The Okapi Reserve

Category: Okapi | Date: Jan 11 2008 | By: admin

The conservation law in DRCongo is clear in matter of poaching, but some selfish people still poaching even rare and endemic animal for their own benefit. The recent case is this one in Teturi village where a female OKAPI was killed by Mr. Kasereka from Beni by a wire snare.

I let you know that in DRC, okapi represents all animals; and flag of ICCN Institution which deal with conservation.

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve Management was alerting by Mambasa Police Commander Captain KUMARAKI who apprehended the poacher.

The poacher KASEREKA in front of the skin of the animal

from left : Cpt KUMARAKI, Police Commander of Mambasa regreating the issue,

croushing : Poacher KASEREKA

During the interrogation, the poacher avowed that he really killed the animal by snare. He sold meat with the ambition to care the skin in Uganda where he got the command . “It costs 500,000 Uganda shillings ($ US 250, 00) for an Okapi skin and leopard’s ( a matter of reflexion ).” I am in this business for a long time ( 7 years) and 8 okapis killed already,and I work in a team of 5 men, I am the team leader, and accept any punishment ” he said

Snares picked up during patrols

Protecting wild life concerns all of us even you. This is a proof of a good relationship between the Police commander of Mambasa city and the Reserve .He deserves flowers…

Please, your financial donation for snares anti campaign is warmly welcomed and we still thinking how to motivate this brave Police Commander.

Somba

Technorati : congo, okapi, wildlifedirect

8 responses so far

Category: Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi | Date: Nov 10 2007 | By: admin

Between 9.30 am to 10.00 am the leaves are dropped off at the hangar shown in the picture. The next stage is to prepare 1536 bundles of leaves for the afternoon and the following morning to feed the Okapis.

Electrical wire is used to wrap around every bundle which allows to hang up the leaves on a feeder in the Okapi pen.

Not every animal gets the same number of bundles of leaves.

The leaves will be loaded to wheelbarrow. Every animal has his keeper including myself we are 13 in total. I take care of Karu born in captivity in Epulu 2003

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Category: Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi | Date: Nov 08 2007 | By: admin

Early in the morning in Makubasi’s camp the day has just started but Baya ‘Makubasi’s son and Apomau ‘Isa’s son are already preparing their machetes before heading out to the forest. They will have to walk around 45 minutes in order to reach the place where they cut the leaves for the todays ration which will be fed in the afternoon to the Okapis.

Baya preparing his machete in the camp at 5.30 am

Baya and Apomau after cutting some ‘Ndulu’ a plant from the Marataceae family. They will later peel this stem and the string will be used to wrap the leaves to bundles

Apomau is very skilled to peel the stem

Baya has already enough strings to wrap the leaves he will cut later

Sometimes they need to climb trees for cutting the leaves

Once the quantity of leaves is cut they start to wrap the bundles

Apomau back from the forest heading to the station.

In less then 3 hours the leaves are collected

Baya is one of 48 Mbuties (Pygmies) who are employed to cut leaves every day for 14 Okapis. This is the place where the rations are prepared for the afternnon and the next morning feeding.

It is amazing how well this people know the forest and are able to find the amount of leaves every day which are needed to feed the Okapis. Seven days a week they are doing this job no matter if is rains or not.

Rosie

6 responses so far

Category: Epulu, Okapi | Date: May 02 2007 | By: admin

Faida, Karu’s mother, was pregnant during the worst war battle Epulu ever experienced in 2002 since the unrest started in Congo in 1996.

When Karu was born on the 24th April 2003 it was for all the population in Epulu a special event and our people decided that it had to be announced on the local radio in Beni in North Kivu. People look at Karu as a symbol of peace because he was born right after the war ended in the Ituri region. He is very important to all of us here in Epulu, and his name was given in memory of Karl Ruf.

Rosie

Technorati : congo, drc, epulu, gic, karu, okapi, okapi wildlife reserve, wildlifedirect

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Category: Community Work, Epulu, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Apr 19 2007 | By: admin

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve which is situated in Northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo and covers 14,000 square kilometers of tropical rainforest remains the habitat of the endemic specie ” okapi ” (okapia johnstonie ) which interacts with other animals such us forest buffalo, leopard, forest elephant, bongo antilope, duikers, monkeys, and so on. It overlaps 2 Districts namely Ituri and Haut - Uele .

The TransAfrican road which connects Nairobi-Kampala-DR Congo to Matadi port crosses the Reserve for almost 117km. Could you imagine how much importance this has in the region? Every 2 months, a hired truck brings patrol food, ICCN materials from Butembo-Beni via Mambasa. In the rainy season it can take a week to cover a distance of 212km because of the state of the road.

Ranger Nzoigba on the bike crossing a traditional bridge inside the reserve.

Since October 2006, The Chinese company SINOHYDRO started fixing the road inside the Reserve, so it allows us to quickly reach Beni-Butembo (6 hours by car), rather than the 2 days that it used to take.

Ranger Claude BAKIAKA travels on the new road

As a conservationist, the road is a good thing for the country - both for the economy and development. But I can image it also provides an easier opportunity to have poachers, illegal loggers, illegal miners and the migration movement in the Reserve. So we are supposed to intensify operation inside the protected area and also to reinforce the intelligence network in the villages. In this matter, a 6 week training course was planned and executed.

