"This is the Conkouati lagoon in South Congo..." "Fourteen chimpanzees, all saved from poaching," "live here in semi-captivity." "Twice a day, Emmanuel and" "Stephanie, from the HELP CONGO association, come here to feed them." "After several years rehabilitation, most of them will once again take the road to freedom..." "A number of chimps that were raised here have already been successfully reintroduced into the wild." "This is a world first;" "a project aiming to strengthen the wild chimp populations that have been decimated by poaching and deforestation." "Next week will see the release of a further group of four animals." "David is the first;" "a ten-year-old male." "A little ungainly perhaps, with the grace of a sumo-wrestler, but he's the first to help the others whenever there's a physical threat." "This is Sophie, who is also 10." "She has been a mother for just a few days." "Little Valentine is the first baby born on the island." "Returning Sophie and her baby to freedom is a new challenge." "Will they be able to survive the omnipresent dangers of the forest?" "Fortunately, since the birth of the baby, David has been increasingly concerned for" "Sophie's welfare." "Koutou is another ten-year-old male." "His confidence within the group is growing, and he shows off to impress the females." "Koutou does not like strangers at all." "The final member of the foursome is Agathe, a nine-year-old female;" "discreet and solitary, but constantly curious." "David, Sophie, Koutou and" "Agathe will be released together because they make up a tight and homogeneous group." "Soon they will rejoin eleven other chimps already released into a protected forest area known as "the triangle"." "Meanwhile, life on the island continues, with its joys and more difficult moments..." "The town of Pointe-Noire in the South of the Congo..." "Aliette Jamart is French and has been living here for 37 years." "Her life changed one day in 1989 when she visited the local zoo:. ten chimpanzees, including two infants, were locked up in appalling conditions." "Aliette swore to set them free, and soon afterwards set up Jeannette, the only surviving baby, in her own house." "Chimpanzees are under threat in the Congo." "After the buffalo and the antelope, primates have become the principal prey of poachers, who kill the adults for meat and try to sell the babies as pets." "In 1991, Aliette created the association HELP CONGO" "(in French; habitat?" "cologique et libert?" "des primates) one of whose aims was to restore the illegally captured chimps to their natural environment." "Within two years, and with the help of water and forestry agents," "21 chimps were confiscated, and added to her household." "She bottle-fed them all until the day when their number began to pose certain problems." "The government then provided the support to create a welcome-centre in the bush around the Conkouati lagoon." "Merchant:" ""It's a chimpanzee skull!"" "When Aliette goes to the market for supplies every two weeks, she studiously avoids the stalls reserved for wild animal meat and fetishes." "Stopping this illegal smuggling and preserving the animals' natural habitats is what" "Aliette is fighting for today." ""It's an elephant trunk... that's great!" "And look at the green pigeon!"" "Twice a month, a truck brings in supplies to the associations' camp on the Conkouati reserve," "180 kilometres North-West of" "Pointe-Noire, not far from the border with Gabon." "It's a hard road and an exhausting journey." "The men suffer, and the equipment too." "Jorge Paredes is a vet." "He's been following the HELP project since December 1992 and knows the chimps that are going to be released very well." "He's now back in Conkouati after several months away." "At the camp, the main activity in the morning is feeding the chimps." "The Congolese mothers prepare a porridge with cereals, milk and rice." "The chimps love this warm breakfast which provides them with all the protein and calcium they require." "The island where they live now is too small to enable them to independent, foodwise." "One of the advantages of this site is that there are three islands, providing good conditions of semi-liberty and at the same time enabling the animals to develop their abilities to adapt to life in the wild." "Three chimps live on the smallest island, including 'Banana', the chimp rescued from the war in Brazzaville." "The second is home to the youngest animals, confiscated from poachers after August 1991." "On the largest island are the chimpanzees which came from Aliette's house." "Carmen Vidal is also a vet, and like Jorge, she is wondering how the chimps will react to her after several months absence." "The chimps reserve a warm welcome for Carmen..." "But for Jorge, it's a little more complicated..." "On average, the chimps can" "live