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As you read this, millions are pouring from the mountains of central Mexico and heading to the USA and Canada. In Mexico they face enormous challenges of freezing weather, fueled by illegal logging on the borders of impoverished communities. As they come north, the food they need for survival is snatched from their mouths in the USA and Canada. Each of these assaults diminishes their numbers and threatens to end their remarkable travels. All their lives they will be running the gantlet but crossing the US-Mexico border is the very least of their challenges. These millions provide enormous benefits to our agricultural economy but we are looking the other way and letting them slip into oblivion.

Every year the monarch butterfly engages in arguably the most remarkable migration known to man. Consider an insect weighing perhaps half a gram beginning a journey in the Canadian summer that will take it 3,000 miles to mountains of central Mexico by November. There they gather in enormous colonies totaling more than 300 million butterflies. The insulating forests at nearly 10,000 feet of altitude have allowed these colonies to survive the brutal winters for tens of thousands of years. Come March they begin the journey north. They will not travel far, but they will drop their eggs on milkweed and some four generations later they will arrive in Canada and prepare to repeat the journey.

Changes are coming for the butterfly, and have been for the last several decades. The oyamel fir forests of Mexico—twice protected by presidential decree—are being stolen off ejido property and trucked down public roads in broad daylight. Many of these trees will go to US-owned paper mills in Mexico. With those trees goes the ability of the forests to sustain the butterfly colonies. Five years ago well over 100 million butterflies froze in one night in a forest severely thinned by illegal cutting. In the USA, milkweed, the plant that provides the only food eaten by the butterfly caterpillars, is considered a pest plant that is systematically eradicated on farms and roadsides.

The interesting thing is…we are not talking about an endangered species but rather an endangered biological phenomenon (the migration and over-wintering colonies). None of us fears that this remarkable butterfly will disappear: it has been introduced in Australia and many other countries. So we should consider the cost of losing this amazing annual event.

In Mexico, about 250,000 visitors travel annually to the mountains to see the butterflies. Millions of tourist dollars are pumped into the economy of a state that has one of the highest numbers of laborers fleeing to the USA in search of work. Many of these dollars go directly to extremely poor communities where they make an enormous difference. In the United States the monarch butterfly is yet another insect pollinator on the decline. We depend on domestic bees to pick up some of this work at a cost of millions of dollars. But even that system is not failsafe. This year beehives have again been decimated, this time with 80% losses in 22 states, from an ailment known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

This is a migrant we need. It is a migrant Mexico needs. There is a lot we can all do.

First, pressure the government in Mexico to enforce the laws that are intended to protect these forests. Every president says he will, but the proof, in the form of enforcement of existing laws, is not there.

Second, conserve paper (and trees) by following the three “R’s”…REDUCE your use….RE-USE your paper by doing miscellaneous print or record keeping on the backside of used paper, and when you have done this, RECYCLE what you do use.

And third, plant milkweed in your gardens – there are many ornamental varieties with great flowers and the presence of butterflies in your garden is an added bonus. Encourage your highway maintenance crews to include milkweed in their roadside seed mixes.

This is about more than a butterfly. It is about our borders and the economic health of communities on both sides.

Cameroon serves as one clear example, but the patterns of bushmeat are repeated in pre-industrialized nations throughout the world:

1. Industrialized nations (Europe, North America, East Asia) seek raw materials from pre-industrialized nations, materials such as: oil, lumber, minerals.

2. Corporations from industrialized nations create agreements with the ruling faction (warlord, tribe, religious elite, or elected leader) of the pre-industrialized nation to develop and export the raw materials. Often those agreements are made without the knowledge or consent of the peoples of those nations.

3. Developing access to the raw materials requires cutting deep into virgin forest (or wildlife areas) in the form of roads, pipelines, or waterway expansion. The access routes fragment wildlife areas into smaller sections, endangering contiguous ecosystems, and allowing indigenous populations easier access to rare species of plants and animals.

4. Often the process of resource access and extraction destroys (or destabilizes) the ecosystem: pollution from oil drilling and pipelines, runoff from mining, and clear-cutting timber, are three common consequences. Animals and plants are endangered. Just as importantly, indigenous peoples can no longer live in their own ecosystem in an ecologically sustainable manner.

