Primate Rescue: Bonk and Leoul

Since 2006, 30 illegally-held monkeys and baboons from Gondar and Addis Ababa have been rescued and returned to or near national parks by Kate and her team in Ethiopia.

In October 2009, Kate visited a male Gelada baboon called Bonk who had been tied up as an exhibit at King's Hotel in Addis Ababa for two years. A male Hamadryas baboon called Leoul was tied near him. King's Hotel is located next to a busy dual-carriageway - the main road south from Addis Ababa.

"There used to be a grivet monkey with them, but he escaped and was electricuted when he climbed up on the roof and played with the electric wires," explained Kate.

The Gelada is a species endemic to Ethiopia. Whereas Hamadryas baboons are omnivorous, wild Geladas eat only grass, roots and tubers.






























"I urgently need funds to move Bonk and Leoul from Addis Ababa to the wild," said Kate in January 2010. "These intelligent primates have a miserable life in captivity."

Fortunately, The Dinkenesh Fund was able to provide the 10,000 birr (£500, 550 euros, US$800) needed to cover the vehicle rental for transporting the two baboons north plus other expenses.

In February 2010, Bonk and Leoul were moved from Addis Ababa and released in Lema Limo Nature Reserve, within the Simien Mountains National Park. The overland journey took three days (Addis Ababa - Debre Markos - Gondar - Debark). Wildlife experts from the Simien Mountains National Park office supervised the baboons' release.

"Food and water are plentiful in Lema Limo," says Kate. "Although Bonk and Leoul are likely to remain together at first, I hope that they will eventually join groups of their own species. I often see troops of Gelada and Hamadryas baboons in the nature reserve."

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