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Meet the group's long-term alpha male: SYLVESTER. So-named for his distinctive silvery coat, Sylvester (often affectionately shortened to 'Silver') is a big chimp in his 30's. Much-respected by everyone, he runs a tight but harmonious ship; he only needs to bristle to restore order and rarely resorts to physical reprimands. A prolific groomer of males and females alike, he invests much of his time maintaining good relationships with others in his community  March 2017  March 2017
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So pleased to announce that construction of 3 boreholes is now complete and the wells are fully operational! These boreholes will provide households from 3 villages in Bulindi with an accessible source of clean water. They also mean villagers will no longer have to collect water from forest streams where they risk running into the chimps! Huge thanks and pant-hoots to Wendy Tisdell of BridgIt Water Foundation for supporting the borehole project and to Steven Beingana of Suubi Community Projects-Uganda for organizing the construction! It was a privilege to have Wendy, Steven and colleagues visit Bulindi this week for the opening of the wells!  A child from Kihambya village tries out the newly-opened borehole! © Jacqueline Rohen  Villagers collecting water from the newly-opened well in Nyaituma village © Jacqueline Rohen  Wendy from BridgIt Water Foundation and Steven Godwin Beingana from Suubi Community Projects-Uganda with the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project and other colleagues preparing to open the borehole in Kihambya village. — with Moses Ssemahunge Atwooki, Matt McLennan, Steven Godwin Beingana and BridgIt Water Foundation © Jacqueline Rohen  Wendy of BridgIt Water Foundation trying out the new borehole in Mparangasi village © Jacqueline Rohen HEALTH MONITORING FOR CONSERVATION
The Bulindi chimpanzees live in such close contact to local villagers and domestic animals, that threats to their health are always a big concern. Consequently, we monitor the chimps' heath closely. Great to see this new study published on the chimps' intestinal parasites and the self-medicative behaviors they use to help combat these. While the chimps suffer from a variety of parasites, this is quite normal for any population of wild chimpanzees. Despite their 'high risk' environment, the Bulindi chimps seem pretty healthy overall! The full article can be accessed here: McLennan, M.R., Hasegawa, H., Bardi, M., Huffman, M.A. (2017). Gastrointestinal parasite infections and self-medication in wild chimpanzees surviving in degraded forest fragments within an agricultural landscape mosaic in Uganda. PLoS ONE, 12(7), e0180431. FREELY AVAILABLE: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180431 THANK YOU to BridgIt Water Foundation and Suubi Community Projects-Uganda for bringing clean water to Bulindi!!! In developed countries, it can be easy to take water for granted. We usually just have to turn on the tap. It can be a surprise to learn that in some parts of the world, accessing water is a daily struggle. At Bulindi, local households (often children) collect water from forest streams and natural springs, walking long distances to do so, and sometimes encountering the chimpanzees -- which puts both the chimps and villagers at risk. We are so grateful to BridgIt Water Foundation and Suubi Community Projects-Uganda for funding a project to install boreholes in 3 villages at Bulindi. These boreholes will change the lives of the local households!! The photos show the drillers hard at work on the first of the 3 boreholes in Mparangasi village!    |
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