Chimpanzee Trust April Updates

We celebrate the life of one of our long term supporters, Ms. Christina Nakimbugwe. Christina succumbed to malaria last month at the age of 85. She donated the land on which we built the first and only community primary school in Myende fishing village (neigbouring Ngamba Island). She also donated 5 acres of land to construct a hospital for the community. The hospital project is still on-going. May her Soul Rest In Peace.

Kalema

The struggle for the Alpha position still continues; it is now clearly between two high ranking males Kalema and Umutama. The others like Kisembo were suppressed.

We have observed that Kalema has advanced over Umutama, he has enlarged his territory by getting more allies- adult chimps like Kidogo, Natasha and Robbie now bob for him as a sign of respect. With this support, he challenges his opposers like Maisko. In the past after too much pressure from Maisko he would run towards the fence and prepare to escape. Now he is not bothered by Maisiko’s moves but rather focuses more on seeking support from the other chimps if Maisko becomes a problem.

We however note that Kalema still recognizes and respects Umutama since the latter is still supported by the biggest sect of the very adult chimpanzees like Eddy, Maisiko, Megan.

Umutama also puts on powerful displays at times and during such displays, he is in control.

The two rivals try not to get in each others’ way and they dont engage in fights. For instance If Umutama enters into a room, Kalema avoids entering into the same room

Farmers sort tree seedlings on a nursery

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a conservation strategy is relatively new in Uganda. It’s taken a lot of time and education to convince farmers that it is not a land-grabbing tactic. (It has been a common practice in Uganda for people to pose as land developers but later manipulate local farmers who end up losing their land to the ‘developers’.)

Three years after CSWCT launched its PES scheme, we examine how the perception of private land owners has changed.

Read their reactions here

• The staff had a general meeting to update each other on the progress of the organisation programs as well as build the team. Each staff underwent general health checks. In addition the veterinary team had a training to introduce the benefits of diagnostic pathology as an integral component in the value chain of wildlife medicine and management. This was done at Makerere University, Kampala.