5. Indigenous peoples become desperate, as they are no longer able to sustain themselves. They often turn to bushmeat to survive, or to sell to exporters excited to provide exotic fare to the powerful elite, both locally and around the globe. Rare and endangered species are served as delicacies in Europe, North America, and East Asia.

6. The decline of the ecosystem becomes increasingly rapid through higher poaching rates, then disturbed predator/prey balances. The faster an ecosystem collapses, the greater temptation for indigenous peoples to grasp at short-term profits by exploiting dwindling resources.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: National Geographic currently features the disturbing and informative Curse of Nigerian Oil chronicling the downward spiral in Cameroon's neighbor.]

Have you encountered bushmeat?
Have you visited or seen any of the examples above?

Post a comment about your experiences in the comments area, below.

First visit was to a class presented by Wilson Ateh, one of the Centre’s award-winning employees. What happened in class was remarkable…Wilson was electrifying, and the students fully engaged and excited about the material. Today’s lecture was on water and water borne disease. Class was launched with a song and dance about the environment — a uniquely African teaching dynamic — then rolled directly into a very participatory lecture with kids eagerly offering up what they had learned. Ateh’s material was current, relevant, and inspirational.

Wilson has helped Limbe establish one of the most successful and comprehensive conservation education programs in Africa, and in so doing has won the International Primate Society’s Charles Southwick Conservation Education Commitment Award. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Wilson Ateh, Four Students
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black
SOUND RECORDING: Bill Toone

While it is upsetting to think about the final, painful, moments of these animals, it is important to realize their suffering is due largely to the clandestine nature of poaching. Illegal hunting requires poachers to be cautious, to patrol their snare lines less frequently…leaving animals to linger in pain.

Beyond the suffering — and most importantly — snares do not distinguish between species.

Endangered species are equally vulnerable.

Deep in Bethan’s study area, we found the forest floor littered with rifle shells. We found nervous elephants and a cautious moment of peace. We never saw Bethan’s study species, the drill…she does not habituate them to people to avoid making them easier targets for the bushmeat trade.

The growing scarcity is such that seven days in the reasearch area, and we heard only one brief scream from chimpanzees and a handful of calls from guenons. A review of Bill’s recordings reveal noises only from those animals too small to eat. The drone of the cicadas rings in my ears.

For biologists such as Bill, Bethan, or myself, the silence of the forest — except for insects — is the sound of death. Silence hits us with the reality of disappearing species. [Sunni Black]

Arrival in Locndeng was nothing less than eventful: a sequence of events set in motion as we traveled into Iboti five days earlier was reaching climax. Villagers had located the poachers’ elephant rifle in the forest and brought it to Locndeng to turn it over to the gendarmes. The gendarmes had come to Locndeng: nothing shy of a momentous event. Chiefs and representatives from the community had all arrived and were awaiting Bethan. With our arrival, the ceremony began.

The bolt-action rifle was rusted and battered. Deadly, nonetheless, and after discussion, argument, and sporadic applause, the weapon was passed ceremonially to the gendarmes; and out of the forest.

We left Locndeng feeling hopeful because one poachers’ weapon had been taken out of circulation. There would now be fewer spent shells in the forest…and more animals. Exhausted, but pleased, we piled into the truck and headed for Duoala. It was evening and we faced hours of driving on a logging road through forest. I watched the roadside intently, as usually this is a great way to see wildlife, but not tonight. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Transfer Ceremony, Gendarmes & Research Scientists
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Sunni Black, Unknown

Our final approach to the savannah was stopped short by the discovery of fresh elephant feces. It was a discovery of mixed feelings…three elephants had just been poached. Not knowing how many elephants are in the forest, fresh feces at least indicate they have not been exterminated. On the other hand — I know from experience — you can be standing right next to an African elephant on nearly open savannah and not know it is there. Here in the deep forest we fear we will bump into one before we know it is there, and you don’t ever want to startle a 12,000lb animal. Also, in light of recent poaching, it could be a poor time for an intimate encounter.

