Meet Naomie Baye, Bonobo Tracker in the Congo Rainforest
Naomie Lohandjola Baye is one of the newest staff members on the Friends of Bonobo (ABC) team in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A bonobo monitoring team leader at Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve, she makes daily forays into the forest to observe and document how bonobos are using the forest. The tracking teams also ensure that people using the reserve are aware of the limits on hunting and fishing there.
“My job consists of monitoring bonobos for 8 hours a day, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and then from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.,” says Baye. The monitoring teams slog through often chest-high water in the seasonally flooded forest, and a day’s work is physically exhausting. On other days she works on narrative reports on what they observed and participates in planning meetings with partner communities.
Inspired by the matriarchal bonobos, ABC Director Fanny Minesi seeks opportunities to hire women for positions like Baye’s, which are more commonly held by men in the DRC. Baye was born and raised in Mbandaka, the capital of Équateur Province where the bonobo reserve is located, and she earned her master’s degree in nature conservation from the local university. She credits her mother’s for sparking her passion for conservation and her education for focusing her commitment.
“I fell in love with conservation during my academic internships at the EALA Botanical Garden,” a 900-acre garden established in 1900 near Mbandaka. Baye feels fortunate to be working in her chosen field, protecting the wild lands around her hometown.
When she began working with ABC in August of 2023, Baye spent weeks at Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa, learning about bonobo biology and their rainforest habitat from ABC’s Suzy Kwetuenda. Kwetuenda, a biologist, has worked with ABC for more than 12 years and serves as Baye’s mentor, sharing her knowledge of bonobos, the project, and the community.
Back in Equateur, the job was challenging at first. At 27 years old, Baye had to lead a team of older and more experienced men and women. But she soon found her way and was rewarded the first time she saw bonobos in their natural habitat. “It was an unforgettable moment in my journey.”
She and her team were also elated the day they found a long missing bonobo. Mayele — son of Maya, matriarch of the bonobo group released to EBCR in 2022 — had not been seen since the violent attacks on the bonobo reserve in 2023 that left several bonobos dead. Seeing that he was still doing well was a huge relief.
She hopes people locally and beyond will understand that bonobos are a very special species, closely related to humans. “We have an obligation to protect them for future generations,” says Baye, who has a 2-year-old son. “Bonobos are affectionate beings, and orphaned bonobos deserve a second chance,” Baye says.
