A Student's Letter about Bonobos

The children's magazine received thousands of pieces of mail from readers, who answered the quiz questions, told us about themselves, and even mentioned how much they appreciated Bleu/Blanc.

The above was an opinion to a question on bonobo conservation. After many years, my French is rusty, but I translate the formal, stiff French of a student as the following:

"Yes, bonobos are really in danger of extermination. For my part, to furnish you with what I think, one must analyse what is the cause of their extermination. First, there is the deforestation: yes, as trees play an important role for man, and serves for many uses, notably in the timber industries, etc.... By consequence, we must also hold that if the habitual deforestation continues, there will be enormous consequences for the nature, for the environment, and certainly on the fauna. Thus the people there (the deforesters) must understand the consequences and try to assure the protection of the life of our chimpanzees (bonobos).

"Secondly, the poaching: we must add to poaching; the stupidity and superstition. But when we look at poaching or the hunting of these animals, we must know that this is tied to various reasons, notably thought of as a way of life or a fashion of living. Why is this?

"The communities that live on the borders (of the Park) also called riverains (river people) are poor, and for the most part, they are hit by the unemployment and the lack of sufficient food , in brief, all of these country people are neglected. By the fact that they don't have anything to do, the poaching of these animals notably, the bonobos, have become their job, which is stupid and superstitious.

"This is why the government must take measures for these previous citations, for example, supply jobs equally to these thousands of country people, particularly the riverains. To kill the bonobo for the reason to acquire power from magic rituals, I find this absurd and insignificant. And also, one must have these people know that they themselves are destroying a good part of our fauna... our treasure. Thus, I solicit the intervention of the government as quick as possible, especially for the specific cases, to forbid them seriously in a manner that their (bonobo) protection and conservation will be assured."

What amazes me is that in spite of the wordiness of his letter (students use a flowery French), this student expresses his ideas on risks to bonobos, which includes the use of animal parts for "magic." Typically, bonobo bones (from kills) or fingers and toes (from living infants taken from mothers) were put in babies bath water to "make them strong." He recommends a strong hand of the government to provide jobs and protect the bonobo.