Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary on Friday 14th July carried out an open day event as a way of celebrating world chimpanzee day with the public.
The event was attended by over 150 members of the general public including tourism stakeholders, media persons, learners among others that boarded MV NODL from the Nakiwogo landing site via Lake Victoria to the sancturay.
This year’s world chimpanzee day comes when the sanctuary is also celebrating 25 years that have led Uganda to achieve remarkable landmarks in conservation, and Ngamba Island
Chimpanzee Sanctuary stands as a shining example of the dedication to protecting
one of the country’s most iconic species, the chimpanzee.
The sanctuary, managed by the Chimpanzee Trust, has been at the forefront of efforts to rehabilitate and care for orphaned and confiscated chimpanzees, and since inception, it has provided a haven for these incredible creatures,
offering them protection, veterinary care, and an environment that mimics their natural
habitat.
According to Dr Joshua Rukundo the Executive Director of Ngamba Island, they thought it wise to give back to the community that has supported Ngamba for 25 years now as well as understand the operations of the sanctuary and it will always be done in every world chimpanzee day plus special days like Christmas, new year’s day, Easter among others where the public will be allowed to get access to the sanctuary free of charge in a way of improving on the public awareness on the importance of conservation.
“Being an open day, we understand and appreciate that Ngamba being an island is difficult to get to but also because we want people to understand and visualize what the lifestyle of the chimpanzees is as well as understanding the sanctuary itself, ” he added.
He also remarked that over the years the sanctuary has provided a home of over 50 chimpanzees, offering them love, care, and the opportunity to thrive in an environment that closely resembles their natural habitat.
“Over the last 10 years we are seeing stability in populations of not only the chimpanzees but also other world life which shows that there is progress and hope for the future that will not only be able to conserve these species for our young children to be able to learn more from them but to also ensure the survivability of these species so that we don’t look back at the chimpanzees the way we lack to the dinosaurs,” Rukundo noted.
Stephen Masaba the Director of Tourism and Business Development at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said that Ngamba Island Sanctuary is one of the great partners that has focused on the conservation of chimpanzees in addition to the Uganda Wildlife Educational Center (UWEC) commonly known as the Entebbe Zoo and other private firms.
“Therefore we are here to make it clear that conservation in Ugandan history has gone very well because we have seen many projects start and fail but conservation especially chimpanzees in this area has persisted for 25 years and has seen the growth of the country’s key species the chimpanzees, ” he added.
Masaba also noted that the country has over 5,000 chimpanzees and there is a plan for the integration of several wildlife resources including some chimpanzees, and rhinos among other species that need to go back to the wild, and this plan will be implemented in the next few years.
Lilla Gabaer a volunteer at Nsambya Babies Home/children welfare and adoption society from Germany excitingly noted that for the first time, she was lucky enough to see chimps at Ngamba Island.
“I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with the chimps and indeed it was a life-changing experience but left me wanting more in some way, although I couldn’t exactly describe what but I have learned many from our closest relatives,” Gabaer added.
About Ngamba Island Sanctuary
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary also known as “Chimp Island” is the leading primate conservation initiative in Uganda and a home of 52 chimps now.
It was opened as a non-profit in 1998 to cater to orphaned chimps that had been rescued from poachers, wildlife traffickers, zoos, and circuses from countries like Burundi, Congo, Russia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Most of the chimpanzees in the sanctuary were rescued from poachers who make good profits by selling them in the pet market or for meat. While in transit with their captors or when waiting to be sold, they are kept in a deplorable state and have to endure great difficulty leaving most traumatized.
Ngamba island is found on Lake Victoria which is close to Entebbe town covering about 100 acres of forest which provide a natural environment and food for the chimpanzees.
How to Reach Ngamba Island;
Although on the open day management of the sanctuary used the MV NODL vessel as the means of transport to get to Ngamba Island, one needs to take a boat from the waterfront beach where most of the boats park and depart in Entebbe close to the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre originally known as Entebbe Zoo for 23 kilometers on Lake Victoria.
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