Inside The High-Risk Mission To Protect Uganda’s Chimpanzees

Ajouté : 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]The African continent is home to some of the most varied and spectacular biodiversity.

[00:00:06]Large predators and herds of herbivores roam the savannas while apes, birds, and snakes inhabit the dense forests. But man-made [music] devastation means many of these creatures face the serious and very real threat of extinction.

[00:00:21]Cities have grown and land has been transformed [music] as we wiped out entire ecosystems.

[00:00:27]The threat has never been more consequential [music] than this is now.

[00:00:31]My name's Ben Fogle and I'll be traveling through Africa to investigate some of these serious issues in this global fight for the survival of the species.

[00:00:58]>> [music] >> Farming is vital to local African economies. But the human population explosion has meant people have begun to encroach into areas previously occupied by wildlife, leading to conflict on both sides.

[00:01:17]>> [crying] >> The increase in wildlife populations within protected areas combined with habitat loss >> [music] >> has only worsened this conflict. From cheetah killing livestock in Namibia to crop-raiding elephants in Uganda.

[00:01:38][music] Farmers have often [music] been forced to take drastic measures for what they perceive is an attack on their livelihoods and in some [music] cases their lives.

[00:02:25]Kampala is Uganda's capital city. I'm here to meet Patrick Kagaba, project manager at the Uganda Conservation Foundation, which has evolved from an initial 1990s research [music] project called Elephants, Crops, and People.

[00:02:43]Kampala is bustling. It's reported to be the fastest-growing city in Africa.

[00:02:48]But whilst rapid urbanization brings opportunity, it also comes with a serious environmental impact such as loss of ecosystems.

[00:02:57]So Patrick, I imagine UCF covers quite a broad spectrum of wildlife and um and the impact man has. What kind of role do you have? Uh thank you for the question. UCF indeed covers the biggest national parks in Uganda.

[00:03:18]One of it being Murchison Falls National Park, which is 5,000 plus square kilometers.

[00:03:27]The second biggest national park, which is Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is 1,980 square kilometers. And the third biggest national park is Kidepo.

[00:03:38]But all these three national parks, there is unique part with them that is they are habitats for the elephants. And that presumably with the increasing population here in Uganda, there's a lot of conflict between elephants and people because I can't imagine those elephants remain within those national parks.

[00:04:03]Oh, yes. Especially in Queen Elizabeth, where UCF started anyway from.

[00:04:11]One project which we started with as a research was elephant, crop, and people.

[00:04:18]That is the time in 19 90s where most elephants that were running away from Virunga National Park of DRC Congo crossed into Uganda at Ishasha sector, which is part of Queen Elizabeth National Park.

[00:04:36]And there was a big population in a small area and there was no way they ended up really destroying people's crops.

[00:04:47]That brought a conflict between the conservationist or Uganda Wildlife Authority and the community.

[00:04:56]And that's how now UCF started coming to see how they can be of help to bridge the gap between the the park and the community.

[00:05:10]And is it just elephants or other wildlife as well that causes conflict?

[00:05:15]What what about predators, big cats, lions?

[00:05:19]It is true. Lions, they are part of the predi- predators that really destroy or kill some of the animals, especially the goats and maybe the cows. But this is something once in a while.

[00:05:33]>> Mhm. It's not like every season like the way elephants are.

[00:05:39]Because elephants are very clever animals.

[00:05:43]They know the planting season. They know when the crops are really good. And that's the time when they come in. So Patrick, where where are we actually going now?

[00:05:53]Yeah, we are going behind Nchwuwu where one of my my colleague is going to collect some of the elephant repellent.

[00:06:05]These are the chilies and other stuff which we buy that are part of the mitigation measures used to deter elephants from eating the the crops.

[00:06:17]When you get this repellent and you mix it with the elephant dung and you burn it, Yeah. the smoke alone, elephant does not like that smoke at all. I've heard of I've heard of mosquito repellent, so I haven't heard of elephant repellent.

[00:06:31]That's quite extreme. [laughter] Yeah, that's it. Also, we are trying all innovations here to see how we can live with this elephant in harmony. Who am I meeting here? Here you are going to meet uh one of Uganda Conservation Foundation staff who is based in Murchison Falls National Park, Ernest Oniba. Okay.

