Ngamba Island Chimp Sanctuary -- Uganda

This tragedy is being repeated day after day in parts of Central and West Africa. The bushmeat trade is booming, the international demand for exotic pets has never been greater, and time is running out for the last of the great apes.

The Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda was established in 1998 to provide orphaned chimpanzees with a safe haven and to implement a comprehensive approach to chimpanzee conservation, from snare removal projects and education programs to eco-tourism and chimp habituation projects.
 
The sanctuary began with the relocation of 19 chimps from the Ugandan Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) sanctuary in Entebbe and the much smaller Isinga Island in Queen Elizabeth National Park. UWEC, the official sanctuary for confiscated animals in Uganda, was simply unable to provide adequate long-term facilities for the growing number of orphaned chimps coming to them, mainly poached from the forests of neighboring Congo and smuggled into Uganda for trade. UWEC asked several non-governmental organizations, including IFAW, to help.
 
The Ngamba Island sanctuary is managed by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), a partnership of five trustee organizations committed to the welfare and conservation of wildlife – IFAW, UWEC, the Born Free Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales, Australia.
 
Currently home to 33 orphaned chimps, Ngamba Island Chimp Sanctuary is an uninhabited, densely forested island of about 40 hectares (99 acres), situated on the equator in Lake Victoria, 23 kilometers (14 miles) from Entebbe, Uganda. The island is large compared to most wild animal sanctuaries and provides a safe, nearly natural environment for the chimps. Its estimated carrying capacity is 30 chimps.
 
But sadly, in 17 months in 2000 and 2001, the Uganda Wildlife Authority confiscated an additional 16 chimpanzees (averaging one chimp every 4 weeks), most of which were under three years old. Based on the rate of previous chimpanzee confiscations in Uganda (one chimp every two years), it was never envisaged that the sanctuary would reach full capacity only three years after its establishment.
 
The integration of new orphans into the original community of 19 is ongoing. The chimps range in age from two to 19 years old, with an almost equal balance of males and females.
 
The influx of confiscated infants in such a short time has increased the need to ease the overcrowding on Ngamba Island. Plans are underway to create a second chimp sanctuary on a forested 16 hectares (40 acres) section of neighboring Nsadzi Island. The Trust is beginning to develop Nsadzi Island and to provide additional veterinary facilities and staff accommodation on Ngamba.
 
The Trust manages the sanctuary, coordinates numerous subsidiary and complementary projects, and covers virtually all aspects of chimpanzee conservation, including education and outreach projects, wild population censuses, chimp-habituation for eco-tourism, and snare-removal patrols. The Population and Habitat Viability Analysis (PHVA) Conference in 1997 found that snares were one of the major threats to the survival of chimpanzees.
 
IFAW has supported the Trust’s snare removal program since 1999. The comprehensive effort includes deploying snare removal teams, monitoring illegal hunting practices, and training Ugandan Wildlife Authority rangers in these activities.
 
The snare removal program currently operates in two forest blocks (Kibale and Buduongo). It is hoped all forest blocks in Uganda with resident chimp populations will be incorporated. Since 1999, the number of chimps recorded caught in snares and with snare-related injuries has gone down. The number of snares removed has also declined; some of this decline may be attributed to the presence of rebel armies in these areas.
 
Although chimpanzees are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), as well as Ugandan and other national laws, they are still seriously threatened by illegal poaching for the exotic pet and bushmeat trades, and from expanding logging and agricultural activities.