National Geographic Society

There was sadness on Sunday 16 August 2009 at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary when Tatango, 'the most handsome bonobo' died after a stomach hemorrhage. Tatango was well liked by the staff of the worlds first, and only, bonobo sanctuary. To celebrate the life of this outstanding ape, they posted several blogs posts at WildlifeDirect.

On Monday 16 August, Claudine announced the death of this adorable ape, saying

To my friends, and everyone who knew him, Tatango died on Sunday. It was a hemorrage in his stomach. There was nothing to be done, nothing we could have foreseen. And so he has left us.Fanny, our new vet, did everything it was possible to do. Serge Belais and Doctor Kasongo (a human doctor who loves bonobos and helps us from time to time) were there as well to provide advice, since we had never encountered this situation before.And so, 'everything was done, and yet it wasn't enough'.

Tatango was a unique ape as the next blog post at Lola ya Bonobo describes him:

Oh my god these bonobos - does it ever stop? I've been too upset to write about Tata dying, and everyone who knew him is just devastated. For those of you who never met Tata, he was the most handsome bonobos ever. He was the oldest male, and he never smiled. I can't tell you the hours I spent tryignt o get even a smirk out of him. I tickled him and poked him and played chase all over the sanctuary, and Tata was just too cool to smile.

Sometimes I think he was sad to be a bonobo because he obviously wanted to be in charge. Occassionally he would slap one of the females around, trying to be dominant, but of course the female alliance never let him get the better of him. Despite occasional skirmishes, he loved the girls. He was always busting out of his enclosure, but instead of running around the sanctuary causeing havoc, he would jump into the other enclosures to have sex with the females. And if he had a crush on someone and the keepers moved her for some reason, he would break out of his enclosure and run around until he found her.

Some pictures of Tatango

On 20 June 2009, the most important public event in Rwanda's conservation circles was taking place in Kinigi, Musanze District (Formerly Ruhengeti) near the Volcanoes National Park - Kwita Izina. Kwita Izina is the annual gorilla naming ceremony modelled around human child-naming ceremonies practiced by the Rwandan communities. Each year, all gorilla babies born in the past 12 months are given names in the same fashion as human children.

What better way to celebrate a naming ceremony than to have children perform? It was therefore quite natural that children from rural Rwanda, particularly the children from the Art of Conservation programme, who for some years now have been learning and teaching about gorilla conservation through various art forms - including music - should be invited to be among the entertainment for this great day.

The Art of Conservation (AoC) group, consisting of 150 children had been preparing for this great calling and were ready to perform and educate like they have been doing. Come D-Day however, the entertainment programme was shortened and several community groups, including the AoC group did not perform. This did not dampen their spirits since the previous evening, in the pre-ceremony party, 'Igitaramo' they had performed their 'Mu Birunga' song and thrilled their audience. 'Mu Birunga' translates to 'In Virunga' in reference to the home of the mountain gorilla.

During the Kwita Izina, 18 new mountain gorilla babies were given names in a ceremony that was attended by Rwandan Prime Minister, Bernard Makuza, as the guest of honour. Several other important guests included renowned American zoo keeper Jack Hanna and South African musician Chris Chameleon who, apart from having the honour of naming one of the gorillas, also sang a song in his native tongue, Afrikaans.

The children from the AoC group had their fun as they enjoyed the ceremony, learning from their elders, and gaining more knowledge to share with their peers and community when they got home.

Please donate to support the Art of Conservation project.

The children of today will be the decision makers of tomorrow. What we teach them today is what they will practice when they are responsible for their natural resources. Art for Gorillas project has been teaching conservation to the children living around the Parc National des Volcans (PNV) in Rwanda through art. Sometimes though, they get their hands dirty. In this video they are planting trees to prevent soil erosion - to the tune of Sow a Little, a song recorded specifically for Art for Gorillas by New York-based musicians KaiserCartel.

Each of the 150 students in this school planted a tree seedling around their school. "Once the students' trees mature - which won't take long in this wet, equatorial climate - their roots will act to hold the soil in place. They'll also provide habitat for birds and insects like bees, which provide honey the communities can harvest to feed their families", says Julie Grist of Art for Gorillas.

You can help the children of Rwanda learn more about their own environment and how to conserve it by donating here or at the Art for Gorillas blog.