[00:06:52]>> And he will tell you more about it.

[00:06:53]Okay.

[00:06:56]I'm meeting with a UCF community officer who's employed to undertake elephant repellent trials.

[00:07:02]And we're meeting in one of the city's major markets to buy ingredients.

[00:07:07]The use of elephant repellent is one of the wildlife intervention measures that local communities have accepted.

[00:07:19]This is amazing.

[00:07:21]So I've come to one of Kampala's main markets and it's just a hive of activity here. It's amazing how many people are here.

[00:07:32]And I'm going to meet a guy called Ernest and shop for elephant repellent materials.

[00:07:40]And that is a first.

[00:07:43]>> [music] >> I'm glad I found you. I mean, that is a busy market.

[00:07:51]>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we are we're shopping specifically for elephant repellent, which I've never done before in my life. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's be a it's be amazing moment for you. Okay.

[00:08:01]>> Once we go to the shop and see all those stuff, it's normal. Which uh which direction? Going up. Okay. Should we go?

[00:08:08]Yeah. Since 2016, Ernest's job has been to help communities find ways to mitigate conflict between humans and elephants.

[00:08:17]Oh, look. This is this is the first ingredients what we use for making the >> Ginger? Yeah. Really? That's the last thing I was expecting you were going to be using for an elephant repellent. Do they hate the taste of ginger? Yeah, yeah. For sure. Cuz they the smell is is strong. Okay.

[00:08:34]So how how much ginger do we need to buy for our repellent? Uh we are going to buy 84 kilos of fresh ginger. 84 That's my body weight in ginger. Oh, you weigh 84?

[00:08:47]Don't be so surprised about my weight.

[00:08:49]We're talking about elephant repellent here. So ginger, what what what else do we need? Uh apart from gingers, we shall buy chili pep- chili pepper, which is in powder form. Yeah. Uh about 400 kilos. 400 kilos?

[00:09:04]>> Yes.

[00:09:05]Okay. And 400 kilos of chili powder, 84 kilos or so of ginger, and 50 kilos of garlic. Of garlic, okay.

[00:09:14]I I mean, I'm starting to understand how a mixture of garlic, good for keeping vampires away, chili, and ginger Yeah. put together makes an effective elephant repellent. It's quite a very strong smell. Yeah. That the elephant hates it. Okay. They don't come up to the garden. You're not expecting me to carry 400 kilos of chili powder, are you? Oh, no. No.

[00:09:38]>> [music] [music] >> I love these markets. Gives you a real feel and a flavor of a country. And actually, because I'm going to be heading into rural Uganda, I'm quite glad I've got a sense of the the scale of this country, the number of people here cuz ultimately, a lot of the conflicts I'm going to explore is about the density, the the the population growth here, and that conflict with animals.

[00:10:13]So, I've done my my elephant repellent shopping, and I'm amazed actually how simple this is. It's just some ginger, some chili powder, and uh some garlic, but on a massive scale, huge quantities, 400 kilos of of chili powder. It's pretty spicy, as well.

[00:10:29]So, I think the next stage is to move out of Kampala into uh rural Uganda, and to see firsthand what's happening here.

[00:10:41]Ernest lives in a farming community just north of Murchison Falls National Park.

[00:10:46]The boundary between the park and community land is unfenced, and defined only by a long tar road.

[00:10:53]Small-scale farms grow maize, rice, peanuts, and fruit in the area, having resettled in the last two decades following instability within the region.

[00:11:08]I've come to catch up with Ernest in his home village, which borders the national park here. We're right on the road, but uh they do have encounters with wildlife, both great and small. So, uh I think I've got a cookery class.

[00:11:24]Ernest's project recognizes the need for simple solutions that can be put in place with the support of the locals and secure Ugandan funding.

[00:11:33]He's working here in his own community to implement project trials.

[00:11:41]So, is this just your family here? Uh this is a family of a chairperson of our group that we work with. Okay. Yeah, and that stays over here. So, how many people live here within this little settlement? About 10. 10 people? Yes, 10 members of the family. Mhm. That includes even the mother-in-law. In African setup, we live in extended family where everybody comes in together, so that we help each others.

