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Eastern Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
-0.11236, 30.1823
Field Notes
Description:
Once again luck was with me on this chimpanzee tracking walk. I was told there was only a small chance we would see chimps here because they were often on the other side of the gorge, and that part was protected and out of bounds to tourists. In fact there was only a small section of the gorge available for the walk. The gorge was steep, almost straight down for 100 meters, then there was a path along the river. And miraculously, after about 100 meters, we came across the chimps.
ps. In the last 2 photos she is yawning, not trying to scare us off!
Habitat:
Kyambura Gorge in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Verdant, rich Tropical Rain-forest right close to the Equator crossing. The gorge is another world on its own. while the Savannah above has a reasonable amount of light, the tree canopy within this under-ground forest comprised of rich blocks of plant life shut out most of the sun rays.
Notes:
Kyambura is located on North-Eastern side of QENP. Kayambura Gorge is a part of the great Albertine Rift - a fabulous gorge with a thick forest at the bottom The reserve's mean altitude is 1100 m.a.s.l. The total area of the reserve is 156 sq. km.
The stunning Kyambura Gorge also called the “Valley of Apes” is located in the far eastern corner of the well- known Queen Elizabeth National Park in south western Uganda. It is a part of the great Albertine Rift - a fabulous gorge with a thick forest at the bottom. Approximately 1 km across – at its broadest point and about 100 meters deep, this gorge is actually drained by River Kayambura. The landscape is among the most impressive you will find in Uganda and it is swarmed a rich wildlife bio-diversity that comprises of primates, wild animals as well as birds.
Basing on reports made by researchers, only sixteen chimpanzees are remaining within this distant yet very impressive valley. The Gorge has been cut off from the rest of the forest by farming and the Chimps can no longer find mates from different chimpanzee families outside the Gorge. There is a plan in place to create a corridor joining the gorge to the remaining forest, but whether there will be time to set this in place is disputable.
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