User:David.v.s.kennedy

LWIRO PRIMATES REHABILITATION CENTER
The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center (LPRC) animal sanctuary is located in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. LPRC’s primary mission is the rescue, rehabilitation, and planned reintroduction of rescued and confiscated wildlife especially the  Eastern Chimpanzee and other primates.

LPRC is situated in the village of Lwiro, four kilometers from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP).

History
Poaching increased drastically[i] during the Second Congolese War (1998-2003). The Democratic Republic of Congo determined that a safe place for orphaned primates to recover both physically and psychologically from their ordeals was needed.

LPRC was created officially  in February 2003 by two Congolese Institutions Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and Centre de Recherché en Sciences Naturelles (Congolese Government Scientific Research Centre -  CRSN). LPRC was built on the grounds of the CRSN. [ii]

LPRC was founded to provide a safe place for orphan primates, many of whom were victims of the bushmeat and pet trades. The establishment of LPRC provided these primates with veterinary care, food, shelter, and a secure place for their rehabilitation.

Scope of Activities
Shelter:            240 primates and 44 endangered birds were sheltered at LPRC in 2023. Of the primates, 129 were Chimpanzees. Chimpanzees resident in LPRC were recovered from poachers, traffickers, the pet trade, mineral companies and rebel groups.

Medicine:        As of 2024 LPRC had trained 27 African veterinarians from 6 different countries. LPRC’s Veterinary Department supervises the health of LPRC animals, conducts non-invasive research and works to control the spread of zoonotic tuberculosis in the human population bordering Kahuzi-Biega National Park. LPRC’s staff[iii] also combats zoonotic tuberculosis in wild and domestic animals throughout the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The LPRC Veterinary Department managed 372 clinical cases in 2023 with preventative medicine, care for infectious and parasitic diseases, and trauma care the most common procedures.

Education:       LPRC education and sensitization programs reach more than 4.500 people every year. The Education and Awareness program sensitizes the population around Kahuzi-Biega National Park about the problematic bushmeat and trafficking trades in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Return to the Wild:     Since 2020, LPRC working with the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the World Parrot Trust has rehabilitated and released 130 grey parrots that had been confiscated from the illegal pet trade[iv]. This is the first ‘soft release’ of the endangered grey parrot accomplished in DRC. LPRC is studying the feasibility of releasing groups of rehabilitated monkeys and chimpanzees.

LPRC supports the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in emergency situations such as snare removal and the translocation of gorillas to avoid human population conflicts.

Project area
The majority of chimpanzees sheltered come from North Kivu Province, Tshopo and South Kivu provinces. Chimpanzees also came to LPRC from Maniema, Bas Uele and Ituri.

LPRC is the closest PASA member sanctuary to Musse Vivant in Burundi. Involvement in Burundi’s captive chimpanzee population helps control the international illegal trafficking of chimpanzees.

Accreditation
LPRC is an accredited sanctuary [v]by Pan Africans Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS)[vi].

Support
The Center is mainly supported by: the Arcus Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute, Parc National Kahuzi Biega, CRSN Republic Democratic du Congo, the U.S. based Lwiro Primate Fund, Inc., Friends of LWIRO, Foundation Brigitte Bardot, Colchester Zoo and SOS Primates[vii]

Recognition
The work of LPRC has been featured in National Geographic[viii], Kindred[ix], and Europa Press[x].

In 2023, LPRC’s Technical Director, Itsaso Velez del Burgo Guinea[xi]was awarded the Barcelona Museum of Natural Science’s 6th NAT Award for her work in one of the most “important places in the world for the protection of the eastern chimpanzee…(and) …also one of the most violent and conflict-ridden areas on the planet”. [xii]

The New Yorker Documentary Film “Mama”[xiii] explores the healing relationship between a LPRC caretaker traumatized during the ongoing war and the also traumatized primates in her care. The film won the Goya Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2022.[xiv]