Conservation

Conservation at Ngogo

Garrett is one of the many Ngogo chimpanzees with a snare injury. He stepped in a snare made of nylon, a material that does not degrade over time, over a decade ago and the snare was wrapped around his hand until a veterinary intervention in 2015.

Kibale National Park contains the largest population of chimpanzees in Uganda and one of the largest in East Africa, making it one of the few remaining strongholds for chimpanzees in the wild. The main threat to chimpanzees in Kibale is poaching, which has increased in frequency alongside increases in local human populations. Although there are local taboos against eating chimpanzees, they get caught in the snares set by poachers to catch other wildlife so often that it is estimated that fully one-third of the chimpanzees within the park have snare-related injuries. Those chimpanzees who are able to free themselves usually cannot remove the snares entirely, and over time, the wire or nylon material becomes wrapped tighter and tighter around their fingers, hands, or feet, causing pain and infection, and often leading to the loss of the snared body parts entirely or even death.

A wire neck snare.

In an effort to protect chimpanzees and other animals in Kibale National Park from illegal hunting, the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project employs eight teams of local people, who patrol the park for snares and signs of poaching activity. We work closely with local Uganda Wildlife Authority law enforcement officers, to whom we turn in confiscated snares and GPS coordinates when we encounter signs of poaching activity. Our snare removal teams currently patrol nearly the entirety of Kibale National Park.

 This program would not be possible without the generous support of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Conservation Grants Fund and SAFE Granting Program, the North Carolina Zoo, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Biodiversity Consultancy Ltd. and numerous private donors. Please consider making a donation through our secure Paypal links on the left side of this page to help us continue funding this important program.