Thursday, February 19, 2009

Field Journal - Day Seven

Difongo
N03º28.754’
E024º17.699’

Portions of this entry have been excised and will be re-inserted later


We sat down tonight to discuss out next moves -- it seems prudent to divide our troop for better success -- we are indeed surrounded by chimps.

I’m skeptical, but hopeful! I’ll take what I can get!

We talked a lot too about the fate of the elephants in this area.

They’re apparently part of the migratory groups in Gangu/Bili, and they traverse the Bas-Uèle River to forage (in both the Bondo Territory and our territory - the Aketi Territory).

They’re more typically on our side of the river during the wet season, which explains why the two samples we’ve found thus far of elephant dung are about a month old.

I’m told too that while on this side of the river, they are hunted viciously, though they might now be hunted on both sides!

Even so, those hunters I saw with elephant meat probably came from the Bondo side.

Either way, it seems dire!

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