98.7% Chimp

Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved. – Jane Goodall

To round off our experiences of giving our time in Uganda we donated money to the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Trust in exchange for the opportunity to be Caregivers for a day.  In 2002 we tracked wild chimps and gorillas in this mecca for apes and it was such a highlight for us.  The kids aren’t old enough to do that yet and Shia is thinking her future career might involve caring for animals so this was a perfect opportunity.  The experience started out a bit rocky.  We were so excited to visit the Sanctuary, which is an island in Lake Victoria (2nd largest lake by surface area behind Lake Superior and the source of the Nile River), but the water was rough and the boat captain did not want to go out on it.  We waited a few hours and felt sad that we were missing time on the island.  Then at orientation we learned that the Nature Walk which we had reserved was dependent on all of the chimps choosing to come in from the forest, so it wasn’t so likely.  But, after all of this, we eventually did make it to the island.  All the staff were so nice and apologetic that the nature of the lake was a hindrance to us.  And then we clocked in for our work as caregivers and checked into our tent accommodation.  Our tents were built on a deck over the water and the rough waters that troubled us earlier were now lapping on the shore and giving such a nice sound, I was so excited to sleep in the really nice bed inside!  And the island can only accommodate 8 overnight guests and many day trippers, but we were so lucky it was just us and the staff the entire visit.

We immediately got to work preparing dinner for the chimps with the staff.  We hadn’t seen one yet, but could hear some vocalizing.  The island is 95% forest for the chimps and then they have a holding area which was a huge zoo like cage in the small human area.  There isn’t enough food on the island for them to forage for everything they need, so they are fed 4 meals a day.  3 meals are fed to them at the barrier along the forest edge.  Then the last meal they open the gates to the holding cell and if they want that meal they have to come in to get it.  This helps them keep track of them all, do health checks, etc.  This was the meal we helped with right away.  We handed them bowls of porridge to drink and cabbage.  Liam got a lesson in caregiving when one hid his cabbage under his leg to get a second serving.  And we got a good picture of why the nature walk isn’t an option if they are in the forest.  Wow, they were strong, loud and quite physical with each other!  But when we handed them the bowls of porridge, they just drank it up and waited for us to take the empty bowls from their hands.  Looking in their eyes we could feel that they were so similar to us (98.7% to be exact), although Shia commented “How can we share so much DNA and look so different?”

The highly anticipated night in the tents was a bit tempered by the frequent boisterous chimp calls through the night.  And Chad got a bug in his eye.  Apparently when he tried to rub it to get it out that released some toxin that caused his eye to swell nearly shut.  It is healing well now, but that gave us quite a surprise at bedtime.  However, the nice beds, beautiful setting, and excitement of being in the chimps home had us very alert at sunrise when it was time to prepare the first meal of their day. We watched them leave the holding area and return to the forest and then launched the bits of food to them over a fence.  We were asked to try and ensure all of them got some, not just the dominant ones.  It was too funny though to watch them clap and look at us like “Okay rookie.  I am ready, toss it here!”  Also, they were excellent outfielders, making some very impressive catches!  After the holding area was empty we helped clean them in coveralls, gloves and gum boots.  Turns out cleaning up chimp poop and pee isn’t as disgusting as it sounds.  We really shadowed everything the caregivers do on the island and it felt like such an incredible opportunity to get to see that perspective.

The chimps on the island were all rescued from illegal capture.  Chimps are too strong to be captured at any age other than as a baby, but for every baby captured most of the immediate family must be killed.  It is a tragic reality.  Once on the island the girls are given birth control implants.  But we were so surprised to see 2 infants on the island.  Apparently the girls have decided to remove the implants and they have 2 surprise babies.  Ironically, one of these mom’s is named Surprise.  Her baby was only 2 weeks old and we could see it through the bars of the holding cell hanging on her tummy.  The other baby is nearly 1 year and we got to spend about 15 minutes with him roaming free on the grass with no bars between us. That was amazing!  We wore surgical masks to ensure that we didn’t get the baby sick.  We are so closely related we can share illnesses between our species.

All in all it was a very educational experience with an incredible and threatened species.  And as a great fan of Jane Goodall it was inspiring to walk in her footsteps for a day.  Now Shia rocks her shirt showing she is 98.7% chimp and Liam is modeling his favorite chimp, Tumbo on his new shirt.  We won’t forget these guys anytime soon.