anthropologie, Deutscher Platz 6,04103 Leipzig, GermanyWCF – Africa c/o CSRS, 01 BP 1303, Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire

Ymako Teatri with“Our cousins in theforest”.The road is noteasy, but the won-derful performanceof the children isthe reward.

Editorial committee: Hedwige Boesch, ChristopheBoesch, Ilka Herbinger, Goné Bi Zoro BertinComics, Text: Dao N’Daw KoumbaDrawings:Désiré Koffi, Ben Amara SyllaTranslated by Astrid Eckstein

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Forest wisdomP

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3

Newsletter No. 3, December 2004 Editorial: Mustapha and Zyon

Hello and good health to you all!

In the last issue of this newsletter I told you aboutMargot and her twins, who had been killed in No-vember 2002 by a poacher in the Taï National Parkin Ivory Coast. Margot had not only two daughtersMiriam and Makéba, but also a son, Mustapha, whowas seven and a half years old, when his mother waskilled. The orphan Mustapha was seriously affectedby the disappearance of his mother and sisters, but asit often happens with the Taï chimpanzees, he wasadopted by Zyon, the big dominant male and boss ofthe group. Zyon, a great expert of the forest and thesocial life, protected him from the other chimpanzeeswho could have annoyed him during this critical pe-riod of mourning. In addition to the protection, Mu-stapha found with his adoptive father another youngorphan, Taboo, who had been adopted two years be-fore. The two little ones became merry playmates, re-gained appetite for life and could continue to growup very well. Unfortunately, the poachers came backonce more, in June 2004, and since then Mustaphahas not been seen anymore. I find it hard to imagine that someone can eat themeat of chimpanzees. All of my friends in the regionof Taï know, even without having to be told, that themeat of chimpanzees and monkeys is a totem for me.Because – like a young member of the audience of thetheatre play “Our cousins in the forest” of “Ymako

Teatri” said – the chimpanzees are that close to ushumans that eating them is like cannibalism.

But apart from that moral aspect, there is an evenmore dangerous problem associated with the con-sumption of bushmeat: it can be lethal for us. Whenthe chimpanzees are close to humans because of theirintelligence and their social life, they are also veryclose to humans concerning their biology, includingtheir diseases. The chimpanzees can get deadly diseas-es, which are as dangerous for us humans as for them.It is, for example, well known, that people in Gabonate the meat of chimpanzees who were carrying theEbola* virus. Thus, hundreds of these persons wereinfected with the virus and could not be saved – theydied of it. Another example – just as alarming – co-mes from the Taï forest. There, we discovered thatsome chimpanzees had died of anthrax**. If a poacherwould kill a chimpanzee carrying this disease, theconsumption of its meat would be a deadly risk. Wemust be aware of the fact that the more an animal isbiologically close to us – like the chimpanzee – themore it is a risk to eat its meat. The precautions totake are simple: Avoid every risk! Refrain from eatingchimpanzee or monkey meat – and you will have onebig problem less.

See you soon,Christophe Boesch

* Ebola is a disease which is transmitted by a virus, for example by eatingthe meat of an infected animal. This disease is fatal in 7 out of 10 cases andat present, there is no medication to fight it.

** Anthrax is caused by a very resistant bacterium. Just like Ebola, humanscan get it mainly by consuming the meat of an infected animal, often sheepor cattle. For the chimpanzees, this disease is just as fatal.

4

The knowledge of our ancestors

Sources: – Henri Gnésio Téré :“Sempervira” N°. 7Signification des nomsvernaculaire des plantes chezles Guérés (Côte d’Ivoire)– Cellule d’Aménagementdu Parc National de Taï:“Flore du Parc National deTaï (Côte d’Ivoire)”Drawing: Amon Aya Lazare

The plant we present today is called in Latin Mannio-phyton fulvum Muell. Arg. and belongs to the family ofthe Euphorbiaceae. Its indigenous names are Frafrabié(Agni), Dobouii (Bété), Topoué (Kroumen), Séhé-kla(Oubi) and Zoohè (Guéré).Manniophyton fulvum is a climbing liana which can befound on treetops in primary forests just as well as insecondary forests. From the very hairy bark one canobtain fibres which are used for the fabrication offishing nets. The leaves are about 26 cm long, 25 cmwide and hairy on both surfaces. When the stalk iscut, a vivid red sap comes out just like blood.Here the different known applications of the leaves inthe traditional pharmacopoeia:1) For the cough: pound the fresh leafs in order to geta paste. Make an decoction of the paste with a bit ofchilli pepper and salt and drink a liquor glass of it inthe mornings, at lunchtime and in the evenings.

