Trip to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary

I finally managed to arrange my visit to Ngamba. I wanted to visit on the weekend so I would not miss anything happening at UWEC during the week. So I went to the office in Entebbe to sign some forms and arrange when I would be leaving and coming back. I was to leave some time Saturday and come back Monday afternoon. Perfect weekend trip. While I was being "interviewed" by the volunteer coordinator, he asked me what type of experience I wanted to get out of visiting Ngamba. Of course, if available I wanted to learn about some primate medicine, husbandry management and conservation efforts. He explained to me, as I expected, that the veterinary part was very hit and miss depending on what is going on. Unless there are planned health checks for all the chimps, the vets do not do much unless something comes up. Not a problem, I was just excited to finally get out there. By that point I was told by the reservations officer that I was leaving on Saturday afternoon with a group of tourists on a speed boat. 

Saturday morning came, around 9:00AM, when I received a phone call from Dr. Joshua Rukundo, the sanctuary manager, operations director, and one of the veterinarians, that there was a boat leaving very soon, if I was ready to go, that I could leave with him. I could have passed the early offer to go except that he had some actual vet work to do on a chimp... so I jumped out of bed and got ready faster than I could blink an eye as I Was NOT going to miss an opportunity like that. Joshua came and picked me up from my banda and we headed for the pier to board the speed boat. By speed boat, it took about 45min; by ferry it was about 3 hours -- for only 37km distance, glad we took a speed boat. It was finally nice to be on some water again, I was surely missing it!

Arriving at the island 

Once we finally arrived on the island, instead of getting a tour of the place, Joshua and I headed straight for the clinic. We were met by Dr. Titus Makundo, the island's resident veterinarian. He explained to us that Baluku, one of the adult males, got into a fight with another male and sustained a deep wound laceration on his arm that needed treatment. So Titus had him brought to a holding area where he could be darted. Once he went down, a few keepers carried him into the clinic. Baluku definitely had a deep wound that needed to be stitched up. Apparently these types of wounds are very common. Its the large canine teeth of the chimps that once they bite through the skin, and the chimp pulls away, a large tear occurs. While we all assessed the wound, I was in charge of monitoring this chimp; taking a heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature every 10 minutes, as he was not under general inhalant anesthetic. Titus worked on suturing up the wound. I must say, it is really like looking after a little human; their vital parameters are so similar to ours its amazing. After completion of the suturing, I bandaged him up, he was given the reversal agent and then put back into an isolated enclosure to recover. 

The clinic 

Joshua prepping the dart

Unfortunately, as I must say this now that I was not able to get any photos of the procedure, nor could I obtain any photos of a human being in direct contact with a chimp (like my baby chimp photos). This is the policy of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) that photos of this nature are not allowed so as not to promote the pet trade and that humans can safely interact so close with wild chimps. I totally agree with this. Any other photos were fine, even with people in them as long as there is a clear barrier between the human and the chimp.

After we cleaned up, Titus proceeded to give me a tour of the place. To put it in perspective of the size of this island: it was about 100 acres and the chimps have access to a forest of about 95 acres whereas the facility is on one tiny 5 acre tip of the island. I was given a proper tour of the hospital, the island shop, the staff quarters where I was staying, some grave-sites of chimps passed, and a bunch of plants that the chimps eat that act as natural remedies to ailments (from malaria, to upset stomach, to head pains!) Then the different holding facilities for the chimps. There were 2 main established groups here. The one main group is the one that has access to the forest all day, then there is a younger group that has a smaller outside area to use. This group was slowly to be integrated into the larger group, and it would take some time. All the chimps are brought into the main holding facility at night. I was going to get to see all the different feedings during my stay there.

Chimp graves

These are the skeletal remains of a female chimp killed
by this mantrap. With her fingers caught in its vicious
metal teeth, she dragged the 12kg trap along the ground
until she slowly and painfully died of starvation. Mantraps
such as this represents one of the biggest threats to
chimps in Uganda, claiming at least 6 lives per year.

 










I was also fortunate to meet 2 German girls who were doing chimp behavioural research for their PhD's. They came from the MAx Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. They were essentially studying evolutionary anthropology and comparing brain development of chimps to human children. Very interesting!!!

Over the next 2 days, I was able to observe these chimps, especially during the 6:30AM, 11:30AM, 2:30PM and 6:30PM feedings. The keepers also allowed me to help with the morning and afternoon feedings. It provided good enrichment for them. I also learned that one reason they encourage the chimps to come in for the night is to conserve the forest that they use. Chimps make a new nest every night and with 48 chimps doing that, the resources in the forest can be depleted quite quickly. It also helps with keeping a more constant forage supply in the forest for them. 

Back holding area, also leading to the forest

Back of the main holding facility

Back of the main holding facility

Front of the main holding facility

I got a chance to get to know the keepers really well and hang out with the German researchers during my stay. I will admit though, when there is nothing going on, it really did get boring there and you do feel really isolated from civilization. Those researchers were VERY excited to get a chance to get off the island on Monday, because it had been 3 weeks since they were on the main land...  

Afternoon feeding for visitors

Dinner time

So sophisticated 

Please can I have some more?

Wait your turn

So thoughtful

Beautiful island sunset

Finally, a bit of background:
Ngamba Island was purchased in 1998 by the CSWCT and was started as a sanctuary for orphaned and rescued chimpanzees. It has gone through major expansion since its inception and has done a lot of work to promote conservation of these endangered species. These chimps of course could never be released back into the wild, because they would not know how to survive, but they can serve a purpose for educational outreach to communities who live around them to encourage respect and protection of them. 

Their mission statement sums it up quite nicely: To promote the understanding, appreciation and conservation of chimpanzees and their habitats in particular and wildlife in general.

And their vision is one which I very much agree with: Africa's chimpanzee populations are appreciated and valued by the public, secure in their natural habitat, and no longer threatened. CSWCT is among the leaders in chimpanzee-focused environmental conservation, providing excellent care of rescued chimpanzees, contributing to public awareness and understanding of conservation issues, and engaging communities living alongside chimpanzee populations.