up to the age of 50." "Here on the island, their ages range from 9 to 15." "The sooner they're released, the greater their chances will be of successfully integrating with their wild companions." "But these are emotionally fragile animals..." "The lack of freedom, the strange diet and the contact with man will mark them forever." "Before being released, they must relearn the gestures and behaviour of life in the wild." ""That behaviour... they had to learn.When they arrived here about... in 1991,they did not know what the water was and that they meant to be into the water and slowly we started teaching them how to" "get close to the water, to throw in the water and after all these years,nearly eight years already or nine years, they are not afraid at all to come... to get wet and also they like" "it,they enjoy it and that's going to be something crucial, something important in the triangle because they will have to cross places that are full of water,they will have to go into the water to get to another" "food source so that's one of the behaviours we had to teach them for a couple of years over here."" "Normally, the humans avoid contact with the island's chimps as much as possible, so that they will gradually revert to the ways of the wild." "But in order to capture the chimps next week, they will have to be anaesthetised." "And so the presence of the syringe has to be disguised." "Fortunately, the animal welfare team are pretty inventive when it comes to making up a new game." "Mikki loves to be noticed, particularly when he's being left alone." "This is an example of a monkey that's difficult to release." "He is completely unpredictable but also highly intelligent." "And as he systematically looks for human contact, his adaptation to a natural environment will pose certain problems." "An hour and a half boat-ride from Conkouati is the protected area known as the triangle'." "It is in this 22 square kilometre zone that the HELP chimps will be released." "Eleven orphans have already won their freedom here." ""It's about 190°, so it's still a bit more to the south..."" "The animals are relatively easy to locate, thanks to transmitters in their collars." "The progress that's been made in the triangle since 1996 is certainly impressive." "Thanks to the actions of HELP" "CONGO and the support of Progecap" "GEF Congo, the chimps have become the standard-bearers for the conservation of the forest and its wildlife among the" "local population and the authorities." "The region's inhabitants help to follow the released animals' progress." "Their presence in the area has led to a fall in poaching and a number of animal species that had become very rare are now visible once more." "This is Jeanette..." "The first chimp that Aliette got out of the zoo in 1989." "Her adaptation to life in the wild has been a real success." "Her contacts with humans are now limited to a brief, friendly greeting." ""Grooming is a very important part of the social life of the chimpazees because it's like the first way to say hi!" "... hello!" "And there has been already two months since the last time" "I saw this group and Mekoutou, he's one of the most... they still have... physical contact with people and we still have a lot of work to do with him... to break this contact."" "Jorge takes advantage of his visits here to carry out a medical check-up on the chimps." "The mission of the observers in the triangle is to follow the chimps from a distance and to make notes about their behaviour every ten minutes." "For the chimps, the observers are merely part of their surroundings." "They are much more interested if a human approaches them without a note-book." "This experiment is unique in the world, and it should facilitate the setting-up of a database on the adaptation of chimps released into the forest." "The most interesting stage to observe is the first encounter with wild chimpanzees." "Up to now, this has gone well for the females, but has been somewhat more painful for the young males." "It's the trickiest part of the release and it will take time for the new arrivals to be completely integrated." ""The adaptation process has been a success as we can see." "At the beginning, we used to show them and to guide them to the food sources around the triangle because they did not know... the area was a complete new environment, a complete new territory for them." "But now we are doing the opposite, now we...us and the observers, that come working with us, are following them to know what they are discovering and how they are adapting to these new conditions."" "A chimpanzee can easily spend two-thirds of its time looking for food." "The rest of the time is devoted to the group's social life and to resting." "Every evening a new nest is built, often very high up in the trees." "It's a difficult