2) For the treatment of boils and abscesses: cut thefresh leaves into the shape of a compress, put it on thespot to be treated and leave it there for a whole night.3) To fight diarrhoea: squash the young leaves or budsto get a paste. Then, chew or eat this paste togetherwith cola nut.

This plant also seems to be of special interest to thechimpanzees of Taï because they consume the leavesin an absolutely unique way. With their teeth, theycut the leaves into strips, roll them in their mouthsand swallow them without chewing. And they onlyeat them very early in the mornings, before 8 o’clock.A similar consumption of leaves by chimpanzees wasobserved in Tanzania. When analysing the faeces ofthese animals, one found parasitic worms clinging tothese hairy strips. This might be a way for them toget rid of intestinal parasites.

Hedwige Boesch and Henri Téré

5

The life of Gregoire NohonHedwige Boesch

Fortunately, Lukas’ parents can fully trust Grégoire and Pierre who look after theirchild. Reassured, they leave every morning in search of the chimpanzees.

Towards the end of the mor-ning, the young men andLukas go to the river to dothe laundry. They preparetheir rice with sauce, repairthe huts and draw water.Lukas is enthusiastically as-sisting in all these occupati-ons. Above all, he loves theriver and is plunging into itevery day. He also loves tomake fire and he asks Gré-goire loads of questions, be-cause he knows many thingsthe Europeans don’t know.

Enjoy yourselves,

but above all -

be careful!

Don’t worry, we

enjoy ourselves.Take good

care of that child

in there…

“The life ofGrégoire ...“Here we recountthe history ofGrégoire. As achild, he was of-ten accompanyinghis father on thehunt. He was sadseeing all theseanimals slaught-ered and wonder-ed about his futu-re and the futureof the forest,watching the biglogging truckspassing on thetrack, loaded withtons of wonderfultree trunks.When he got thechance to workfor an Europeancouple, whosepassion was toobserve wildchimpanzees, hedid not hesitate…

(see Newsletter No. 1and 2)

Grégoire loves his work in the camp of the Boesch family. He does not regret having leftthe village (unlike his friend Pierre who is helping him, but who, after some months, willreturn to the village to work in the fields again). The two of them see to everything, butabove all, they are supposed to keep an eye on Lukas all the time. We are in the middle ofthe forest, which is not without danger for a little child who is touching everything andloves to venture a little everywhere. Above all, he must not leave the clearing with the hutby himself – he would get lost immediately… In addition, we also know that the chim-panzees are dreadful hunters who catch and devour monkeys of little Lukas’ size withoutany difficulties.

6

... the life of Gregoire Nohon

One day, Hedwige hasstayed in the camp towrite, while Grégoire isworking on the clear-ing. Suddenly, the twoof them stop in themiddle of their occupa-tions. There are hoarseand powerful calls com-ing out of the forest –from very close and forquite some time. Hed-wige has never heardsuch calls and is look-ing at Grégoire whojust says: That’s the leo-pard! The leopard is areality in the Taï forest.He is rarely to be seen,but his traces are every-where.

In the evenings, it is Grégoire who asks questions of Lukas’ parents. More and more, he is fascinated by thatwork which consists in observing wild chimpanzees, living near them – within their territory –, and knowingeverything about their life. He absolutely wants to do this work! The opportunity comes up when the Boeschfamily decides to go on holiday to Switzerland for some months. Martina, a young student, arrives to take theirplace with the chimpanzees. But first, she will learn the essentials about the observation work with Christopheand Hedwige. Then, when Lukas will be gone on holiday, it will be Grégoire’s turn to start an apprenticeshipwith her.

That’s the call of

the leopard…

Do you hear

that call?

What’s that?

Be patient,

Grégoire, I think that one

day you will go into the

forest and you will have your

own experience.

You know, Grégoire,

there are rules to follow for

this work. Boss, can you

tell me what you do to

follow the chimpan-

zees?

It’s my greatest

wish to go into the

forest.

7

The two of them learn simultaneously. She shows him everything she knows about using the compass and thebinoculars, how to take notes and how to follow the chimpanzees without frightening them. Grégoire teachesher everything about the plants, the traces, the watercourses, the hunters…

Martina went back to Switzerland and Grégoire became the first African assistant of the Taï ChimpanzeeProject in 1988.

Don’t worry, you

can count on Gré-

goire. He will be a

precious help for

you.

Welcome, Martina!

Look, this is Grégoire. You

will stay with him while we’re

away.

Thank you!

I’m very happy to be

here. I just hope

everything will go

fine.

Lukas,

bring something

for me from

Switzerland.

Take care of

you and come back

soon!

Be careful.

See you very soon.

Grégoire, take advantage

of Martina being here to learn

everything about the work in

the forest.

But the needle

moves all the time.

That’s a bit

complicated!