Bethan knows elephants well and after a few moments determined that the feces were at least one or two days old. While elephants were clearly in the area, there was a good chance we were not right on top of them. We were probably within about one-hundred yards of the savannah at this point, so we continued to the end of our planned journey. The “savannah” turned out to be more of a steep rocky knoll, but it was open and high, giving us a spectacular view of unbroken forest and mountains as far as we could see. An eagle soared overhead and somewhere far away we heard the brief chatter of primates Bethan identified as chimpanzee. Other than that, the forest sounds were again dominated by cicadas.

Highlight on the return treck to camp was discovery of the hospital bell left behind by German colonists one hundred years ago. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Hospital Bell, Date on Bell, Bowl
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

The forest is extremely dense; some areas have been undisturbed for centuries, and other sections have had limited levels of disturbance over the last century. One hundred years earlier there had been a German outpost here: only with Bethan pointing it out to us, could we see areas of raised earth in the outline of roads, walls, and buildings, long ago incorporated into the forest. It was rumored some of Bethan’s staff located an old bell that had apparently hung on whatever passed as a hospital…in an area as remote as this. We searched but failed to locate it.

This was the forest that Bethan had come to in order to study drills, the largest of all monkeys. Though we were not able to see any monkeys, we heard occasional and very distant calls apparently between small groups. Somewhere beyond the curtain of green were families of drills, gorilla, chimpanzee, forest elephants, and much more….today though, the forest was mostly quiet with the exception of the incessant cicadas. We experimented with our field recorder then headed back into camp to prepare for a more adventurous day tomorrow. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Cicada
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black
SOUND RECORDING: Bill Toone

Bethan knew the trail well (she should) and periodically said something like “…only 3 km as the crow flies from here.” On and on in a constant countdown designed to bring us comfort and to let us know that we were actually making progress. We pushed through vines, clambored over rocks, struggled through ravines and waded creeks. Nature took her due. We were tired, bug bitten, and Bill’s muscles were cramping. Ten miles required more than 10 hours of struggle.

That night our new friends in camp brought us two buckets of warm water and a board to stand on. We stripped and poured refreshing warm water through our hair and over our tired dirty bodies, then changed into fresh dry clothes and wandered up to the camp kitchen for dinner. Pasta on an open fire…Bill complained about the absence of beer (imagine that)…and we relaxed at a plywood table on benches made from the rachis of raffia palm. All in all, very homey and cozy. Camp was simple, but with a kitchen, a tent, and a gated pit toilet to assure privacy, it seemed like heaven.

The pit toilet felt particularly safe: seems the area is patrolled by driver ants. Early morning or evening visits often require you step over a thick line of teeming ants. A misstep could be a problem…close examination of the line revealed individual soldiers, mandibles spread wide, guarding the less well-armed workers. We always showed them the greatest respect. During the day driver ants occasionally fan out in hunting formation, attacking and killing any living creature unable to get out of their path. We experienced this frequently in the forest…often forcing us to sprint through extended areas of hunting ants. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Camp Kitchen, Driver Ant Soldiers, Line of Driver Ants
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

The first part of our walk took us through the farms of Iboti and after that about an hour of very scrubby secondary forest (important because it required walking in the hot sun) we started to leave significant signs of people behind us. Once the farms fell behind us, Bethan began pointing out snares set all along the pathways. Each snare is comprised of a thin sapling cut off about 6-7 feet above the ground. The wire for the snare is fastened on top of the remaining stem and then the tree is arched over towards the ground. The other end of the wire is fastened into a noose and everything held in place with a delicate trigger mechanism. Once we knew what to look for, it was easy to spot a tree that was arched over in an unnatural position. These snares are amazingly common and terribly effective. As a condition of permission to be in the forest, Bethan must leave the snares in place until she is within about one mile (2 km) of her camp. Anything within that perimeter is open for removal so Bethan and her team do their best to keep the area sanitized.

Our porters hiked ahead of us with our gear and we tried to keep pace. We never stopped for lunch, but paused to drink water, eat a handful of trail mix, and continue into the forest. We stopped for about ten minutes at the halfway point in our trek: there was a primitive hunters camp at this point and we looked around and talked to Bethan about the bushmeat trade. Snares are checked infrequently; usually only once or twice a week. The snares are set in two ways. One is designed to snare an animal as they walk through it, the other to snare a leg as they walk over it. When the hunters do come through and collect animals from the snares they are brought back to this temporary camp for butchering…their meat smoked and packed to be carried out to market.

