As Uganda’s main celebration was being held at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) also joined the world to recognize the world chimpanzee day.
According to Dan Mirembe the head of the primates section at UWEC, this year’s celebration focused on promoting human-chimpanzee coexistence amidst exponential human population growth that requires a multifaceted approach including community engagement, habitat conservation, sustainable practices, conflict mitigation, research, education, and strong legal frameworks.
Mirembe said that chimpanzees face so many threats in the wild with the most common one as habitat destruction that requires a need for humans and chimps to coexist which is very possible.
“As we celebrate this day, our message is hinging on human-chimpanzee coexistence. There is a great possibility that we can live anonymously with our creatures and we want to thank the government of Uganda because of this institution that has done incredible work of rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife,” he noted.
In addition, Mirembe highlighted that the institution as of now has 24 chimpanzees and 99% of them have been rescued from different walks of life.
He also remarked that these creatures have a strong bond between a mother and a baby meaning that one to get a baby chimp has to first kill the mother because of the cohesive social organization that the chimpanzees have.
“So when you see one baby chimp that has been rescued, you have to know that behind that baby chimp there around six chimpanzees that were killed, for instance from 1970 to date, UWEC has so far rescued 60 chimpanzees meaning that around 360 have died as a result of these chimpanzees to be here but we believe that if we change our mindset and live harmoniously and coexist with our cousins,” he highlighted.
When asked about the integration process, Mirembe noted that as professionals they have endeavored to study the behavior attributes of each chimpanzee and they know when a new one is brought whom they start with, and who comes last.
Roland Mumanye the assistant animal keeper at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre said that chimpanzees at UWEC receive meals four times a day and they make sure that they observe the process however the chimps also respond to their feeding.
“In the morning we give them porridge with sugar and boiled eggs, then at 11:00am we give them sweet potatoes, cassava, nuts, and cabbages among others, at 3:00pm fruits of all kinds say watermelon, mangoes, sugarcanes, pawpaw, etc, and finally in the evening, chimpanzees are served with posho that is 2 times a week (Thursday and Sunday) and then other days they receive vegetables and pumpkins,” he added.
Mumanye when asked about the social structure of the chimpanzees, noted that it depends on the hierarchy, whereby the chimps choose their alpha male depending on their strength, and in most cases it is the most energetic and very strong compared to other dominant males which same applies to UWEC with Alma as the alpha male.
World Chimpanzee Day
July 14, 1960, is the day Dr. Jane Goodall first stepped foot in what is now Gombe Stream National Park to study wild chimpanzees. The day is therefore remembered and recognized as the World Chimpanzee Day.
The day is celebrated to improve understanding by educating global audiences about chimpanzees, their uniqueness and innate value as a species, as well as their importance to ecosystems, raise awareness and inspire action about threats they face in the wild including habitat loss, disease, and wildlife trafficking, while also advocating for their welfare in captive situations
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