EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

Check out our new brochure, filled with information about the Bonobo Conservation Initiative's work in cooperative conservation and community development in the Congo!

Download our free brochure now!

Help Jared Harrison Help Bonobos!

Help Jared Harrison, a 12-year-old from the Cayman Islands, help bonobos! Jared researched bonobos for a school project and now wants to share his new found interest in the species with Cayman Islanders and the world.

“I was touched by how peaceful and kind they are,” he said. “Other primates, including us, have wars, kill each other, and have a hard time sharing. Bonobos are so different. When they get upset about something, they just hug it out. We can actually learn from them. They cooperate and take care of each other so well. They’re extraordinary.”

Jared challenged Cayman Islanders to donate to BCI in an effort to save these rare and peaceful primates. You can help Jared in his efforts! Click here to donate now

If you are interested in forming a kid’s conservation club, please contact Jared at jaredconservation@gmail.com and he will provide more information.

To learn more about Jared, you can read the following online news articles:

Cayman News Service

Cayman Net News

NPR Show on Bonobos!

Tune into the Diane Rehm Show:“Bonobos on the Brink of Extinction”

Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) president Sally Jewell Coxe joins Vanessa Woods, author of the new book Bonobo Handshake, and Richard Carroll of the World Wildlife Fund for an enlightening discussion about bonobos. The show examines lessons about bonobos and efforts to save them, revealing little known facts and the urgency of protecting these endangered great apes and their habitat in the Congo rainforest.

Listen to the archived recording here!

Special thanks to Diane Rehm and WAMU for raising awareness about bonobos on their Environmental Outlook series.

Vote for James Brooks, Bonobo Fan!

Vote for James Brooks, a bonobo fan and friend of BCI, for the 2010 Youth in Action ME to WE Award. He is one of three finalists in his category.  

James' lifelong passion for monkeys and apes led him to establish apeaware.org, a website dedicated to saving apes from extinction. After learning about the plight in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, James founded 1000Classrooms and challenged his peers to help raise funds for poultry collectives, so the widows of slain park rangers could sell eggs to earn an income. Through his efforts, James has raised enough money to buy 25,000 eggs and has engaged thousands on the issue of ape preservation.  

Vote Now!

Bowling for Bonobos!

On March 11th, bonobo fans gathered at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in Washington, DC to support the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI). Volunteers and BCI staff greeted customers at the entrance with information about the organization. There was also a special appearance by an ape character! 20% of all the proceeds from what customers spent on bowling, food and drinks went directly towards BCI’s efforts to save the bonobo and its rainforest habitat.

Special thanks to Lucky Strike Lanes and everyone who came out to bowl for bonobos! Check out pics from the event here.

If you were unable to attend the bowling event, we welcome you to join us this Saturday, March 27th at Patagonia in Georgetown (1048 Wisconsin Ave., NW). We will have materials, slide shows and videos, and fun kid activities, including bonobo masks! Hope to see you there, go bonobo!

BCI Urges Congress to Pass the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Act

On January 27, 2010, BCI president and co-founder, Sally Jewell Coxe, testified before the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife in support of the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2010 (HR 4416). See a video of the hearing here!

Recognizing the many threats that great apes face, including habitat loss, illegal poaching, and consumption in the bushmeat trade, Congress passed the Great Ape Conservation Act (GACA) to allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to provide financial assistance for projects that support conservation and research of great apes. Since then, the FWS Great Ape Conservation Fund (GACF) has funded more than 250 projects in more than 30 countries across Africa and Asia

Since its historical passage in 2000, GACA has been instrumental to the survival of the bonobo and BCI’s success. BCI’s first grant from GACF was awarded in 2002, just as the Congo War was beginning to wind down in the bonobo habitat. The grant funded the first surveys and “information exchange” with local people at Kokolopori and Lac Tumba, and provided the foundation for ongoing efforts and long-term partnerships.

Thanks to direct support from GACF, BCI and its Congolese partners have discovered or confirmed the existence of bonobos in eleven strategic regions. This led to local agreements to protect bonobos in all areas surveyed and the establishment of two legally protected nature reserves: the Sankuru Nature Reserve and the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Together, these reserves span 13,650 square miles—an area greater than the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined!

While the major threats to bonobos remain in force and there are still tremendous challenges to overcome, substantial progress has been made over the past decade to mitigate these threats in key areas of the bonobo habitat. Continued and increased support from the U.S. government through the Great Ape Conservation Fund is critically important.

Urge your Congress-member to vote in favor of the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2010 (HR 4416). Visit www.congress.org and click "Get Involved" to learn how to contact your congressman.

Please act now-the great apes need our support!