Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.
In Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers and trackers are working to habituate a group of about 60 bonobos. The aim is to help the great apes accept a limited human presence, first for research, and later for carefully managed tourism.
The process is slow. Trackers may leave camp around 3 a.m. to reach the previous night’s nesting site before the bonobos (Pan paniscus) wake. They then follow the group through the forest until the endangered apes build new nests in the evening.
“The whole idea of habituation is that you meet the group every day in a very friendly, non-interactive way so they accept you as part of the forest,” Felix Bofeko, an assistant researcher in the program, told Mongabay’s David Akana.
Habituation requires the same people, same restraint, and same routine, repeated long enough for the animals to stop treating human presence as a threat. When the work began, the bonobos fled at the sight of people. Now, Bofeko says, researchers can sometimes remain with them for two or three hours. Two visitors may be tolerated. Three or four may still be too many.
The work has value even before tourism begins. Habituated animals can be observed more closely. Researchers can collect fecal and urine samples for genetic, pathogen, and diet analysis. Salonga is part of the Bonobo Diversity Project gathering standardized data across the DRC. Camera traps and acoustic monitoring are also being introduced, with the hope that real-time systems could eventually detect gunshots and help guide patrols.
Health risks must be managed carefully. Great apes are vulnerable to human-borne diseases, including respiratory infections. Salonga’s staff follow screening and hygiene protocols, wear masks near bonobos, and keep a minimum distance from the animals. The closer conservation gets to wildlife, the more it depends on discipline.
The project also shows how much field conservation depends on local relationships. Salonga’s managers have hired locals, including former hunters whose knowledge of the forest makes them strong trackers. More than 10 local people now have jobs linked to the project. Park staff have also installed internet hubs and complaints channels in nearby communities, giving residents a more regular way to communicate with management.
That work matters because many people around Salonga have long associated the park with restrictions, enforcement, and arrests for poaching. Bonobo tourism remains a future prospect. The more immediate change is that some residents are being paid for knowledge that once supported hunting and is now being used for protection.
For funders and conservation planners, Salonga offers a useful lesson. The visible result may one day be a visitor watching bonobos in the forest. The work behind it is less visible: patient tracking, health protocols, local hiring, basic infrastructure, and enough continuity for both people and animals to adjust.
Read the full story by David Akana here.
Banner image: A bonobo in Salonga National Park. Image courtesy of Alice Péretié/Chengeta Wildlife.
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