CONSERVING CHIMPANZEES UNDER PRESSURE

Some of you may have seen on social media that an adult male chimp was knocked and killed by a car yesterday evening in Hoima, Uganda. This male was from the Wagaisa chimpanzee community, 10 km from Bulindi. Earlier this year the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project expanded our activities to cover the areas of three more chimp groups, including the Wagaisa chimps. We didn't yet know this prime young male, but his loss is a massive blow to this chimpanzee community, under unimaginable pressure having lost virtually all their natural habitat. The images of the dead male are too grisly to post, and the accident understandably generated a lot of tension and excitement in the local village. We have a lot of work to do to conserve Hoima's imperilled chimpanzees living alongside a growing human population. But we are highly committed to finding effective solutions.
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Sadly this is not the first time a chimp has died trying to cross ever busier roads here. In 2015, Olive (pictured here) -- a wonderful mother from the Bulindi community -- was killed along with her infant in similar circumstances. Roads in Hoima are right now being widened and upgraded to tarmack, allowing vehicles to travel faster and faster. Inevitably, more chimps will die. The Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project, along with other concerned groups (including Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Budongo Conservation Field Station) are working to find a solution with the road authorities. We'll keep you updated.

To help us conserve chimpanzees in Wagaisa, Bulindi and two other sites where we work in Hoima, please vote for our project http://bit.ly/VoteForBulindiChimps.

If successful, this award will provide us much needed funds to support our work on the ground. Thank you.
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