[00:12:07]And looking around, I can see that there's a lot of growing that goes on here. This is This is all arable land?

[00:12:13]Yes, please. All this place, uh by March, April, it will all be filled with crops. That's when planting season starts. So, all this place, covering over there, will be full with And it's very obvious there's no fences.

[00:12:27]I can't see any fences around here.

[00:12:29]Yeah, that's where the problem comes in.

[00:12:31]>> [clears throat] >> When the animal comes out of the park, and they just raid the crop because there's no fence to protect the crop.

[00:12:38]So, do you do you get elephants actually coming in here? Sure, yes, yes, yes. And wandering through past all of the houses? Yes. When it is when the plants are ready in the garden, they all come.

[00:12:49]Yeah. I can see you've got a couple of dogs. Are the are the dogs used to bark at the animals? Do they ever scare wild animals away? Yes, yeah. Yeah, we use it for helping us protect our family members in case of there's any intruders who comes here Mhm. to chase. Once the dog barks, you'll know that there's an intruder. So, the crops, understandably, uh vital, key to your livelihoods here.

[00:13:14]So, for income, for paying school fees, but also for eating. Yes, yes.

[00:13:18]And the most important thing, did did all of our market supplies arrive safely? Were you able to pick them all up? Yeah, yeah. 400 kilos of of chili powder. Yeah, yeah. Magic loading overloading it from the truck to the store.

[00:13:32]What do you That's why I say strong.

[00:13:34]>> [laughter] >> So, we going to are we going to start making our elephant repellent?

[00:13:40]Yes.

[00:13:41]I'll be glad to show you. Yeah? Thank you.

[00:13:43]Sure.

[00:13:47]This combination of garlic, chilies, neem leaves, ginger, eggs, cow dung, oil, and water is an example of what would be produced on a much larger scale.

[00:13:59]So, Ernest, I recognize the chili powder, the garlic, and the ginger, but then we've got some extra eggs, oil.

[00:14:06]Yeah, cooking oil. Poo?

[00:14:08]>> [laughter] >> Dung, cow dung. Yeah. Okay, and what's this?

[00:14:12]Uh this is the neem neem tree leaf.

[00:14:14]Okay. Yeah.

[00:14:15]So, uh what do we need to add first? Uh we shall start by adding the chili powder onto the boiling water. Okay, should we do that? Yeah.

[00:14:25]How much do we need to add? Oh, roughly 500 g. And just add it to the boiling water? Yes, please.

[00:14:35]And then, we shall be pounding this neem tree leaf. Yeah. Okay.

[00:14:39]How much do you want to add into this? A handful. A handful? Yeah.

[00:14:44]Okay.

[00:14:45]How on earth did you come up with this recipe? How how do you decide what an elephant dislikes?

[00:14:51]Uh it was not me who got the solution.

[00:14:55]It was a group of students who came from this village that have been suffering from crop raid. Mhm. So, they thought it was like, "Why why don't we make something which elephant don't like, so that we we make a solution that once we put in our garden, they'll just completely run away." Mhm. So, they made it for a business competition at school.

[00:15:17]Mhm. Then, Uganda Wildlife Authority picked up the idea and added more [clears throat] ingredients, chili pepper, cuz the elephant ate They don't like chili, so they added chili onto it to to make it more much more stronger.

[00:15:30]By mixing these ingredients that are known to be hated by elephants into a repellent, Ernest believes the community can reduce the effects [music] of crop raiding.

[00:15:40]It's by no means easy for humans and elephants to live together in harmony, but with Ernest's repellent, people like Alika and the support of the community, relations could take a step in the right direction. Alika, thank [clears throat] you very much for chatting to me. How how long have you been living here in this this area? It is a decade now.

[00:16:00]A decade now? Yes. So, what just explain to me a little bit about the movement of people.

[00:16:07]You've only been here for 10 years because there was warfare, and people weren't able to live here. Is that right?

[00:16:14]That's true. Before then, when the war was not yet broken, this is a farm place.

[00:16:20]It is called Latoro.

[00:16:22]This village is called Pajengo, Lulim village. We farm crops like maize, millet, groundnuts, peas.

