Guardiannews 01-2013

Jane Goodall Institute Netherlands

Tchimpounga begin process to release Mandrills

Little Jay in 1992

Apart from the 161 chimpanzees Tchimpounga is also home to several other primate species, including mandrills. This species is affected by the destruction of its evergreen forest habitat since this reduces the capacity of environments to support Mandrill populations. However, the most immediate threat is posed by hunting for their meat (which is highly prized in Gabon and Congo). Commercial bushmeat hunters pose a particular threat to populations which are located close to main roads and towns.

To date, 14 mandrills have been confiscated by the government authorities. Six of these have been released back into Conkouti NP with the assistance of the government and other NGO’s

Thanks to generous donations, staff members at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Tchimpounga sanctuary are set to begin the process of releasing the eight remaining rehabilitated mandrills back into the wild. Due to the fact that several of these being large males, we required radio collars to ensure their safety and the fields assistants. In the weeks to come, these eight mandrills will be able to call the Conkouati–Douli National Forest in the Republic of Congo home.

In the wild, mandrills live in massive groups called hordes, which can consist of more than 700 leaf-chomping, bug-munching, fruit-loving individuals. Mandrills are quick in the trees, fast on their feet, and call some of the roughest forest on the planet home. This makes it tough to follow them on the ground, which is one of the reasons why so little is known about these large, brightly colored, saber-toothed primates. It’s also the reason, JGI field staff will be tracking them with high-tech global positioning system (GPS) radio collars.

Darwin called mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) the most colorful primate. Whether or not they are the most colorful, they certainly have large teeth!

Typical state in which we find the mandrills

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JGI follows the IUCN guidelines on reintroduction of primates.Since all these individuals originally came for the wild, releasing back to the wild is a simpler process than captive borns. The social structure of mandrills, with the fission fusion of larger groups, also allowed an easy process of integration back into the wild populations.

The first release was very succesfull as displayed in the diagram.

1. The mandrills started foraging for wild foods almost immediately, refusing to eat the supplementary food offered by the field assistants

2. They stayed close to the camp, gradually dispersing over time.

3. The field assistants had daily contact with the mandrills4. After six months following, we decided they were

integrated enough not to need our support anymore.

Miles Woodruff, JGI’s Mandrill release project coordinator, will be spending the next 18 months tracking these amazing animals through one of the densest, roughest forests on the planet. He’ll put up with the elephants, snakes, insects, crocodiles and nonstop rain to make sure the mandrills have the safest possible transition back into the wild.

Human and Mandrill hands

Fernando Turmo, the Jane Goodall Institute-Congo’s image and communications coordinator, works with chimpanzees every day. When talking about the upcoming mandrill release, he smiles while shaking his head with a bit of awe and says, “Mandrills are a very special photographic subject to me. They have the mouth of a lion and their faces have such shocking color that they look like they belong on another planet. Yet their hands are so similar to human hands. They are extraordinary.”

Miles in front of the Mobile phone collection box of Houston Zoo for the Mandrill Repatriation Project

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Shampoo bathsDespite the strict veterinary check-ups and hygiene the Tchimpounga chimpanzees are sometimes affected by disease coming from the outside. This is the case for an epidemic of mycoses, a fungus infection, which has infected a large part of the group of young chimpanzees. The fungus affects the skin of the chimpanzee and causes him loss of hair and a lot of itch. The veterinarian team at Tchimpounga is working every day against this infection using a shampoo with antibiotic components which has given good results. Every morning the caretakers enter the residence and wash all the chimpanzees one by one. At first they resisted, but now it is a game to them and they have a lot of fun when they are surrounded by foam. La Vieille, an old chimpanzee who has adopted the recently arrived babies, didn’t allow the caretakers to give her babies a shampoo bath, so it was decided to give them a bath with water and shampoo in their residence. Now the babies are cured and play in the bath; enriched and cured at the same time.

To Ngamba Island by Helicopter

Going to see chimpanzees and the hundreds of bird species in Ngamba islands will now take just 15 minutes from Kajjansi outside Kampala, thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday.

The MoU between Kajjansi Aero Club (Fly Uganda) and the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) will see Fly Uganda carry tourists to the Lake Victoria island famed for its chimpanzee conservation, as well as the monitor lizard and abundant bird species.

The chopper bought from the Japanese Police Force about three years ago will also help promote the other tourist features of the island that include sport fishing and community tourism.

The helicopter carries a maximum of four passengers and a return trip will cost $980 for four full packages, including access to the island. The island has until now been serviced by boats and motorised vessels only, for a journey that takes an average of 40 minutes. By boat, it costs $80 per person for a minimum of four passengers for foreign tourists and $60 for East Africans.

“This is a natural extension to get more tourists to Ngamba islands,” said Russell Barnes, the director of Fly Uganda at the signing in Kajjansi. A trial flight has reportedly already been done with chimps reacting positively by coming over to watch the chopper.She explained that a monitoring system has been instituted to check any negative drastic effect of the chopper on the chimpanzees, although the test flight showed there is none so far.

“There have been inquiries for quicker (transport) means to the islands, this will also provide a chance for medical evacuation,” said Ajarova.

Some of the chimpanzee behaviours continue to amaze us. Recently we discovered that Kisembo- one of the adult males on Ngamba Island, was moving with an unusual gait. On further examination it was found out that his foot had been pierced and it caused inflammation and infection, producing a discharge.

In normal circumstances, he would refuse any one from touching the affected area because of the pain. But this time Kisembo was very calm and willingly availed his foot for examination and treatment. This was understood to be because he needed help to get rid of the severe pain he was having. Kisembo is now on his way to recovery.

Kisembo

Guardian News is published by Jane Goodall Institute Netherlands, POBox 2251, 6802 CG Arnhem - email: info@janegoodall.nl - www.janegoodall.nl

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Implanon for TchimpoungaEach year JGI Netherlands ships Implanon birth control implants to Ngamba Island and Tchimpounga but also to other PASA sanctuaries like Chimp Eden in South Africa and J.A.C.K. in the DRC. The implants for Ngamba Island and Tchimpounga are paid for by the donations of the chimp guardians. Veterinary Clinic Van Barendrecht in Zutphen makes it possible to obtain the implants.

This april 30 implants and an infusion pump were shipped to Tchimpounga. On average Tchimpounga has 160 chimpanzees with at least 1/2 females. Half of that number are sexually mature so that’s about 40 individuals. Implants usually last eighteen months and sometimes 2 years depending on the female. So, 30 should get Tchimpounga covered for more than a year.

Solar Panels & batteries for Ngamba IslandThis spring JGI Netherlands and JGI Austria will sponsor the installation of several new solar panels and replacement of fifteen batteries at Ngamba Island with € 7500,- After numerous years of continuous usage several of the batteries were at the end of their life-cycle and had to be replaced. The solar panels and new batteries will be used to power the electric fencing and lighting of the camp.

Parrots to be released on Ngamba Island

Thirty-two African Grey parrots confiscated in Bulgaria in 2010 were successfully transferred to Uganda for rehabilitation and release on Ngamba Island, successfully ending a three year odyssey that started with their capture in the wild, the export to Lebanon, and then to Bulgaria where they were confiscated upon arrival as they were being illegally imported.

“We have built a temporary aviary where the birds will be housed to acclimatize before they are released” says CSWCT’s veterinarian, Dr. Joshua Rukundo. “Post release monitoring will be done on Ngamba Island and the surrounding Islands.”