It's a very sad day for us and the Bulindi chimpanzees. The community's oldest matriach Joyce, who we estimated to be in her mid to late forties, has died.
Sadly, the tragic circumstances of her death, following an injury from a farmer's trap, underscore the threats facing chimpanzees in this region and strengthen our resolve to help them survive.

A great big pant-hoot to KitAid who generously donated two full kits with balls to the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project (BCCP).

Football (soccer) is massively popular in Uganda, especially the English Premiership – its players often grace the back pages of the daily newspapers, as they do in the UK. It’s common to see children playing football in any available space using a busted ball or taped up bit of cloth, or even scoring goals with empty water bottles.

We distributed the kits to two local teams from villages where our project works (in Hoima District). Most of the guys on the teams live and work around the small forest patches inhabited by chimps.  It's our dream to establish a chimpanzee-friendly football league across the region to increase morale and playing time for children and young adults, and to increase local support for conservation of the chimpanzees.

​These images show the two local teams playing each other in a fantastic match, organized by BCCP last Saturday!

Chimpanzees are long-lived animals and mature slowly. One of the joys of following their lives over many years is watching youngsters grow up.
We first identified Moses (pictured) in 2012 when he was still a juvenile. Six years later, he's developed into a handsome young adult, albeit still with some growing up to do.

The Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project strives to help villagers coexist with chimpanzees where people and chimps share landscapes outside of protected areas. We hope we'll be able to see many other young chimps grow into adulthood in the years to come.

HAPPY MUM'S DAY! (for those in the UK & a handful of other countries that celebrate Mother's Day in March, not May!)

This is Leila carrying her two daughters together on her back: young Wendy and older sister Georgia. Most female chimps only have to carry one infant at a time, but there are currently 3 "double duty" Mums at Bulindi, including Leila. At age 4 and a half, it's about time Georgia gave Leila a break and started walking by herself!