[00:16:34]There was a very peaceful farming. Why do you think the animals only started raiding crops a few years ago? What what do you think instigated this? I think the problem comes either in the park.

[00:16:48]I feel like the animals doesn't like the smell of those thing on, and too much sound there.

[00:16:55]Have you put the repellent down and seen elephants coming, tasting, and then disappearing? Have you seen it working?

[00:17:01]>> No, no. You see, they don't taste the repellent. The smell is enough to deter them. I smelt it. It's pretty bad.

[00:17:08]>> Yeah, the smell does.

[00:17:10]Because we have some bottles, then we put them on chains along the the garden.

[00:17:19]And that smell is enough to deter them.

[00:17:23]I'm curious, as as a local someone who has lived in this area for over a long time now, who who has the precedence? Who belongs here more, people or the wildlife? What do you think it's both somehow living together?

[00:17:41]You see, with the wildlife huh?

[00:17:46]and us, I think we could live together.

[00:17:52]When the conservancy is made rightly, because we shall also have part of land which will be reserved for farming, uh even keeping our animals, uh even for the wildlife also to come in.

[00:18:06]If our land is protected, we can live very well.

[00:18:12]Leaving Uganda, I head to Otjiwarongo in northern Namibia, where conflict between humans and big [music] cats is rife, and farming communities living in wildlife habitats are again desperate to protect their livelihoods.

[00:18:30]AfriCat is one of the foundations working with the community to establish peaceful coexistence.

[00:18:43]Morning, Tammy. Good morning, Ben.

[00:18:46]>> How are you?

[00:18:48]Nice and early. Yes, absolutely.

[00:18:51]>> So, tell me what this is here. Right, this is an incredible invention actually from Kenya. A young young boy just outside of Nairobi tried to protect his mother's cattle and started this concept of lights that emulate people walking around with flashlights.

[00:19:05]>> Mhm. So, so these surround the corral here? That's correct. They have to be a specific height, and they have a small solar panel on the top, Yeah. and and a and a PC board inside, and a switch, and an LED light, very basic, and they switch on when the sun sets, and switch off when the sun rises. It It seems incredible that a tiny little LED light might keep a lion away.

[00:19:29]Well, of course, when they get used to it, then they realize it's not going to hurt harm them. Mhm. But the important thing is that the more you have along your corral, and the more corrals have these lights on them, Mhm. then obviously they realize, "Oh, there are lots of people walking around," and they stay away. I mean, we've seen it. They lie about 150 to 200 m away from these corrals, Mhm. and then they get up and move off to where it's dark. Right. And we it's made a great difference here because just behind me over here is is Hobby Cherry, Yeah. uh protected area along the western boundary of Etosha. And Etosha National Park is here to my left. And the the lions do migrate from protected areas onto farmland largely because this is easy meat. Mhm. But this is an Africa crawl that we built in 2010. Right. And the essential height so that they can't easily jump over. And then the mesh wire and we we dig it in underground, pack it with rocks so that they have this apron.

[00:20:25]Nothing can dig in underneath. And essentially if the farmers use these crawls, bring their animals in before it gets dark, Mhm. leave them here until it starts to heat up in the morning, Mhm.

[00:20:36]then lets them out. The losses are definitely reduced. And and have you seen a big reduction in losses then here? Definitely. And have you found that the communities are willing to embrace all of this technology and the fencing that you've been able to provide?

[00:20:49]>> depends on on their situation. You know, I think in most cases our people are really appreciate the support that they get. And um we spend a lot of time talking to the traditional leaders and the communities themselves finding out do they want our help? You know, we don't just arrive and say this is what you have to do. So, would you like a crawl? Do do you need support?

[00:21:12]And in most cases of course they need the assistance.

[00:21:15]And then we spend a long time with them trying to get them to the point where they understand why it's being done. I mean, why would they protect their livestock? Why would we ask them or try to convince them not to destroy lions?

[00:21:28]So, it's a long process and the whole idea is it trying to get them understand or our whole community to understand in fact Namibians. Why do we need lions?

[00:21:37]This is the big issue. Because if you speak it to a farmer and you give him the option, the first thing he's going to say is get rid of them all. Mhm.

