Chimpanzee

Common chimpanzee in Kibale National Park

With a population estimated at 5,000, the common or eastern chimpanzee is the sole subspecies found in Uganda. It is found in Kibale, Budongo Forest, Kalinzu Forest, Bwindi, Bugoma Forest, Rwenzori Mountains, and other forest reserves.

Animals

Central and western Africa are home to the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), a big ape that inhabits tropical forests and woodland savannahs. With 96.7 percent of our genetic makeup shared, it is a unique black-coated ape that is the closest surviving relative of humans. Additionally, scientific study clearly indicates that humans have a common progenitor. Chimpanzees and humans share traits such as long arms, brown to black coats, and opposable thumbs.Adults and teenage people are around the same size.

 A male chimp may reach a height of 1.2 meters (4 feet) and weigh 60 kg (132 pounds), whereas a female can reach a height of 1.1 meters (3.5 feet) and weigh 47 kg (103.6 pounds) at standing height. In Kibale Forest, an adult chimpanzee is seated on a log. Adults and teenage people are around the same size. The only chimpanzee subspecies found in Uganda is the common, or eastern, chimpanzee. But it also takes over the tropical forests of Central African Republic, Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Uganda, there is a sizable Chimpanzees and humans share traits such as long arms, brown to black coats, and opposable thumbs. Adults and teenage people are around the same size.

Roughly 5,000 members of the common chimpanzee population, as assessed by the IUCN Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2010–2020.since 1960, Jane Goodall and others have researched chimpanzee behavior at Gombe Stream and many locations throughout Africa, such as the Ugandan forests of Budongo and Kibale. Long-term studies have been carried out in the following locations: Kalinzu Forest Reserve (1995–present), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (1995–2001), Budongo Forest Reserve (1960–61 and 1991–present), and Kibale National Park in Kanyawara (1982–present) and Ngogo (1992–present).

The ecology and behavior of chimpanzees in their various habitats have been the main subjects of these studies. With over 500 individuals in each, the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Budongo Forest Reserve, Kibale National Park, and Bugoma Forest Reserve have the four largest populations.

Of all the chimpanzees in Uganda, around 25% live in Kibale National Park alone. In the woods of Kasyoha-Kitomi, Kalinzu, and Maramagambo, there are less than 500 chimpanzees in total. Nevertheless, the chimpanzees in these three linked parks comprise a single population of about 900 individuals.

Thinking chimpanzee

New research reveals that the nearest cousins of humans are capable of “thinking about thinking,” or “metacognition.”

The Social Structure of Chimpanzee

Living in a vast, loosely affiliated “community” (referred to as a band or troop), chimpanzees are organized into an internal hierarchy headed by an alpha male and composed primarily of related males. Since women typically have weaker links to their main group than do men, emigration between communities is highly prevalent.

Although chimpanzee troops can consist of anything from 15 to 80 individuals, they will move, sleep, and eat in smaller sub-groups of up to 10 people within their communities. Members of these subgroups may come and go frequently, giving them a great deal of flexibility. Mothers and daughters usually have close relationships; daughters tend to continue with their mothers until they are mature enough to end the relationship.

Son-mother relationships can last for more than 40 years. A troop has a designated core area that is constantly patrolled by troops on guard duty. As grooming professionals, chimpanzees often spend hours rubbing their fingers through each other’s hair to get rid of dead skin, dirt, and bothersome parasites.Primate grooming keeps them clean, fosters the development of friendships, and strengthens social bonds.

Chimpanzees grooming each other in Kibale Uganda

Grooming one another is a major social activity for these giant apes. Because grooming keeps monkeys clean and facilitates the development of friendships and stronger relationships between them, it is crucial for social bonding.

Their Intelligence

Chimpanzees are the most intelligent animals on Earth, second only to humans, and they have evolved amazing means of communication. These shrewd animals communicate with one another by making gestures, making facial expressions, and utilizing a variety of vocalizations, including screams, grunts, and hoots. Researchers have trained the chimps to speak in American Sign Language in language research in the USA.

They have occasionally shown that they understand something by inventing compound phrases to describe novel objects (like “rock berry,” which describes a nut). Primatologists “fishing” in termite mounds using modified equipment like sticks have observed chimpanzees. In other cases, scientists have seen chimps using an anvil and stone to split open nuts.

Chimpanzee diet

An ape consuming fruit from a tree

Diet of Chimpanzees

The diets of chimpanzees are not particularly particular. Their favorite food is fruit, but they also eat leaves, flowers, seeds, insects, bird eggs, and even other creatures like wild pigs and monkeys. A few chimpanzee groups consume as much as 200 different types of food.

In Tanzania’s national parks, the Gombe Stream and Mahale Mountains, primatologists have documented chimpanzees engaging in routine hunting of red colobus monkeys. Additionally, chimpanzees in Uganda’s Kalinzu Forest have been observed by researchers to consume blue- and red-tailed monkeys and to make futile attempts to chase black-and-white colobus.

Chimpanzee Gestation

Every five to six years, female chimps typically give birth to a single child (and sporadically to twins). The newborn chimpanzee will cling to its mother’s fur for the first six months of its life, after which it will ride on her back until it is two years old.

Following that, the newborn animal will grow up spending the following seven to ten years with its mother, learning how to use tools, find food, and construct sleeping nests. Chimpanzee babies depend on their moms for care, protection, and education, much like humans do. A mother chimpanzee’s bond with her young is similar to the one humans have with our moms.

Visitors observing chimpanzee soldiers in Uganda’s rainforests

The majority of western Uganda’s primary tropical forests are home to chimpanzees, and Uganda offers the finest chances for chimpanzee tracking on the continent. In Kibale Forest National Park, the Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Semliki Wildlife Reserve, and the Budongo and Kanyiyo Pabidi forests in Murchison Falls National Park, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has trained a number of chimpanzee troops for use in monkey tourism.

In Kibale Forest, chimpanzee-tracking excursions that depart from the Kanyanchu trailhead provide the finest chance to witness primates in their natural habitat. The half-day chimpanzee trekking experience and the full-day chimpanzee habituation experience are the two available chimpanzee experiences.

 Forest guided chimpanzee-tracking excursion

Chimpanzee Tracking in Uganda

All-inclusive primate safaris are available from local tour operators such as Naleyo tours and travels. These tours usually depart from Entebbe and stay one or two nights in Kibale National Park, which is about 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of Kampala.

Later on in the journey, there is typically a connection to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a boat safari and savannah game drive. In order to visit the mountain gorillas, tourists usually connect directly to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park if they are not interested in the large savannah game or after. The Kibale chimpanzee forest and the gorilla woods in extreme southwest Uganda are located quite a distance apart. You can endure the eleven-hour drive, but most operators advise spending the night in between the two locations.Kasese Airport (55 km, 1.5 hours drive from Kibale) and Kihihi or Kisoro Airports (1.5 hours drive from Bwindi) have a few scheduled or chartered flights that are a fantastic way to connect between the two primate hotspots.