Paul Naish from South Africa was the lecturer. 11 Rangers were selected to attend teh course. So far the results on the ground are good. The course consisted to establish a kind of intelligence network around the Reserve, the manner of reporting, how to recruit an informer? How to search a car once in the reserve? Finger prints?

illegal miners detected and arrested during a patrol

As I mentioned earlier, the timber exploitation is growing in the surrounding region of the Reserve, and this moment trucks from Nairobi often load 15 to 20 tons of wood in a bad road, but nowadays with a good fixed road the truck owners exaggerate and load over 60 tons.

The Ituri river is one of the natural resource of the Reserve which takes its source from Bunia and crosses the reserve by South . It has a bridge built during the colonial period, and we cross on it when going from Mambasa to Komanda , Bunia or Beni .

Actually, we are facing a critical situation. An overloaded truck broke the Ituri bridge recently that was newly maintained by the Chinese, who warned people not take more than 25 tons. Unfortunately it does not make sense for timber traders. The truck is still in the water. 3 people died and the driver himself lost one of his arms.

Bridge Ituri broken by an overloaded truck

In this stage, the negative side is that we are now completely blocked in Epulu and the reserve in terms of quickly providing patrol rations and equipment. The big questions is WHO or WHAT organization could come in and help repair this bridge???

You should see the difficulties we have in DR Congo! Especially in Conservation!

Somba

Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi

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Category: Community Work, Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Apr 02 2007 | By: admin

Hi. My name is Rosy and I am the representative of Gilman International Conservation in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The first time I visited this place was as a tourist in 1984. I did not know then that 3 years later I would return to this part of Congo to work and live. I have been here for 20 years.

Epulu, where I live, is in the heart of the Ituri forest and is the HQ of the Congo Rangers in the reserve. You already know about Somba and Mapilanga.

One of my responsibilities to take care of 15 Okapis kept at the breeding station here. Okapis are browsers and the base of their daily diet is leaves. They are fed twice a day with approximately 30 different kind of fresh leaves which are collected in primary and secondary forest.

This is Karu, feeding in the afternoon.

The work of collecting the leaves is carried out by the Mbuti Pygmies. We employ 49 Mbuti men and women. They collect the leaves and ensure that the Okapis have what they need every day to feed. Seven days a week these brave people are carrying out their job with a dedication that is incomparable.

The Mbuti Pygmies leave their camp just as the day begins, and head towards the forest. After cutting and bundling up the leaves which takes them around 3 hours they return from the forest and bring leaves to the station. This is their daily task.

It is impressive to watch how well the Mbuti Pygmies are adapted to the forest. No one else knows the forest better than them.

Technorati : congo, drc, epulu, gic, ituri, okapi, pygmies, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: Epulu, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Mar 21 2007 | By: admin

I am Ghislain SOMBA BYOMBO, 36 years old, married to KAVIRA Madeleine and father of 6 kids. In 1994 I joined the ICCN which means Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature in DRCongo. After spending 3 years in teaching in a Primary School; I started working as a field Ranger ten years ago in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, but after my graduation at Southern African Wildlife College in 2004, I was promoted to Deputy Warden .

My only reason to join conservation efforts is to protect the Natural Resources of DRCongo, and in particular the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. Congo is the only place where you find Okapi in the world.

Let me tell you that this species is endemic to DRCongo, and is my favourite animal for many reasons. When I was young , my grandfather told me many stories about this animal which has many traditional values.

In fact , I can realise that the task I was given is not easy, but I am fighting to promote conservation by sensitizing people inside and around the Reserve to understand the importance of a protected area in the big picture. We are protecting the Reserve for future generations.

A good relationship with the local community is a good way to solve conservation problems, and once you are working hand in hand you have the opportunity to be invited to their party, and a conservation message can be transmitted.

Here is the Traditional Chief of Epulu, Ramazan (on the left in grey), during a party with me (in brown shirt) in Epulu in March.

Thanks a lot for your comments.

Somba

3 responses so far

Category: General, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Mar 20 2007 | By: admin

Welcome to Epulu and the Okapi Wildife Reserve!

I am Mapilanga (on the left) and I am the Senior Warden of Epulu in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in northeastern Congo. I have been a Ranger for 20 years, and lived in Epulu for 12 of those.

My Assistant Warden is Somba, standing next to me. He has been a Ranger with the ICCN, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, since 1994. He has always worked in Epulu.

Epulu is the main station in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve and this is where we are based. The reserve is 13,700 square kilometers of rainforest, and home to over 5,000 okapis (see below) which is an endemic species to DR Congo. We have lots of fresh air here, and it is a calm area. We have no traffic and we are in the middle of the forest. It is a secure place, and there are lots of beautiful places to visit.

The most beautiful place for me is Mbiya Mountain - which is at the edge of Epulu and overlooks the village. Here it is below.

We want to start this blog so we can communicate to the world what we are doing here - our conservation activities. We want to let people know about the reserve. We would also like to obtain support from the outside world, because we have felt isolated here for many years. Welcome to Epulu!

Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi, wildlifedirect

4 responses so far