Look, Grégoire,

when you work with the com-

pass you always have to find

the north.

Really!

And where are these

sorcerers…? But show me

particularly the healing

plants.

Martina, look at

this plant. It works

against the sorcerers and it

heals injuries.

8

For already oneyear the WCFtogether with theColumbus Zoo

(USA) is financing teachers in 3 villagesnear the Taï National Park that didn’thave enough teachers. Parents and child-ren really appreciate the possibility thatis thereby offered to them. Apart fromthe basic lessons, it is one priority to getthe children to know and to respect thenature around them. Very popular aredrawing contests and play activities.

The WCF and the schoolsHedwige Boesch

Reading “Forest Wisdom”Reading “Forest Wisdom” Theatre group of the Public Primary School Wonséaly (V2)Theatre group of the Public Primary School Wonséaly (V2)

La nourriture deschimpanzés

Le petit chimpanzéaprend a cassé lanoisette. Je suis unenfant de six ans.

Ah! leschimpazésson les hommes

Kouamé AyaYolande Classe CE2 EPPPaulet-oula

Les noissont sucréSchool children and teachers from Paulé-oula

Two drawings from the contest

Theatre group of the Municipal College of TaïWCF/Ymako Teatri and the schools

This year, the theatre group “Ymako Teatri”went on two tours in Ivory Coast, first in Aprilto 20 villages in the southwest and southeast ofthe Taï National Park and then to 12 villagesnear the Marahoué National Park. The tremen-dous success of the performances in Mai 2002was repeated with these two tours. The Ivori-ans are clearly very attracted by the theatre andtake the message seriously the play wants toconvey for the survival of the chimpanzees. With the help of “Ymako Teatri”, we foundedtwo school theatre groups to increase the posi-tive effect coming from the theatre. One groupwas set up in the west of the National Park, inTaï, with the students of the municipal college,the other one in Wonséaly (see below) in theeast of the Park with the schoolkids of the pu-blic primary school V2.The two school groups have already performedtheir play in 20 villages in the region of theTaï National Park. Well done! A warm welcome in Petit TieméA warm welcome in Petit Tiemé

Ymako Teatri

9

August 1986: Tina, Tosca’s daughter, put her handinto a wire snare. By chance, the wire falls off aftera long and very painful time and bit by bit, thelittle one starts using her hand again. In January1989 Tosca disappears and Tarzan and Tina be-come orphans. Tarzan is successfully adopted byBrutus, the dominant male of the group. The elderTina always stays near the group of males, but nottoo close because she is a bit afraid…unfortunately.

In the early morning of the 3rd of March 1989Grégoire arrives out of breath in the camp. He tells usthat, while following Macho and 3 females, he has allof a sudden heard very loud calls. Running as fast aspossible into the direction of the calls, he finds Brutusstanding erect with a little chimpanzee lying on itsback without moving, the stomach torn open, the in-testines visible and a terrible injury on the neck.We all run to the place of the drama. Brutus, Macho,Ulysse, Kendo, Darwin and Rousseau are now sittingvery quietly near the body. At least twenty chimpan-zees are a bit further away, in the shrubs or on theground. All of them are silent, no one moves, no oneeats. We approach very carefully and see that it’s in-deed Tina who has probably been killed by a leopard.During the next 6 hours we witness very touchingscenes in a completely silent atmosphere, eventhough there are at least 30 chimpanzees very close toTina’s body. Ulysse, Brutus and Macho remain seatednext to Tina. The back rounded, the head lowered.From time to time they touch her, take her foot intheir hand and shake it gently while making a littleplay face as if telling her “come on, wake up”. Theyalso groom her, something they usually don’t do withsuch a young female. They let the dominant femalescome but get up to prevent all the other females co-ming closer as well as all the young ones who mightstart to play or make noise. The only exception isTarzan, Tina’s little brother, who takes her hand andshakes it tenderly while he is looking at her face as ifwaiting to see if he manages to cause a reaction. Only6 hours later we hear the first calls of chimpanzeeswho start to leave, accepting the fact that Tina won’tgo with them anymore.The next day, the group comes back to the place ofthe drama and stays 3 hours to keep guard over Tina’sbody before leaving again…The next day, the same thing happens again and then– one morning, after a week – the corpse has disap-peared. Probably the leopard has finally succeeded ineating its prey.

