Snare-related disability led to the near-fatal accident of a bonobo at Wamba, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

7 INTRODUCTION In places where their home-ranges overlap with humans, chimpanzees and bonobos are frequently caught in snares made from metallic wire (Kano 1984; Quiatt et al. 2002). Although the victims are generally able to free themselves by breaking the sapling to which the wire is connected, they often fail to remove the wire itself. It is often weeks to months before the wire drops off on its own or the limb of the victim rots where the wire tightens. Snare injuries may cause serious infections, which are sometimes fatal (Hashimoto 1999; Boesch & BoeschAchermann 2000). Moreover, the victims often suffer from limb loss or deformation (Waller & Reynolds 2001). Here, I report a near-fatal (had he not been rescued by human observers) accident encountered by a male bonobo with snare-related limb disabilities.