Support orphaned and wild Chimpanzees in Uganda

Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust is grateful for the continuous support from donors through the GlobalGiving platform. From the support received we have been able to do the following;

1.0 Chimpanzee feeding

Chimpanzee food is one of the major expenses incurred by the Trust. The chimpanzee diet consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, various cereals and enrichments like honey, peanuts and other supplements. This food has to be delivered to the Island every 10 days, for the fresh foods and once every month for the dry rations. The chimpanzees follow a specific diet that is designed to ensure that they each receive adequate nutrition to ensure proper development of the chimpanzees, maintenance and health. Chimpanzee food and the staff are transported by boat to the Island. This has only been possible through the support of generous donors.

2.0 Enrichment

Enrichment for captive chimpanzees is very important in their well-being since in the wild they spend much of their day foraging. To make this possible for those at Ngamba Island, these chimps are given enrichments like honey which is put in the feeders, hay to mimic the wild making of nests which are made every day and Afromomum plants. Chimpanzees at Ngamba Island enjoy all these forms of enrichment.

3.0 Veterinary care

Routine chimpanzee monitoring is done by both the veterinarian and caregivers for injuries and any signs of illness. In this 4^th quarter, 3 chimpanzees sustained minor injuries partly attributed to Cocoa and Medina (some of the females) who were on swelling. However, Asega (one of the adult males) sustained a deep wound on the right upper arm that was stitched and treated by the resident veterinarian.

As a way of disease monitoring, faecal samples were collected from the chimpanzees and examined to determine the worm burden in the chimp community. Based on the results, all the chimpanzees were dewormed with albendazole. Also, chimpanzees above 30 years were given multivitamins monthly to boost their body immunity.

4.0 Protection of staff from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radical changes in the operational protocols of the sanctuary, to minimize the risk of infection for the chimpanzees in our care. As such, strict measures, like regularly sanitizing, upgrading and wearing of specific Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) have been instituted following the set Covid-19 sops. All the staff are required to sanitize regularly while at the sanctuary and at home in addition to putting on personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves, coverall, facemasks and gumboots.

Furthermore, staff are tested monthly against the Covid-19 virus using the rapid antigen testing kits and in case any is found positive, they are isolated and treated.

Call for more support

Management of Chimpanzee Trust that manages Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is grateful to the donors for the generous support towards the operations of the Trust throughout 2021. The Trust continues to need your support and partnership to ensure that it continues to carry out the different conservation activities both at Ngamba Island and in the field operations. For a successful 2022, we have a funding need of $839,000 which we believe can be covered through your generous support.

Links:

• Monthly newsletters

During the last quarter, the sanctuary received a new member and currently, it's home to 52 orphaned rescued chimpanzees. Chimpanzee Trust provides for their welfare needs including veterinary health care, feeding, infrastructure, and staffing. Through this platform, we have been able to raise funds that have enabled us to ensure the welfare of both the chimps at Ngamba and those that are in the wild.

Chimpanzee feeding

We have been able to procure food for the 52 chimpanzees throughout the quarter and we feed them a balanced diet 4 times a day. The supply is has a ten days interval and throughout the quarter food was supplied 9 times.  The food is composed of fresh fruits and vegetables including avocado, bananas, cabbage, carrots, cassava, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, jackfruit, maize (corn), orange, pawpaw (papaya), pineapple, sweet potato, tomato and watermelon and dry rations including the maize flour/cornmeal, millet flour and soy flour. 

Enrichment

Enrichments keep the chimps left in holding active as well as comfortable and we were able to procure some materials like hay, honey, peanuts and sunflower seeds. All hammocks in the chimpanzee sleeping area were also replaced.

Veterinary care

In the month of July 2021, all the 52 chimpanzees underwent the annual health examination and had a clean medical bill. These routine annual health examinations involve a full physical and clinical exam. During this time veterinary doctors individually examine each chimpanzee thoroughly. Additionally, physical and sample collection are collected for laboratory analysis. Issues that can be addressed at the time are attended to while other upcoming issues (from laboratory results) advise a health management plan.

Protection of staff from COVID-19.

The sanctuary has a team of dedicated staff that ensures that the welfare of chimpanzees is taken care of. We have implemented the Covid19 Sop's for the care of wildlife at the sanctuary where we procured protective wears like facemasks, sanitisers and water dispensers for hand washing. All staff at all times while at the sanctuary should adhere to the Covid Sops.

To further protect the staff, all staff were vaccinated against COVID-19 using the AstraZeneca vaccine for the first and second doses. They are tested against the disease using the rapid Antigen testing kits on a monthly basis.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all the donors who have supported us through all the donations that have enabled us to run our operations smoothly this quarter and the ones to come.

Links:

• Covid-19 and chimpanzee conservation
• Ngamba chimpanzee health checks 2021