Tosca and her family (see Newsletter No. 1 AND 2)

Hedwige Boesch

THE PREDATOR OF THE CHIMPANZEES

Unfortunately, Tina was a good target for a predator. She wasa bit slow with her two disabled hands, orphan for a month,always following the group of males around her little brotherTarzan from a certain distance. With her 9 years of age, Tinawas still quite little. The leopard is a hunter that waits inambush to take its prey by surprise. It is easy for it to followa pretty noisy group of chimpanzees from a distance, hiddenin the undergrowth. It must have seen little Tina, who kept adistance of 30 m from the others. In a quick and violentattack it killed her with a bite in the neck and ran awayquickly to avoid the horde of chimpanzees. When they attackto defend one of theirs, they are very impressive. In the Taïforest there is, apart from the humans with their guns, onlythe leopard who is capable to kill that quickly and brutally aprey of this size. And it is compelled to act like this to avoidevery risk of getting injuries, because an injured leopard can-not hunt anymore…

After the departure of the chimpanzees, we have alsoinspected the body just to find out that the leopardhas in fact killed her by means of biting her in theneck – it has virtually crushed one of the cervical ver-tebrae, and immobilising her, has opened her stomachwith its claws.

DO THE CHIMPANZEES HAVE A NOTIONOF DEATH?

“No doubt”, an old Guéré of the Taï region has told us “theopposite would be surprising”. There are many anecdotestelling us about the close relationship of chimpanzees andhumans, the chimpanzee’s intelligence and his ability to usetools. The notion of death is no exception. We heard about aman who had killed a chimpanzee on his cocoa field. Later,when he came back from the village, he found himself face toface with an erect chimpanzee looking him straight into hiseyes – at his feet the corpse covered with a cloth… This is alegend but how do we explain the scene of Tina’s death wehave just described? Can we really assume that Brutus, Ulys-se, Macho and the others did not know that Tina was dead?And what do we say about Brutus who, when his preferredfemale Ondine died, covered the body with branches?

10

Tosca and her Family

Tina has been killed.

It’s dreadful - her stomach

is ripped - she’s not moving anymore

- all the chimps have screamed

frighteningly … was it

the leopard?

Visibly devastated, Grégoirerecounts what he has seen inthe forest…

What is

with Tina?

What’s the matter

with you, Grégoire?

It’s too

horrible, boss,

it’s Tina…

11

In the evening, the drama isdiscussed in the camp ...

Quickly the three of them returnto the place of drama and find avery moving scene…In a silent atmosphere, the chim-panzees guard Tina’s body. Fromtime to time they touch her as ifthey want to tell her to wake upand others are grooming her. Thebig males stop the young onesfrom coming closer, except Tar-zan, Tina’s brother, who is touch-ing her and looking at her a longtime from close up…

Oh my god,

how dreadful…

Poor thing,

that’s so

horrible...

Boss, what are

the other chimps doing

there - sitting like

that?

In my opinion,

Tina has really been

attacked by a leopard - the

broken vertebra at neck level

is a typical sign…

Only the leopard is

capable to kill that quickly and

brutally a prey of that size.

And in particular

the poor thing was

handicapped. It was

difficult for her to es-

cape this beast.

12

The tamtam …

THE MISSING

Violetta and Vanille have disappearedPredators or men, both are fearedNil the response, we cannot be exact With them we have lost all contact.

For Venus, the mother, there is no consolationLittle Volta lives now in complete isolationEven if Mystère would become her allyWould such pain ever pass one by?

We all were hoping to see them again,But there was no reunion, we were hoping

in vainThey have not come back, as we hoped

they couldThey must, now, be truly gone for good.

The whole group felt the loss of this blowWe counted on you and miss you soWounded at heart and tears in our eyesWe now say to you, goodbye.

Antoine N’Guessan

The poets are among us, as well in theTaï forest in Ivory Coast…Antoine N’Guessan, a PhD student in the “Taï Chimpanzee Project”,specifically investigates the fee-ding behavior of the chim-panzees. Following the ani-mals in their habitat, the tro-pical rainforest in Ivory Coast, he was inspired to commit his feel-ings to paper, his admiration for whathe was seeing, but also his fear that theseadmirable creatures might disappear for ever.

Com

ing

soon

…

The financing of the projects isunfortunately a permanent con-cern… We found a partner whois interested in our activities –the Jane Goodall Institute(JGI) Germany with its project“Roots and Shoots”, and we ho-pe that in the future we can

combine our efforts. Currently,the JGI Germany is organisinga reforestation project includ-ing schoolchildren and studentsin Benin, and another one inCameroon proposing to replacebushmeat by the breeding ofdomestic animals.

Red ant fishing

– The tours with “Ymako Teatri”in Ivory Coast continue…

– The projects in the schoolscontinue…

– Exchanges with a German schoolclass are planned…

– At the outset of the year 2005the WCF would also like to ex-port the theatre, the video showand the newsletter into theFouta Djallon in Guinea

– And we will also make contactsin Sierra Leone, Liberia andMali… the chimpanzees of thewhole region will be happy!

Translated by Astrid Eckstein und Jennifer McClung