moment for Aliette." "Tomorrow is the big day." "The animals must be caught." "she knows it's a very delicate operation and very stressful for the chimps." "When Marc Ancrenaz arrives, the team is complete." "Marc is another vet, and a specialist in the great apes." "In the evening, the whole team meets up, and the departure of David is discussed for the last time..." "The next morning, the capturing equipment is tested and Stephanie works on her intramuscular injection techniques..." ""It's better for me like that, because like this.. when there's not a lot of the product I haven't got enough. but when it's" "like that, yes, there... it's getting better, no?"" "If the chimpanzees won't let" "Jorge get close to them, she will have to tranquillise them herself." ""9.30." "It gets earlier every time!"" "The hardest thing about the capture is to be discreet." "It's essential to isolate the chimp to be anaesthetised so that the others can't see what's going on." "By chance," "David appears by himself." "Stephanie gives him a tranquilliser diluted in chocolate." "The vets hope this will calm him down and so prevent any violent reaction to the anaesthetic injection." ""lf we can get him within a n hour, that'll be fine." "It would be good to catch David today." "So it doesn't matter if the others come out or not, we can do David."" ""Stephanie!" "It will be until eleven, eleven thirty or eleven forty when you will start to see something with David."" ""A quarter of an hour!"" "It's the moment the other chimps decide to have breakfast." "Their presence excites David, and he doesn't appear to be too receptive to the tranquilliser he was given." "The main risk during the capture procedure is that the chimp climbs a tree before falling asleep." "He will inevitably fall to the ground." "David has calmed down and so" "Stephanie now tries to lead him to an area where it will be easier to give the anaesthetic." ""He's good, he'll listen..."" "Hurry up..."" ""Maybe all of it?"" ""OK... try to keep him there because he's fine if he falls." "I think it's okay..." "I think it will be effective.." "quite a good quantity."" ""Because now he's watching the others, he's going to try to walk... so if he starts to fall..."" ""So it's all right." "If he falls there it's perfect." "Stephanie, leave him, leave him, don't move!" "We'll move in slowly..." "Is he sleeping?"" ""Try to see the reflex"" ""Take the sheet"" "It's a masterful first catch." "But the operation is perhaps not over yet." "Koutou is now coming over towards the team." "The chance is too good to miss, particularly as Koutou loves boats..." "Stephanie has some chocolate left to keep him busy while Jorge gets ready..." ""OK Koutou, OK?"" ""He's injected it..." "We have to get the sheet."" "The two males at the same time... the team couldn't have hoped for more." "But tomorrow's catch will no doubt be much harder because the rest of the group have heard Koutou's cries of distress..." ""He's alright there..."" "Back at the camp, it's now a race against the clock..." "The anaesthetic will work for about two hours." "Before transporting them by boat to the triangle, the vets do a thorough check-up on the chimps." "A clean bill of health is essential to avoid any contamination of the animals in the wild." ""He'll adapt well, the only problem, as always, is the wild chimps, because he's a male, and there are youngsters that are bigger, we'll have to be very careful." "But the other females will delighted to have such a fine specimen come to nibble them"." "The journey takes an hour and a half when there are no obstacles." "A solid wooden cage has been built for the four chimps when they arrive." "The cage is divided in four compartments with movable partitions." "Ideally, the chimps should be left in the cage for a few days to recover from the anaesthetic and to get used to the sounds and smells of the forest." "This method should also avoid a certain panic observed during previous releases." "But there is one unknown factor... these chimps have never been put in a cage before." "How will they react?" "The moment has come for the chimps to wake up." "Jorge injects an antidote, and David and Koutou open their eyes." ""It's hard, the price of freedom is high, because they're really panicky"." ""It's never... it's not easy." "It's a real ordeal, both for us and for them, particularly for them of course." "We take them out of an environment they know well and put them in a cage they don't know at all." "There are are no cages at my place." "So I understand that they're stressed, and I think that when they're let out we'll have to move away pretty quickly because they're not going to be happy"." "Exhausted after this first day," "Jorge, Marc and Stephanie return to Conkouati." "Tomorrow morning they'll have to catch Agathe and