Chimpanzees in Uganda

Chimpanzees in Uganda are the second most sought-after primates in the region, just second after the mountain gorillas. Over 10,000 persons visit Uganda to see these primates in their natural habitant. The chimpanzees in Uganda stay in rainforested areas and savanna areas. You can find them in places like the Kibale National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Budongo forest and Ngamba Island.

The chimps like the mountain gorillas to 98.8% of their DNA with humans. So don’t be shocked when you get to see them, and they have similar traits with humans. You will actually be amazed while in their presence, its like seeing humans who cant speak your same language.

The chimpanzees when grown with have a weight of 40-80 kg and they reach heights of up to 1.2-1.5 meters. They are omnivores and feed on things like fruits, leaves, seeds, and insects. On top of that they hunt for small animals in the forest, and they can eat them.

The chimpanzees are very social animals, and they live in communities of up to 30 or more individuals. In these groups they feed, play, hunt for food and go about their normal lives. They are empathic and altruism animals. The female form close bonds with each other as males are lone wolfs.

The chimps are very intelligent animals with good problem-solving abilities, able to use tools like sticks, rocks, wood etc. they also hunt and gather food with their unique skills. They communicate with special complex gestures and vocalizations.

The females will give birth to 2-4 offsprings in their lifetime; being about 8 months. On the overall, the chimps will live to up to 60 years in the wild.

Though Uganda has the largest or highest number of chimps in the region, having over half the population of the chimps in the region, chimps are endangered animals listed on the IUCN Red List. They are threatened by lots of things like habitat loss as humans keep encroaching on forest areas cutting trees and destroying the habitats for the animals. The humans also poach these chimps killing them for rituals or profit. Chimps being like humans suffer from severe diseases that can kill them easily.

To conserve the chimps, since the 1960s the Jane Goodall Institute has conducted research on chimpanzees in Uganda and the region, the institute also champions chimpanzee’s conservation and works in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Chimpanzee tourism is also another way of chimpanzee conservation in Uganda. The tourism is done through chimpanzee trekking experiences in the different habitats mentioned at the start of this article.

During the chimpanzee trekking experience, you will either be at the start point in the morning or the afternoon. The experience is not as strenuous as the gorilla trekking experience because the chimps stay in rain forest that are quite low land, the trek in the forest is easy and friendly.

The trek will also not be as long as on a mountain gorilla trek.

The chimp trek, starts in the starting point with a briefing and then you will be assigned a ranger who will take you and the whole group of 8 into the forest to see the chimpanzees. You will spend an hour in the presence of the chimps and then after you will exit the forest. The entire experience will take about 3 to 5 hours.

The experience is done almost every day all year round and can be booked through your tour operator. The cost for the chimpanzee trekking will vary depending on the place you are trekking at.