[00:21:43]But obviously through tourism, through well, going to school, school children come home and say to mom and dad, "You know what? We we don't need to kill cheetahs and leopards and lions anymore, etc." So, if we can convince our farmers, the people that really suffer at the hands of either elephant or lion, that they have a value.

[00:22:01]And then in order to protect their valuable livestock, uh we have the options. So, they lose less livestock, they need to kill fewer predators. And do you know how many predators are being killed?

[00:22:15]We have high numbers in certain at certain times. There was a time that along the southern boundary of Etosha we were losing 60 80 lions a year along the entire southern boundary. But many farmers have changed to tourism, uh reduced their numbers of livestock, which makes it easier.

[00:22:32]Uh many younger farmers are actually looking at options such as this instead of just using the rifle as the only solution. And then many conservancies are realizing and this is the concept of a conservancy is to live with wildlife and obviously to benefit from wildlife.

[00:22:47]So, they realize the value of all the wildlife and obviously are changing. So, uh sometimes livestock are lost at the rate of 15 20 50 [music] a year Mhm. and lions maybe 10 15 a year and then the other years it's much less. So, it really just depends on the situation.

[00:23:07]Drought playing a big role, movement of of natural wildlife, natural prey plays a big role. Um the attitude of the farmers along the boundaries of these protected areas plays a big role. So, it's it's it's never a constant. It fluctuates a lot.

[00:23:20]>> Mhm.

[00:23:22]The communities are working hard to find a balance of life so that predators and livestock farmers can live in harmony.

[00:23:30]And Africa sensor system is having a positive impact so far.

[00:23:35]But as communities grow and farmers prioritize their livelihoods, just how sustainable are these measures? [music] I've been invited to the Cheetah Conservation Foundation to look at their methods of education and research in supporting the local farming community.

[00:23:57]Founded in the 1990s, the CCF is dedicated to saving cheetah in the wild with the vast majority of the species currently in areas populated by humans.

[00:24:08]Saving this magnificent animal from extinction requires innovative conservation methods that address the welfare of both cheetah and the human populations.

[00:24:21]So, Page, is this a working farm here?

[00:24:24]So, this is our model farm. Um so, basically it's a farm created to show farmers how to properly manage their livestock um and to show them that, you know, we know what we're doing as well.

[00:24:35]We can't just go and tell them, "Hey, do this." And we're not practicing this at all ourselves. Mhm. So, goat goat farming's obviously big in this region.

[00:24:41]Are these milking goats or meat goats?

[00:24:43]>> So, these are meat goats and sheep.

[00:24:45]Okay. Um so, we have our Boer goat, which is the brown head and the white body um and then we have our Damara fat-tailed sheep. Um they're both used for meat production. Um they grow really fast and they're really the popular breed around Namibia. And the extraordinary sight here is hidden hidden within that flock is a dog. Yep.

[00:25:03]That basically almost thinks it's a a goat or a sheep or it certainly feels very comfortable there.

[00:25:07]>> Yep, that's its family. Um so, the dog and the goats are family and whatever happens to the um the goats, the dog is there to help them and protect them.

[00:25:18]So, what kind of breed is this? Um so, this is actually a pure Kangal, but we use two different breeds. We use the Anatolian Shepherd and the Kangal. And why this specific breed? What kind of traits do they have that make them such good protectors? The biggest thing is that they're very independent thinkers um and when they're out with the herd, if there's a predator coming around, they stand their ground unlike maybe a a border collie or something who might move the livestock. Um they're also have a short coat um which is really important cuz you can see all the thick thorn bush here. Um that can be a big issue for a longer coat. Um but [clears throat] the short coat also helps them adapt to the weather of Namibia. And just explain exactly the dynamic. Uh are these dogs brought up to uh almost think that they are a goat and a sheep? So, this is all super super natural behavior for them. This is just what they were bred to do in life. Um and so, you basically bond them very young. So, these guys go out to their farm about 10 weeks old and they kind of start bonding with livestock and they do they think they're one of them. They think that's their family. Um so, I don't know if they necessarily believe that they are a goat or a sheep, but they know this is what I protect and this is part of who I am. And let's say they're out with that flock and a predator, a cheetah or a leopard comes along. What what will they do? Will they fight it or do they just try and scare it off? So, the first step, there's like a couple steps in the process is um they use intimidation.

