Ngamba Island Another Wonder for Uganda

There is a lot that goes on in the thickets on Ngamba Island. Though it is frequently presented as a serene sanctuary that would make a haven even for human beings, the activities of its inhabitants are perhaps an even more revealing aspect of what is usually not said when stories about the wonders of Uganda are told.
Ngamba is home to 48 chimpanzees that are there mostly because they have been rescued from one danger or another. The apes are given the closest to heaven that they could possibly ever dream of. It is also the home of Many orphaned chimpanzees rescued from trafficking, these chimpanzees come as far fron Congo and cetral Africa plus many forests in Uganda. Ngamba Island is situated about 23km from Entebbe Town.

Many chimps stands out from the rest of the chimps on the island. Of the known animals there, these chimpanzees have adopted the environment and take it their home.Each one chimpanzee has forced the environment around him to change and not the other way round. There are day safari trips and overnight trips to the island. Usually, the surroundings around and animal will press in on the beast and behavioural change will occur or else the animal will be risking extinction.
Perhaps, because there are a few chimpanzees on Ngamba, anything peculiar that one of them does will be scrutinised and dissected ad nauseum.
There are not very many chimpanzees in the world. An estimate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008 put the number of the apes at about 170,000.

In the animal world, hierarchy is respected. Older chimps are usually bigger and more experienced. juveniles rookie looking to be respected without having gone through the school of hard knocks. That usually is not going to be accepted by the others.

Ssekulya speaks of the somersaults the chimps are known for. They are known for having taken on four or five bigger chimps and running rings around them with their gymnastics. “The apes would be greatly agitated because try as they might have wanted to, they just could not pin him down,” he recalls.
One of the chimps ,Mawa originated from the Democratic republic of Congo. Ajarova explains that the chimp was confiscated in Arua District where his captor was holding onto his dead mother and the baby chimp, about 16 years ago.
Many of the chimpanzees on the island were acquired in similar circumstances. Many communities in eastern Africa still prize game meat and even with the fact that chimpanzees are an endangered species, it is clear that a lot more sensitisation about the benefits of conservation. Meanwhile, organisations like CSWCT continue looking for animals in danger and take them to Ngamba Island