Sophie." "Everything seems calm around the cage during the early evening." "But around four in the morning" "Koutou decides enough is enough." "He wants out..." "It is said that a chimp is five times as strong as a man, and this proves to be the case." "Koutou takes the inside of the cage apart." "Carmen decides to anaesthetise him again, it's the only solution." "If he gets out alone at night into this hostile environment, anything can happen." "Next morning at Conkouati, the catch is again successful." "Agathe and Sophie walk confidently into the trap." ""This chimp's made of lead!"" "In a rather delicate operation," "Marc has to take the baby from its mother to weigh it." "The vets make copious notes on the chimps statistics and physical characteristics, enabling a detailed comparison with their future evolution." ""There you are, 1 1 1..." "Right, we'd better give the mother her baby..." ""OK, the baby is a female"" ""All the chimps are getting their tuberculin test, their vaccination against polio and tetanus.We are deworming them and also,they get... some vitamins,intramuscular vitamins.We are taking stools samples for DNA analysis and also for parasite analysis."" ""And the good thing is that" "Sophie will join David in the triangle and since Sophie and" "David are very close together and we release these two animals... at least this relationship will be kept."" "Finally, the collar transmitters have to be placed around Sophie and Agathe's necks." "Koutou also has a collar, but not David, as the shape of his head wouldn't allow it." "But it doesn't matter, as the whole team is convinced that David will stay close to his companion Sophie to protect the baby." "When they reach the triangle, the vets learn that the night has been difficult." "They have to face facts:" "it will be impossible to keep" "David and Koutou locked up for much longer." ""I'm going to give an antidote so that they can start waking up quicker,so the idea is to" "leave the door open so when they wake up,they start... they will see each other and hopefully they will be calmer instead if we leave them separate."" "Aliette is considering releasing them the next morning, but before opening the cage, she wants to set up an encounter between the group of previously released chimps, led by Jeannette, and the new arrivals." "Some of them grew up together on the same island and they may recognise each other." "This would doubtless avoid any fighting that a chance meeting in the forest might cause." "And then who knows, maybe the older chimps will help the new ones find food." ""Children!" "Come here, come on!" "Jeannette, come and see Mena," "Jeannette, come on girl, come to Mama...." "Jeannette!"" ""l have the impression that." "maybe it's just psychological... but I have the impression that" "Jeannette already recognised" "David and Choupette as well." "They grew together on the Youmb?" "island and the ideal for me will be to release the chimps that are inside the cage once the rest of the group is outside." "It's much better they encounter over here in a place that they already know than encounter themselves in the middle of the forest."" "Jeannette's group seems to enjoy being around the cage and the new arrivals have got used to their presence." "It's the ideal moment to open the door." "The tension mounts among the team members, because now anything can happen..." ""We make up teams who will stay here, ready to intervene."" "After reassuring Koutou," "David moves off without paying attention to the other chimps..." "Agathe is calmer, and takes her time." "As predicted, Sophie follows in David's footsteps..." "Koutou is the more panic-stricken of the four." "Trembling with fear, he doesn't seem to know what is happening to him." "Jeannette tries to approach him, but Koutou ignores her and decides to set off into the forest alone." "It's been a hard day." "The team decide to leave the chimps alone for the moment, and to try to locate them the next day." "The triangle zone is demarcated by two rivers which define its limits." "Normally, the chimps should stay within this area, but Aliette is concerned that they might use tree-trunks that have fallen across the river to leave the triangle zone." "Three groups have been organised to cross the triangle." "After searching for several hours the members of the team are getting worried; the radios are not picking up any signals." "Aliette and Marc set up a bush-camp in order to go deeper into the forest." "This area is particularly difficult to cross and the weather is getting worse." "At last the two teams pick up faint radio signals." "but it's impossible to locate the chimps with any precision." "It appears that Sophie and Agathe have stayed together, probably with David... but Koutou seems to be alone and far away, lost in the swamps." ""We