On Duty with Ecoguards (Illegal Bushmeat Thrives in Cameroon)
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Bushmeat, Cameroon, Ecoguard | Date: Apr 30 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 30 April 2009
“Yesterday, a road patrol seized gorilla hands and pieces of gorilla meat,” we were told by ecoguard Tomi when we stopped by the ECOFAC office in Djoum. We are back in Cameroon, south of the Dja biosphere reserve. We are in an area that generously supplies Yaoundé and other cities with bushmeat. Twelve ECOFAC officers stationed in Djoum are supposed to throttle or curb the supply. As our photo report suggests, it is a futile effort…
(You can expect more on the topic plus very sincere interviews with ecoguards after we return from Africa.)
ATTENTION! THE CONTENT HEREINAFTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR VIEWING BY CHILDREN!
It is dark outside and we are hiding with ecoguards in a hut some fifteen kilometres to the east of Djoum. Tomi is waiting – and we are waiting with him.
Hunting of some species (apes, elephants, crocodiles etc.) is strictly prohibited, while others can be hunted for private needs. Violations of the law are punishable with hefty fines and prison sentences. The boy in the checked shirt has been caught red-handed before but being juvenile, he escaped unpunished.
Ecoguards are now state officers. That grants them a salary and pension but not sufficient equipment. They wear worn-out shoes and uniforms (with the exception of Tomi who bought a new uniform with his own money).
The owner of the bushmeat has been caught three times before. And he is again carrying meat either for sale or for a client. Clients are usually well-off people from the city who order bushmeat from village hunters. They give the hunter ten shells and ask for pieces of game. The hunter can keep the remaining five shells as a reward…
The consignment includes even the most strictly protected species. Bushmeat is not just a subject of trade but most often part of the daily diet. When we asked pre-school children in a Baka Pygmy village whether they had ever eaten gorilla meat, four fifths of them raised their hands.
A poacher hunted the game early in the morning but in the hot tropical climate, it is already attracting flies. Ecoguards will sell it later in the afternoon in a public auction. The proceeds will go to the state coffers.
Bushmeat is cheap in Djoum but the price grows on its way to Yaoundé or another large city. Countering the illegal trade are ecoguards as well as patrols of the Ministere des Forets et de la Faune and gendarmerie.
“I didn’t know this was forbidden,” said the driver. He probably lied; yet there is a certain difference between him and the poacher whom the ecoguards caught two hours ago. They seized the game from both of them, checked their papers, and handed them subpoenas.
You can see more photos from our reportage on The Revealed website.
Help us to fight against busmeat trade! Help us to educate local people! Your donation supports our conservational efforts…
Watching Forest Elephants with Andrea Turkalo
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic, Forest Elephants | Date: Apr 24 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 24 April 2009
Andrea Turkalo has been living in a small camp at the Dzanga Baï clearing in the midst of a tropical rainforest in the south-west of the Central African Republic. It is a thirty-minute walk from her camp to the clearing. “I have walked 33 thousand kilometres along this path,” says Andrea who left the comfort of the East Coast of the USA for her great passion - forest elephants.
The Dzanga Baï clearing is absolutely unique. Some say it is the only place in the world where you are always sure to see Forest Elephants. In any case, it is indisputably the absolutely best place in the world to watch them. Elephants, Forest Buffaloes, and Bongo antelopes come to the clearing regularly to drink from springs that contain salt and other minerals.
Among Gorillas!
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic, Gorillas in wild | Date: Apr 21 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 21 April 2009
“You stay here. Don’t move,” Daniela whispered to loud gorilla yelling. “It’s OK, you just don’t move,” she repeated and I thought that perhaps Khalil tried to turn right with his camera despite her first warning, to focus on the area in front of me. It was funny that I was thinking about this. I kept ducking down and wondered if I could continue whispering my commentary to the microport.
I had tried to imagine myself in such a situation before and always came to the conclusion that I would probably run in panic - which would be the most stupid thing to do. Just a few second ago, a muscular silver-backed male Western Lowland Gorilla stopped some five or ten metres in front of me in a menacing posture. Makumba.
Unique footage of Gorillas from Dzanga Sangha
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic, Gorillas in wild, Live stream/video | Date: Apr 17 2009 | By: therevealed
Jana Jirátová, 17 April 2009
“Have you got any news about them?” my colleagues at the radio have been asking me every day. The expedition was supposed to have reached the Dzanga Sangha reservation in the Central African Republic but we haven’t heard from them for a couple of days. The long waiting is gone – not only have we learned that all members of the team all right but also they managed to send us a batch of unique images and video footage.
The Republic of Central Africa
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic | Date: Apr 14 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 14 April 2009
“I feel like I am in a film,” said Petra H, when we departed from Bangui. The Republic of Central Africa is colourful, even for those who have some experience with Africa – and especially after having just landed here after leaving Prague ten hours ago (the capital city of the Czech Republic, Central Europe).
I was petrified that we would be stuck in Bangui for a week or longer and that we would have to run around the offices in order to arrange all of the formalities for our trip to Dzanga Sangha. However, prior to departure Angelique (Todd) sent out an e-mail to all parties with the subject “Important visitors” and the day following our arrival from Cameroon’s Douale we on our way again. (I didn’t even have a chance to take photos of the arch of triumph You-Know-Who in Bangui – I apologise for the paraphrase but last time I promised I wouldn’t name that man).