Mulling this over we pressed on, up and down hills, through ravines and across streams and creeks, over rocks and roots and moss-covered stumps and branches, deeper into the forest. It was hot and extremely humid, although by mid-afternoon we were deep in forest and walking in the shade. The trees were too dense to see far but we could occasionally hear the whooshing wingbeats of large hornbills and the distinctive call of the giant plantain-eater. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Cane Rat in Snare, Butchering Camp, Shotgun Shells
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

While to our eyes the Gendarmes are generally harmless and more interested in a small bribe or whiskey, the people in the villages fear them greatly. Their only interaction with Gendarmes is when they burst into a village in the dark of night and take them away. Though guns are illegal, along with hunting for bushmeat, many people in the villages have guns and are hunters. The known presence of an elephant gun in the area would not be good for any of them.

The people whose land Bethan works on are Banen or Bakosi Tribe. The Bakosi clan that controls the area near the elephant gun are called Ndokbiakat. One hundred years ago the Ndokbiakat lived deep in the Ebo Forest — here the Germans brought religion and some education. The Ndokbiakat now live on the perimeters of the Ebo Forest; one clan divided into four villages each with its own chief. After some discussion, the chiefs agreed to send a team into the forest to bring out the gun and turn it over to the officials. After a long and tangled process the gun ended up in the village of Locndeng; the village we would arrive in when we left the forest at the end of  our trip.

Now for the complicated part. The gun has to get to the Gendarmes or some other version of law enforcement. It is illegal to have the gun and dangerous to drive with it in the car in case one is stopped at a frequent roadside check. The local Gendarmes do not have a vehicle and therefore would need to be paid to go to the village to get the gun. What is more, who will get credit for retrieving the gun? Will the Gendarmes be pleased or not? I can’t help but assume there is an angry poacher (maybe more than one) out there that somehow seems excluded from this equation. All we know tonight is that the gun is in Locndeng, the Gendarmes know it, and we have to get up early tomorrow to start walking. [Sunni Black]

Much or our discussions en route to Iboti, both with the village chiefs and with the Gendarmes were about a third species of elephant, the forest elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis). This rarely seen and largely unknown elephant lives in the equatorial forests of western Africa. It is actually more numerous than the savannah elephant we are all most familiar with. The forest elephant is smaller (up to five feet shorter) than the savannah elephant, with rounded ears and straight, thin pinkish-hued tusks. Pinkish hued tusks, and the fact that more attention has been focused on the other elephant species, has left the forest elephant highly vulnerable to poaching. This is where they enter our story.

Shortly before our arrival in Cameroon, three elephants were killed in the Ebo Forest. [EDITOR'S NOTE: See photo below of molar recovered from one of the elephants.] When Bethan learned of this, she was very concerned. It meant that there was a very large gun in the forest, potentially some very dangerous people, and therefore increased risk to herself and to the animals she is studying. [Sunni Black]

PHOTO: Elephant Molar
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

PHOTOS: Iboti Villagers (w/Sunni & Bethan), Classroom “Camp,” Iboti Porter
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Sunni Black, Bill Toone

Indigenous communities are being threatened and coerced by armed logging syndicates, after trying to intervene and stop the logging. This issue is inciting civil unrest and violence. Community leaders are trying to get the attention of Mexican federal and state officials in a desperate attempt to end the cycle of corruption initiated by illegal deforestation. To date, the Mexican government has failed to adequately address these illegal activities or to take action.

ECO-LIFE Foundation has created a website — www.morethanmonarchs.org — to ensure the voices of the local community are heard. Morethanmonarchs.org allows the full story to be told, as it unfolds, without distortion or interference by third parties, and broadcasts the plight of these peoples to the world.

Morethanmonarchs.org captures the stories and accounts of those experiencing the loss of their livelihoods, their forests and the Monarch butterfly. The goal of this website is to allow the people of this region to speak directly to the Mexican government, in order to end the destruction of these precious resources. By supporting these communities’ in protecting their forests, we can help them persuade the Mexican government to support local law enforcement efforts to uphold existing laws protecting the reserve.