were in the swamp all day" "looking for Koutou." "In fact," "I think as soon as he hears a noise he goes away... he's far away, at least six kilometres." "The problem is that there are poachers in the area, we've removed quite a lot of traps, and we're a bit afraid that Koutou gets caught in a trap, it wouldn't be funny..." "The next day, there's and in fact it seems that" "Koutou is even further away." "Knowing that in that case he's all alone, he's a male, there are risks if he encounters other adult chimpanzees, there are risks if he meets humans, and especially if he keeps on moving in that" "state of stress, it's hard for him to find food and so his physical condition may worsen rapidly."" ""I'm just wondering if we have the right to put them through this kind of stress again, because there's no solution to leaving them in semi-captivity on the islands because they live so long... and in the long-term that will" "pose problems." "But releasing them like this, it's really beginning to cause me as much stress as them..." "I was so scared," "I said it before, I was so scared..."" ""Hang on, we haven't" "lost Koutou yet, Aliette." "We're going to find this monkey!"" "Aliette and Marc temporarily stop the search and set off to pick up Stephanie and Emmanuel who have been following David' s tracks for the last few days." ""Have you got any water?"" ""We've got a bit left."" ""We're dying, we're dying..." "We found them this morning but then they moved as fast as we did, so we stopped at one point... thanks. then finally David and" "Sophie arrived, Agathe is all alone off on one side..." "Koutou?" "We heard him, we picked up the sound pretty well, yeah?" "Emmanuel:" ""We heard him," "I picked up the sound... there's a lot of little rivers... at twenty to four."" "The team is exhausted, but there is good news..." "Koutou has come back towards the triangle and David's group seems to be in good shape..." "Three months have passed and the four chimps are now living together." "Throughout this time," "Carmen has been the only vet at the camp..." "Koutou was picked up three weeks after the release on a little island of solid ground in the middle of the swamp." "When Carmen found him he was very thin and dehydrated..." "He fell lifeless into her arms." "His hands and feet were badly infected after his long journey through hostile terrain." "He had to be treated in the swamp because he couldn't be moved in that condition." "Eight days later, he was brought back to the cage under anaesthetic." "Koutou is now cured and reassured..." "He has rejoined his companions and they all seem to have adapted remarkably well." "Jorge has returned for a few days... he approaches the chimps for the first time since they were released, a little apprehensive about their reaction to the man who anaesthetised them." "But David merely turns his back and Agathe shows that she doesn't bear a grudge." ""I'm really surprised because their general aspect is much better than with the chimps on the first release so... and that could be because they are older chimpanzees and they were living on a bigger island, Youmb?" "island and also because they are very close to each other, so the psychological aspect at this point is really important."" "I haven't seen him for three weeks, and he's really magnificent again, his coat is shiny, he's put on weight, he's just like before in physical terms," "exactly as he was on the island." "There, you see, he's relaxed, he's not afraid any more."" "The chimpanzees haven't had much trouble finding food." "Their experience with their parents before they were captured and their long rehabilitation on the islands have helped them find the right plants and fruit." "The "grewia oligoneura" is their current favourite..." "It's a small, slightly acid fruit with a crunchy skin, and very good, but there's not a lot of flesh around the stone... so they spend hours in the same tree trying to satisfy their appetites." "The chimps also" "Iove eating insects..." "David has just made a discovery..." "A wasp is trapped inside this piece of wood and he's trying to find a way to get it out..." "Another chapter draws to a close in the Congo forest..." "But there will be others..." "Another twenty or so chimpanzees will soon be taking the road to freedom..." "For David and his family, the next challenge will be their encounters with wild chimps..." "If they can integrate with them, the release will have been a complete success." "The aim of the reinsertion programme, strengthening the chimpanzee population, will then have been achieved." "But will the Congolese government have the strength to resist the pressure of the foresters, who are now trying to take over the Conkouati reserve?" "As we wait for the answer, a new life begins here, a sign of hope in nature's fragile equilibrium."