Founded by Claudine Andre in 1994, Lola ya Bonobo is the sanctuary of the NGO, Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC). Since 2002, the sanctuary has been located at Les Petites Chutes de la Lukaya, just outside of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lola ya Bonobo means ‘paradise for bonobos’ in Lingala, the main language of Kinshasa.

In 2007, Lola ya Bonobo is home to 52 bonobos who live in 30 hectares of primary forest.

‘During my years as a volunteer at the Zoological Gardens in Kinshasa, I was struck by the important impact the animals had on the children and their behaviour. Their curiosity, their desire to learn, convinced me that direct visual contact with the animals was the best possible education for African children.

Most of the population in the towns and cities of my country, The Democratic Republic of Congo, don’t have the money to visit protected animals in the vast national parks. Without zoos and sanctuaries, the Congolese would never have a chance to see the endemic animals of their own country.

Of course, zoos are the fashion these days! But in a sanctuary, the infants who were snatched from their mothers and condemned to a life as orphans, these infants can help educate the visitors who pass through and hopefully save the remaining wild bonobos of our country. ’

Claudine Andre