CHIMPANZEE TRACKING IN KIBALE NATIONAL PARK

Overview: Kibale National Park, 795km2 wide located in western Uganda. The park, with characteristics of lowland rainforest, woodland, bush, grasslands, and wetland vegetation, touches into Kamwenge, Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Bunyangabu, and Kasese Districts. The terrain of the forest starts from a minimum of 1,100m above sea level in the south, rising to 1,590m in the north, was gazetted forestry reserve in 1932 and then turned national park in 1993. Kibale forest has a moist temperate climate with an average day temperature of 270C /810F and the night at 150C/ 590F and 1,700mm average annual rainfall. The dry seasons Dec-Feb June and July while Mar-May receives mild rains. The period Aug-Nov receives the highest amounts of rainfall with heavy storms sometimes raining on for some days. The mean annual temperature of areas around the Kibale forest is 240 Celsius. These pleasant weather and climatic conditions suitably support no less than 350 luxuriant plant and tree species with favorable conditions for thriving and survival of huge wildlife presence. Kibale National Park is home to different mammal species; notably 13 primate species, in excess of 320 bird species, reptiles, insects amongst many others. Kibale National Park has a huge worldwide reputation because of high population of chimpanzees, chimpanzee tracking, and habituation safaris and expeditions.

CHIMPANZEE (Pan troglodytes) is an ape resident in the wilderness sharing 98.7% DNA with humankind’s closest relative in the wilderness. Chimpanzees’ body is covered in black hairs save for the face, hands, toes, and hindquarters. Chimpanzees have long arms and legs with five fingers and toes. Thumbs separated from other fingers and toes help in grasping and holding onto items, using tools, and stabilizing movement. Chimpanzees naturally walk on both legs and arms; knuckle-walking. Occasionally chimpanzees hold items in their hands and walk only on their legs when carrying, transporting, delivering, or transferring them.

Behaviors Chimpanzees are social mammals and live in communities sometimes reaching 150 members under command of an alpha male. They split up into smaller groups in the mornings to access survival resources with ease. The alpha male is an authoritarian. He ensures security to community members, discipline in the group, direction and course of movement, feeding and watering areas and controls routine activities. The alpha male enjoys privileges of mating and feeding rights. Chimpanzees leave their nests at daybreak, search and move to areas with plenty of food. They take siesta at noon, engage battle drills and mock fights, play games, guard, sentry and patrols, curdling and grooming. They feed one last time close to evening, and make nests around sunset for the night. They are very quiet and inactive in the night except if there is any threat largely by predator, thunderstorms or wild bush fire.

Chimpanzees are omnivores with huge options for diet. Fruits, plants, fresh vegetation, shoots, barks, rhizomes, root tubers, nuts, eggs, insects, grasses, form main diet. Chimpanzees hunt in groups, capture and feed on small antelopes, reptiles, birds, monkeys, rodents besides capturing fish in shallow streams, swamps and ponds of water. Chimpanzee preferred natural habitat is rainforest with plenty of trees that ensure reliable fruit supply though they easily adapt and seasonally inhabit woodland, grasslands and visit wetlands for survival resources. 

Threats Chimpanzees are categorized Endangered with average 180,000-250,000 only individuals remaining on the globe; 800 only individuals estimated in Budongo Forest Reserve. Chimpanzees may live up to 35 years old in their natural habitat. Predators for chimpanzees in the wilderness include leopards, lions, and crocodiles. Diseases, bush fire, droughts are other natural threats to chimpanzees. Humankind remains the greatest threat to chimpanzee life survival; illegal international wildlife traffickers, capture for zoos, cinema, pets and scientific research. Some indigenous community members trade in chimpanzee body parts for rituals and ceremonies, hunt chimpanzees for game meat, set bush fires that destroy their habitat while others poison, lay traps and kill chimpanzees that encroach on their farmlands. Chimpanzees contract human diseases and unnatural behaviors through uncontrolled human interactions, careless disposal of human waste, littering amongst others.