An island of Chimpanzees: Ngamba Island

chimpanzees
chimpanzee pouting
About an hour and a half boat ride on Lake Victoria from Entebbe, Uganda is the Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary.  This is a tiny island, it's only about a hundred acres.  The sanctuary takes in Chimpanzees that have been rescued by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority from poachers and illegal traders.  All the chimps that end up on this island had no chance to survive on their own in the wild.  They basically have the whole island to themselves, but the island does not have a food source that could support this many animals.  The chimpanzees live a life they normally would except for feeding time.  They are fed at specific times and they are very punctual.  Old man chimp
Eating and orange
There is a platform near the feeding station for tourists to view feeding time.  We watched from a distance that would not disturb them and took extra precaution for the chimps safety by wearing surgical masks.  The Chimpanzee's DNA is nearly 98% identical with human DNA, so they are very susceptible to our illnesses.   When it's time to eat, all the chimps come from every corner of the island screaming with excitement. Chimpanzees are vegetarian other than an occasional insect.  They were fed carrots, avocados, mangoes, oranges, bananas and probably many other fruits and vegetables.  It was hilarious watching their personalities.  They really are amazingly smart animals.  The Carrot Horder
One of our favorite sights was the carrot hoarder.  This guy ran around picking up every carrot he could find and nothing else.  The man knows what he likes.  After he had over flowing arms and a full mouth of carrots, he sat down and shared them with his friends, pretty cute.Walking Chimp
Meggan rocking the surgical mask

   

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