Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary

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The Ngamba Island Sanctuary (2006)
Visitors in the rescue center
An electric fence separates the monkeys from the human dwellings.

The Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is a sanctuary for chimpanzees on the island of Ngamba in Uganda , Africa . The island is located in Lake Victoria 23 kilometers off the coast of Entebbe and has an area of ​​around 40 hectares . It consists mainly of tropical rainforest. Since chimpanzees do not swim, they are not fenced in here. Currently (as of 2018) 49 chimpanzees are being cared for who have been found orphaned or injured or have been confiscated from illegal pet ownership and bushmeat trade and who could not survive in the wild.

Structure and tasks

The sanctuary was initiated in 1998 by the Jane Goodall Institute and other species protection organizations. The operator is the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) - also known as the Chimpanzee Trust . The board consists of representatives from the Ugandan Wildlife Authority , the Center for Environmental Education Uganda Wildlife Education Center, and the organizations Jane Goodall Institute Uganda, Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (Ecotrust) , Children Of Conservation and Born Free Foundation . The Chimpanzee Trust spends between 700,000 dollars (the equivalent of 660,000 euros) and one million dollars per year on the operation of the Ngamba sanctuary, environmental education and the protection of wild chimpanzees. The Jane Goodall Institute Germany finances the shelter significantly.

22 animal keepers, vets, other employees and volunteers work on the island.

The animals are given medical care and fed twice a day. During the day they move largely freely on the island. They usually return to a cage to spend the night. Since they would build a new nest out of branches every evening in the wilderness, the forest would otherwise be quickly destroyed.

The female monkeys are given a hormone implant in their arms for contraception. Only one baby chimpanzee was born on the island after a female unnoticed removed the implant.

The island's rainforest could only fully feed two monkeys; other free spaces are not available. Despite the additional feeding, the forest was visibly damaged after just a few years.

The initially intended release of the supervised chimpanzees was discarded. In addition to the operation of the rescue and rescue station for the chimpanzees being looked after, the focus of the foundation's goals today is on educating the Ugandan population about nature and species protection, especially for chimpanzees, as well as on ecotourism and on regional to international cooperation in species protection for chimpanzees, for example in the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance .

The station is also used for behavioral and other non-invasive research on chimpanzees. Such a large group of chimpanzees in captivity does not exist in either North America or Europe.

tourism

After the financial crisis in 2007 , Ngamba Island got increasingly into financial difficulties, so that wages and feed deliveries could no longer be paid on time in 2011. After a donation from the International Animal Welfare Fund IFAW of a good 25,000 dollars, mainly for wages and suppliers, the Chimpanzee Trust decided to expand tourism on the island and now offer trips to the island instead of a private tour operator. Due to another IFAW donation of $ 30,000 in 2012, Ngamba was now able to use its own boats to transport visitors to the island.

Guided tours are offered for school classes and tourists. A visit is possible as a day trip. Up to ten tourists can stay overnight in "luxury tents" on the island at the same time. Entrance fees and overnight income are now among the main financial sources of income.

Visitors have to prove vaccinations against hepatitis A and B, measles , meningococci , yellow fever , polio and tetanus and also prove that they do not have tuberculosis . A walk with the chimpanzees cost the equivalent of 300 euros in 2013 and an overnight stay of 180 dollars.

Movie

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c About the sanctuary at ngambaisland.org. Retrieved November 9, 2018
  2. ↑ a b Ngamba Island on the Jane Goodall Institute website
  3. ↑ a b c Der Spiegel : Chimpanzee fates. Island of the Orphaned , December 13, 2005
  4. ↑ a b c d Frankfurter Rundschau : Uganda. Island of the Apes , October 18, 2009
  5. ↑ a b Our mission on ngambaisland.org. Retrieved November 9, 2018
  6. ↑ Deutsche Welle : Poached chimpanzees find a safe haven on the island , November 29, 2016
  7. ^ A b Stuttgarter Zeitung : Uganda. Give love to the monkey , August 31, 2009
  8. ↑ a b NZZ : A green island for chimpanzees , September 21, 2008
  9. ↑ The orphanage of the monkeys on geo.de , text accompanying the 360 ° of the same name - the GEO report from September 3, 2001
  10. ↑ a b Tagesspiegel : Uganda. Follow me to the vine , September 27, 2009
  11. ↑ World : Chimpanzees. Chronicle of an announced primate death , September 15, 2011
  12. ↑ Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology : Press release: Are chimpanzees cooperative? , March 2, 2006
  13. ↑ a b ORF : Nature Conservation in Uganda , October 31, 2006
  14. ↑ Scinexx : Monkeys Act Selflessly , June 27, 2007
  15. ↑ Zeit : Behavioral Research: From Because of Human , February 21, 2013
  16. ↑ University of Göttingen : Press release: Targeted access , June 20, 2018
  17. ↑ International Fund for Animal Welfare : Aid for Chimpanzees on Ngamba Island , March 6, 2012
  18. ↑ n-tv : Monkeys find refuge on Ngamba. Face to face with chimpanzees , December 4, 2011
  19. ↑ 360 ° GEO report The orphanage of the apes on fernsehserien.de

Coordinates: 0 ° 6 ′ 18.1 ″  S , 32 ° 39 ′ 6.4 ″  E