Heading for Dzanga Sangha
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Central African Republic, Gorillas in wild | Date: Apr 10 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 10 April 2009
After two live transmission and several reports from Limbe, Cameroon, we are writing from Bangui, the capital city of a country that was ruled by a president, life-long president and then self-proclaimed cannibal emperor Bokassa until the and of the 1970’s. It’s a bit cheap to start our first report from the Central African Republic with a mention of Bokassa, I admit – I won’t mention him again, I promise, unless absolutely necessary. It probably won’t, because we have arrived primarily to visit a unique troop of human-habituated western lowland gorillas in the Dzanga Sangha forest.
We were invited to visit Dzanga Sangha by Angelique Todd at the end of last year, which was great honour for us. What Diane Fossey meant for research and protection of mountain gorillas, I think Angelique Todd is for research and protection of western lowland gorillas - she is only less known. She has been operating in Dzanga Sangha since 1998 and a has lion share in the successful human-habituation of a troop led by male Makumba, making it possible to really closely study western lowland gorillas in their natural habitat.
Fairy-Tale Books and a CD
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Book of gorilla fairy-tales, CD with gorilla stories, Cameroon | Date: Apr 10 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 8 April 2009
Dorothy Matute, the headmistress of the Bonadikombo school, visited us in our hotel in Limbe, Cameroon. She was the first to obtain a CD with an audio rendition of gorilla fairy- tales from our book ‘L´histoire des Gorilles’ in French recorded by Jan Jiran.
The idea behind the CD is similar to that of the book - to spark interest in gorillas and environmental protection among African children. We are going to distribute it for free to schools and make it available also to local radio stations.
Listen to a story about a white gorilla from our French-language CD. Download link
Letters from Cameroonian Schoolchildren
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Book of gorilla fairy-tales, Cameroon | Date: Apr 09 2009 | By: therevealed
Jana Jirátová, 9 April 2009
The Revealed has been aiming several years to support protection of western lowland gorillas in Central Africa. First we financially supported a primate rescue centre in Limbe but then decided to carry out a project of our own.
We published a book of fairy-tales about gorillas in English and French and distributed it to schoolchildren in Cameroon. Having been eagerly awaiting responses from children for five months, we have now learned how they liked our book.
Children in Cameroon love gorilla baby Moja
Category: Activities of The Revealed, Book of gorilla fairy-tales, Cameroon, Gorillas in Prague Zoo | Date: Apr 08 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, April 8 2009
A few days ago, just after our arrival to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, Simone de Vries gave us two folders: the thinner one contained completed questionnaires, while the thicker one contained letters from children to Czech Radio, The Revealed, a mysterious person name Miralan Bobeko, or all three of them at the same time. They were reactions to the book of gorilla fairy-tales that the Revealed project published half a year ago for children in Cameroon and that was distributed by LWC.
Gorilla fairy tales
Category: About the project, Activities of The Revealed, Book of gorilla fairy-tales, CD with gorilla stories, Cameroon | Date: Apr 08 2009 | By: therevealed
Miroslav Bobek, 27 March 2009
When visiting Cameroon in the spring of 2006 we realised that the best way to protect gorillas is to show the locals their beauty and intelligence. And when we published the first book of “gorilla” fairy tales, a little later in the Czech Republic, in which Moja naturally is the heroine, we weren’t far off from the idea to modify this book for African conditions and to distribute it at local schools.
Our goal was fulfilled last year in cooperation with the Limbe Wildlife Centre and eventually with a number of other organisations and individuals. Two thousand copies of the book were printed in French and two thousand copies in English reached Cameroon in November and were distributed free of charge during the first few weeks of this year (more in the article by Jana Jirátové here). The books were distributed by nature conservationists not only by vehicles, but also on motorcycles in rainforest regions…
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100% of your donation, minus a small bank fee, will go to your intended purpose.
Donations made here are safe.
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Donations Received
- Aug 20th Pirjo I. USD44.00
- Jul 20th Pirjo I. USD44.00
- Jun 4th Wanda H. USD22.00
- May 1st Richard F. USD82.50
- Apr 30th Paula B. USD11.00
- Apr 7th Ofer K. USD1.95
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The Revealed
Partners of Year of the Gorilla.
The Revealed was a project of Czech Radio. It was a parody on Big Brother, where contestants were not humans but Western Lowland Gorillas from Prague Zoo. The aim of the project was to inform public about gorilla's way of living and a need of their protection. The show is over, but activities of The Revealed team continue - we develop conservational activities in central Africa.
All funds raised on this blog will benefit gorilla conservation projects. Look into the donation box. You can support our efforts also by buying some of the product from our e-shop.
We have already supported primates sanctuary Limbe Wildlife Centre, educational project on the north of Dja Reserve in Cameroon. We published Book of Gorilla Fairy-tales which was distributed free of charge into cameroonian schools and which should help to increase awareness of conservation.
We prepared also an audio recording of these fairy tales. The CD "Histoires de Gorilles" will be broadcast in cameroonian Radios.
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Links
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