Tess: Fingers crossed for Etaito

After coming back from South Africa and very excited to see the chimps again, I had welcome greetings from all the guys except Etaito… He appeared to be a little under the weather not eating, drinking or being his usual happy self. We thought perhaps he was missing Faustin, but after several days of no improvement we realised something was definitely wrong. Eddie the vet came to see him, and to our relief, told us there was a vet in town from Congo Brazzaville for a few days. He came to give him a check up…. And there is a possibility Etaito has Meningitis. The blood test results will be back in a day or two so then we will know for sure. He is looking a lot better today after his pills and injections, still a little dopey but running around and doing his business all over the house! Yesterday he didn’t move from JJ’s lap and was unable to move his head. But after looking better today we are all hopeful that he will be back to his normal self in no time.

We have also heard rumours about a chimpanzee in Bunia that has been kept by some foreigners, who have decided it should be with other chimps and be in a better environment. After speaking to the people in Bunia and the ICCN in Goma, there is a possibility we will be able to bring the chimp to Lwiro. The only problem will be transporting the chimpanzee from North to South, but we will have to wait and see.