Hannes Jaenicke is known for his numerous film and television roles. He is also an environmental activist and has been active for years on behalf of animals, among other things. The 64-year-old has now written his first children’s book. It will be published on Thursday (19 September).
“Mukiza” tells the story of a mountain gorilla who is born in a national park in Uganda, Central Africa. There he grows up seemingly carefree in a group of mountain gorillas. But the little monkey quickly learns that, alongside all the beauty and excitement, there are also dangers lurking in the rainforest.
Mukiza gets caught in a wire noose that people have laid. And that’s not all: living together with the other gorillas isn’t always peaceful either. When his father and leader dies, Mukiza is faced with a big challenge.
In the book, children learn a lot about how living together in a mountain gorilla group works – and what threats the large animals are exposed to. The main thing that makes it stand out is that Mukiza is not made up. The monkey really exists. He was born in 1999 in Uganda’s Bwindi Rainforest National Park and has been observed by researchers ever since.
In the appendix of the book, which is illustrated with beautiful drawings by Julius Brümmer, there are photos of Mukiza as a small baby gorilla and finally as a stately silverback. These were provided by gorilla researcher Martha Robbins, who researches the animals. She was also the one who told Jaenicke about Mukiza.
Mountain gorillas: “one of the few success stories” of species conservation
He says he has never met the gorilla himself. However, for the documentary “In Action for Gorillas” many years ago, he spent days accompanying and filming a family clan of mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Many of the young animals have a similar fate to Mukiza,” says Jaenicke.
At that time, mountain gorillas were still threatened with extinction. That is not the case now; there are just over 1,000 specimens. “They are now one of the few success stories and a glimmer of hope when it comes to animal and species protection,” says Jaenicke.
The book is also intended to contribute to this. One euro from each copy sold goes directly to an organization that works to protect mountain gorillas.
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