Most conservation issues are addressed after it is too late to stop the destruction of environments. While illegal logging has already devastated thousands of acres of forests in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, there is still a chance to salvage this habitat from irreparable damage if we act now to put pressure on the Mexican government. [Bill Toone]

Felix was surprising. We really enjoyed him. As a veterinarian, he has brought his full force of skills and knowledge to significantly improving the quality of life for many animals. Other than two crocodiles (one dwarf and one Nile) the facility is pretty much exclusively dedicated to primates: gorillas, mandrills, chimpanzees and more…all orphans of the bushmeat trade and/or the illegal pet trade. They arrive in his care in a variety of ways and conditions. Seemingly without fail, they appear to flourish under his supervision and the care of nearly 40 employees; all from the local community of Limbe. This makes the Limbe Wildlife Centre one of the largest employers in town. His staff has received international recognition for their work not only with the animals in their facility but for outreach and teaching within the local community.

Millions of Cameroon Francs have been spent on upgrading the facilities, providing food and medicine and on training the talented and dedicated staff. They are supported entirely on donated funds. The food bill alone runs about $3,000 US every month. Felix is the director, head veterinarian, development director, PR manager, designer and planner. He has his hands full and is doing a great job. In a moment of fundraising genius he decided to respond to the ten to twelve emails a month from the US and Europe by people wanting to volunteer at the facility. He welcomes them, but before they come, they know they will have to pay for the opportunity. Each person makes a significant financial contribution and in return they spend a month in a fine facility learning from real masters in animal care and compassion. It’s worth the trip. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Dwarf Croc, Chimp, Bill Toone & Dr. Felix Lankester
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

We spotted a tiny frog nestled in a cocoon of its own mucus, beautiful butterflies and incredible birds. No mammals were seen and in one area shells from a shotgun were found on the ground.

We traveled up a steep and overgrown gorge. Trees at the top of the gorge dropped their roots down over the rocky sides. Lianas covered much of the area like living nets. Finally it seemed we could go no further. An abrupt wall of stone seemed to mark the end of our trip. Closer inspection showed that steps had been cut by machete into one of the larger vines. We carefully climbed the vine and crested the stone face. In front of us was the most beautiful crater lake. Nearly perfectly round, surrounded by scrubby forest. A loud splash as a large Nile monitor dove into the water and swam away. Grebes dotted the surface and an African Finfoot worked the overgrowth along the waters edge. The hot, sweaty walk up the steep hills was quickly forgotten.

The walk back was every bit as interesting as the walk in…albeit there was a sense of a horse heading back to the barn after a long day. We worked our way through a field of manioc and papaya to find the road where we could meet Bethan. On the way we passed by a two room primary school that was in session. We walked by, hoping to be unobtrusive, but it was not to be. One of the instructors came out and shook our hands. He told us he had been telling the students about tourism and wondered if we would come into his class for a moment. It seemed a sterling moment. As is the case in all the schools I have visited in Africa, class is run with a firm hand and the students are extremely well behaved. As we entered they all stood and greeted us in a single chorus. Sitting the kids down, the teacher launched into his presentation, telling the kids about “…white people (just look at us) from Europe and America who come to places like Cameroon because we had no beaches or lakes in our countries.” He pointed out that our presence was positive and helpful to their economy and that we should be treated kindly. Though his presentation was rife with misinformation, the point was probably good. The kids had an exciting day, and it could be attributed to the wonderful characteristic of the place they lived in and would one day be making decisions about. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Frog, Crater Lake, School
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

First and foremost, and at the root of most problems in Cameroon, is corruption. While recent reports place Cameroon as the thirteenth most corrupt country in the world, it was not so long ago that it was rated as the first. It is difficult to tell if they have improved or other nations have declined. Laws are not enforced as long as the person breaking the law can pay an officer for his freedom from prosecution. Because of corruption, money seldom goes where it should. Law enforcement officials do not have the vehicles they need to simply drive the main highway and enforce the laws. This would not necessarily mean arresting the guilty: if all that occurred were the regular confiscation of animals offered for sale, the trade in illegally harvested wildlife would be hugely reduced.

