Bonobos and Malnutrition

These two Polaroids, taken three weeks apart, show the effects of severe malnutrition on baby bonobos. Taken from their mothers and thus deprived of mother's milk (protein), they develop a kwashiorkor state, with devastating consequences. The body develops edema, or swelling of the tissues. In the upper photo, the animal appears to be fat, and there is puffiness around the eyes. There is anemia, anorexia, and diarrhea.

Almost all of the bonobos that I saw were given plenty of fruit, but no protein, so they had physical signs of kwashiorkor. This disease is difficult to treat because there are serious and often fatal outcomes, from the "refeeding" effect. This is complicated by the fragile psychological state of bonobo infants that have been taken from their mothers and traumatized by their human captors.

The lower photograph shows the emaciated appearance of the bonobo after the edema had resolved. Sadly, she did not survive. In human medicine, there is evidence that the lack of protein in a diet sufficient in calories, (kwashiorkor), is more harmful than an overall lack of calories, (marasmus). Additionally, although a child can be treated and rehabilitiated, there is often permanent damage to internal organs and a retardation of intellectual development.

Okapi Skin

One time, some sellers at the animal market downtown in Kinshasa brought me something unusual. Wrapped in a dirty burlap sack, this stiff hide came from the rare okapi, a giraffe relative that only occurs in the Democratic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). The stripes wrap around the animal's buttocks and the base color is a dark chocolate brown. It was odd to touch the velvet plush of the same animal that I had once touched, alive, at a zoo.

The Congolese knew that the okapi was rare and special, and illegal to kill, so the men were being secretive about the contents of the sack, and said that it was worth a king's ransom. They insisted that we take it around back for photographs, after which I sent them on their way. The skin was of poor quality, like all of the hides I saw, because it had been salted and dried in the sun.

I had seen the okapis at the "Capture Station" of Epulu, between Kisangani and Bukavu, but this was the only time that I saw the evidence of a hunted one. I was probable that the animal had been poached for its meat and skin from the the forests surrounding Epulu. I never knew what happened to the hide.

Bonobo Gets a Bath

Besides a myriad of health issues, the baby bonobos that I saw being sold for pets were very dirty, so part of their treatment was cleaning them up. Here I am, lathering up a young animal in a plastic basin. The bonobos were affection starved, and the warm water was so soothing, that they would sometimes fall asleep in my arms.

Photo by B. Messinger

The "Pet" Market in Kinshasa

The top left Polaroid, taken in my office, is of a pet market seller who was forever suspicious of me. He would bring animals by for free treatment, but he would rarely divulge information. The other three photographs were taken by an informant at the exotic animal market, located across from the main train station in downtown Kinshasa.

The upper right Polaroid showed a market seller with a parrot trapper who had arrived from the interior town of Boende. On the lower right, market sellers are handling a chimp that showed signs of severe malnutrition (puffiness around the eyes). The last photograph was of a man who had showed up with a baby red forest pig.

Wild Apes for Sale

From Grains of Golden Sand:

"Almost as a lark to see if I could, I decided to befriend the marketers to try to unravel the inner workings of the parrot and primate trade. I offered them my veterinary expertise. Deeply suspicious, they wanted to know my purpose and motive for providing care. I explained that treating their animals gave me experience for taking care of those at the institute. From 1987 through 1990, I gradually gained their trust. Eventually, the comerçants tolerated my presence, and four became helpers and informants."

From 1990, until I left the country in 1998, I was able to take photographs (or my informants took them for me) of the main animal market in downtown Kinshasa. I nearly always used a Polaroid camera. This was done so I could give the people photographs of themselves.

The upper left photo shows a baby chimp (#4072) that was treated and its seller was interviewed. The upper right photo shows a buyer purchasing the bottom two animals -- a chimp on the left and a bonobo on the right. I never saw those animals, but they appeared to be thin, and too small to survive.

At the time these photographs were taken, the possession or sell of a "protected" species was not illegal, as long as the sellers possessed an ownership paper, which was merely a tax formality. In 1990, Jane Goodall put pressure on the government to confiscate apes found on the open market, but this was overturned with the civil unrest in 1991.

While monitoring the animal market, I supplied information to Traffic international, for those animals that I suspected were leaving the country, as this was regulated by international CITES treaty. I found out years later that a tip on I gave led to the confiscation of two chimps by officials in Nairobi.