[00:26:40]Um so, they'll put themselves between the livestock and the predator and stand their ground, which is really important, and start barking very loudly. Um normally that loud bark is enough to deter the predator. The predator says, "No, maybe I'll go find an unguarded um herd or some antelope somewhere." Um if the predator keeps pushing and keeps trying to come after the livestock, they will chase it off and they will fight if necessary. Um but like I said, most times the bark is enough to intimidate the predator.

[00:27:08]They look pretty keen. Are they are they ready to go out? They've been obviously safely protected in the night. Is this something that you encourage so that carnivores can't come and take them? So, this is a big thing that we talk about is having a fenced-in enclosure for in the night to put your livestock in um so predators can't just come and pick them off. Um they're enclosed and they're safe. Um so, the dog has been with the livestock all night and so they're all ready to go out and start grazing for the day. The the noise certainly seems to imply they're ready to go out. Do you do you want to give the farmer the the green light? Hey, Armas. We're ready to go.

[00:27:40]Mhm. We're good.

[00:27:43]Is this typical size of a flock that might be kept by a farmer? So, most farmers have, you know, 300 500. Some smaller farmers might only have 50 sheep or goats.

[00:27:54]Um but we have about 300 here. So, we've got we've got the dog out at the front.

[00:27:58]Is he going to lead? Yep, so she'll kind of lead the way out um and the goats will follow her.

[00:28:04]Oh, look. Freedom.

[00:28:06]>> [laughter] >> She gets excited so she might run off a little bit and then come back and And this is typical to the the farming technique and style that they would do out here. They'd let the animals out to free graze. Yeah, um so a lot of problem you you can't really do too much supplement feeding all the time um because it can become really expensive. Um so, basically letting your livestock go out to graze um is the way that they're going to get all of their food and their nutrients. Um these guys are very hardy animals um and so they basically they can survive off of the Namibian land um which is really important obviously cuz you can see it's lots of thorn bush. Um there's not tons of food source. Um so, these guys are the perfect little models for Namibia.

[00:28:52]And that is amazing to see the shepherd that really is a shepherd dog Yeah. with them. Literally.

[00:28:58]She'll follow them. She kind of does a little bit of perimeter checks, just make sure everything's okay.

[00:29:03]Um and then we have our herder with us um and he guards the stock for the rest of the day as well. So, it's double the protection.

[00:29:12]Human-wildlife conflict is clearly a complex issue in Africa.

[00:29:17]As I depart Namibia, it strikes me that in every corner of the continent there are species contending with human needs.

[00:29:28]Now, I'm headed back to Kampala to meet with Tom Okello, the executive director of the Uganda National Forest Authority, to hear about the challenges they face in protecting forests and wildlife.

[00:29:45]The role of National Forest Authority is to manage the central forest reserves in Uganda.

[00:29:54]Uganda has 506 central forest reserve covering an area of about 1.2 million hectares.

[00:30:05]And these reserves are categorized in natural forest, natural forest. We have plantations and then we also have the savanna reserves which are earmarked for plantation development. And the status of wildlife in the wildlife protected areas, I would say is very stable. We are seeing an increase in wildlife population over the years.

[00:30:28]In areas which are outside protected areas, we are seeing a very big decline.

[00:30:33]And the decline is being caused by the destruction of habitat through human activities. So, what is happening outside protected areas, there is a problem. Inside protected areas, the problem is being managed. And over the years from 1990 to around 2015, it was discovered that the country lost the forest cover from 20% 25% in 1990 to around 10% by 2015.

[00:31:06]So, we are talking of a loss of about 3 million hectares of forest cover.

[00:31:11]Most of this loss happened outside the forest managed by the central government. Now, it is a big concern for government. When you look at our national development plan, government has committed to restoring the forest cover. Government is supporting the National Forest Authority with a budget to to implement what we are calling National Community Tree Planting Program.

[00:31:36]Where we are raising seedlings for the communities and giving them to plant for free.

[00:31:40]People are requesting for and taking them and planting.