In the first two photos, we see examples of illegally killed roadside bushmeat from degraded or secondary forest: including a monitor lizard, an african civet and a cusimanse, as well as an agitated hunter who would prefer that his illegal harvest be un-noticed or at least undocumented by tourists or conservationists. In the third photo there is a bay duiker: a species found in healthy forests (note also firewood). The presence of the bay duiker in the trade reflects access into areas of remote and primary rain forest provided by roads developed for resource extraction. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Illegal Roadside Bushmeat, Angry Hunter, Bay Duiker
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

There is an extreme sensitivity about photographers throughout Cameroon. Anxious guards at the railway depot hustled us off as they saw us videotaping (be sure to watch for our first podcasts in the coming months) and taking pictures of the logs. The same was true at the mills where the logs were processed into lumber. Our photos were often taken in a hurried manner with a local official or hunter breathlessly trotting up to stop us. [Sunni Black]

PHOTOS: Logs Rail Transit, Logs Await Processing
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

The first layer is a community of people in need of income. The major difference here in a developing country, is the level of need. In general, they form a group of people more desperate than most of us could imagine…on an enormous scale. Having nothing is normal; everything above that is beyond the grasp and comprehension of most. An extremely corrupt government, recently rated as the most corrupt in the world, makes a handful of people ridiculously wealthy while leaving the masses in a state of unforgivable poverty.

People are poorly educated. Education is supposed to be provided by the government until the age of sixteen, and that schooling is supposed to be free. In reality it is not. Most families cannot afford the costs of books, supplies, lost labor, and teacher’s salaries (currently unpaid by the government for the last six months). As a result, even a basic education is seldom achieved by many of the countries poor. Their futures lie within the skills and abilities of their families: subsistence agriculture, logging, mining and hunting.

We can help by supporting programs to educate people without the means to get an education. For example, ECO-LIFE Foundation is working with schools in northern Kenya to ensure an education for Samburu children living on the perimeter of the Samburu National Park by providing the schools with money for food as well as expertise and materials to collect and provide clean drinking water for the students. In doing so we create new opportunities for employment as well as directly address the root of conservation problems…exponential growth of the human population. Data shows that better educated people have smaller families. Smaller families mean a more hopeful future for all of us, and our children. [Sunni Black]

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information about our human population growth crisis view this BBC population growth map or read ECO-LIFE Foundation topic: Habitat Loss.

PHOTOS: Village Dwelling, Hairstylist, Iboti Villagers (& Visitors)
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

For those of you who choose to follow this story, we warn you that some of the stories and images will be difficult. While we will be cautious of what we post, and what we illustrate with images, but we will not avoid the story that needs to be told. We encourage our developed country readers to remember that the most powerful thing about bushmeat in the developing countries is its powerful imagery: primates with unnerving resemblance to ourselves, and other wildlife that we do not consider as palatable within our cultures.

The reality however is that bushmeat trade, the exploitation of wild animals for food, is not simply a reality of developing countries, but of all humanity. Recent reports on our consumption of seafood warn us that we are seriously depleting seafood reservoirs…threatening not only the wildlife of the oceans, but our own future. Monterey Bay Aquarium, in California, has established Seafood Watch to explain this issue and guide us toward making sustainable seafood choices. Also, ECO-LIFE Foundation is working in San Diego with the California Coastal Commission, the Metropolitan Water District, the schools of Escondido and the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy to protect and improve the quality of our watersheds, which in turn protect our fisheries and way of life. [Sunni Black]

EDITOR’S NOTE: To understand how overfishing by western nations creates social unrest and illegal immigration, read this BBC article about Senegal.

PHOTOS: Black Sand Beach, Woodland Kingfisher, Male Agama Lizard
PHOTOGRAPHER: Sunni Black

Cameroon, often called the “Little Africa,” is an amazing country with all the best of the continent found in one place. They will be trekking into the Ebo Forest in search of chimapanzee, gorillas and more…populations threatened by the bushmeat trade.

Sunni will blog as she gets internet access from Cameroon. [Rick Toone]