Ngamba Island

Ngamba Island

The Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is one of those places that make Uganda arguably the best place to observe chimpanzees. Chimpanzees are one of the five great apes. They have two pairs of limbs, no tail, and are highly intelligent compared to all the other 5. Chimps are capable of using tools in a complex way to harvest insects or fight off threats. Chimpanzees and bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) are the closest relatives to humans with about 98% DNA match. They have been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ever since it was discovered that their overall world population was now less than 300,000 individuals. Chimpanzees suffer more from loss of habitat, the pet trade, and poaching. The primates are now extinct in four countries in Africa.

Uniqueness

• The main places to observe habituated chimps in Uganda are in Budongo forest, Kibale forest, Kalinzu forest, Toro – Semliki Wildlife Reserve, and Kyambura gorge.
• Wild chimps can also be sighted in Bwindi Impenetrable forest, Bugoma forest, and other smaller pockets of forests across the country.
• The Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary is a 100-acre tropical rain forest in one of the Ssese Islands in Uganda.
• It is managed daily by staff from Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT).