Claudine André
Claudine André (* 1946 in La Hestre , Belgium ) is a Belgian- Congolese art dealer , animal rights activist and author .
Life
Claudine Andre was born in Belgium. She came to the Belgian Congo at the age of four because her father, a veterinarian, had been appointed there by the government at the time. In addition, Andrés father was a government employee and plantation owner in what was then the Belgian Congo, so that she could grow up in an almost untouched nature.
With the end of Belgian colonial rule , Claudine André had to flee to Belgium with her family at the age of 14. Barely grown up, she was drawn back to the Congo. She married, had two children, and worked as an art dealer and businesswoman in Kinshasa . In 1991, when the country was shaken by armed conflict between the army of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and members of the opposition, she and her family fled again to Belgium. After Kabila was established , she returned and began helping the Kinshasa Zoo to rebuild.
Lola ya bonobo
After an experience with an orphaned bonobo in Kinshasa Zoo in 1994, she dedicated herself to saving the endangered species and founded the animal welfare organization AAC, which in 2002 was renamed ABC (“Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo”).
In 2002 a bonobo sanctuary was built near Kinshasa, Lola ya Bonobo, the paradise of the bonobos. There she works with 20 employees, including local and international biologists, ecologists and animal keepers. She is in contact with international environmental organizations and African protection and reception centers. Lola means "paradise" in Lingala , one of the languages of the Congo. The protection station was officially opened by the Ministry of the Environment. In addition, “Lola ya Bonobo” is a member of the Pan-African Alliance of Primate Conservation Stations (PASA).
When young bonobos are offered for sale in markets around Kinshasa, the animal welfare organization ABC intervenes and informs the Ministry of the Environment about the animals. In this way she arranges for her to be confiscated and then takes her into her shelter Lola ya Bonobo.
"The key to protecting bonobos," stressed André in an interview, "lies in education." Only those who know how valuable the natural treasures of their own country are will they be preserved. André has already guided more than 20,000 Congolese children through their Lola ya Bonobo bonobo shelter near the capital Kinshasa. “We tell them about the monkeys, how closely they are related to us and how they live,” she says. If one of the children comes to her and asks how one can become a biologist in order to better study and protect the monkeys later, then that is an enormous step forward.
Works
- Claudine André: Wild tenderness. My paradise for bonobos in the heart of Africa . Kosmos-Verlag, Stuttgart 2007.
- Claudine André, C. Kamate, P. Mbonzo, D. Morel, B. Hare: The Conservation Value of Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary . In: Takeshi Furuichi, Jo Thompson (Eds.): The Bonobos Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation . Springer, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-387-74785-9 , pp. 303-322.
Web links
- Literature by and about Claudine André in the catalog of the German National Library
- Lola ya bonobo
- Friends of Bonobos
- Une Tendresse Sauvage
- Interview with Claudine Andre , Der Tagesspiegel , December 9, 2007
Individual evidence
- ↑ ABC ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bonobo orphans
- ↑ Focus-online 44/2007
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | André, Claudine |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian-Congolese art dealer, animal rights activist and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | La Hestre , Belgium |