[00:31:44]We are also encouraging restoration of central forest reserves.

[00:31:49]We are doing plantation establishments in central forest reserve to try to meet this target.

[00:31:55]Now, in areas around wildlife protected areas, one of the solution is to ensure that these wild animals don't get out of the national parks which is a very big tall order. Because the boundaries are very wide.

[00:32:07]You can put all the barriers, but there's no one barrier which can stop all the animals from getting out of the national park. A barrier for elephants, for example, will not stop a small jumping animal from getting out of the national park. So, what, for example, Uganda Wildlife Authority is doing is working with the communities to put barriers.

[00:32:26]Right now, they're piloting an electric fence around Queen Elizabeth National Park.

[00:32:31]But Uganda Wildlife Authority has also worked with the districts, local government and the land owners, the private land owners to create enterprises which can survive and depend on the existence of wildlife. In other words, wildlife will be destroying something, but they're also getting benefits from the existing of wildlife.

[00:32:50]So, it is a matter of balancing the boat as we talk about in Uganda here. We we need to balance between the destruction, the benefits and possibly people can learn to coexist, but it's not an easy task.

[00:33:03]Deforestation is a huge issue in Hoima, a city in the western region of Uganda.

[00:33:09]>> [music] >> As human populations grow rapidly, chimpanzees become squeezed into shrinking forests surrounded by people.

[00:33:20]Poor local farmers cut down forests to plant crops and [music] sell the timber to survive.

[00:33:27]Deforestation has become so extensive that the region's wild chimpanzees, such as the Bulindi chimpanzees, are under threat.

[00:33:37]British biologist Dr. Matt McLennan and his research assistant Tom Ssebility have dedicated their lives to studying the apes here.

[00:33:50]How you doing? Morning, Ben. How are you? Very well, sir. Good to see you.

[00:33:54]Um so, these are our expert chimp monitors. Uh this is Tom. Hi, Tom. Yes.

[00:33:58]How are you? Good to see you. And this is John Mary. Hi, John Mary. How are you? Good to see you.

[00:34:03]Um so, what we're going to do, we're going to go and check on the chimps. Um they nested uh yesterday evening about 200 300 m from here, just behind the house here. Mhm. So, we're going to go and check on them, see if they're ready to get up. Are chimps early risers? Very early. They should be just getting out of their nests. Okay. Should we head off? Yep. Let's go. I'm excited about this.

[00:34:28]So, what do you Where do we think they are?

[00:34:30]Well, it seems they've uh got out of their nests very early. Okay. Um ordinarily they call, so you can hear them. Um but this morning they haven't.

[00:34:38]They won't be very far, but they might have gone for breakfast. And breakfast probably means going for jackfruits in the gardens surrounding the forest.

[00:34:46]Okay. So, they could well be in someone's front garden when they wake up.

[00:34:50]>> It is possible. Alternatively, they can still be just down on the ground grooming quietly, you know, greeting each other Yeah. to start of the new day.

[00:35:02]So, we uh we just heard them call. It's the first time I've heard chimps calling in the wild.

[00:35:07]And then if we actually see them, it'll be the first time I've ever seen them in the wild. I'm pretty excited. I know the farmers and the locals aren't so keen ever to see the chimps in the morning, but uh this will be a first for me.

[00:35:49]Yeah, so this is one of the groups about 8 miles Yeah. and he's giving you a good eye-balling here. Yeah. He's really you know, of course they recognize new faces, so they're wondering who these who the new guys are. Yeah.

[00:36:05]Can they actually recognize Yeah.

[00:36:07]individual faces? Yeah.

[00:36:09]So, they presumably recognize you? Yes.

[00:36:11]Yeah.

[00:36:12]Don't know me. Um he was definitely looking at you and the camera guys.

[00:36:17]>> Yeah.

[00:36:17]But these are semi-habituated really in terms of them being completely used to Yeah, they um they're habituated habituated to the research team.

[00:36:28]Uh the chimp monitors, um myself, but you know, they live surrounded by people and not all those people always friendly to them. So, they like to get a sense of, you know, is this person a threat to me or is this person okay? Yeah.

[00:36:40]And how long do you think they've worked out now that I'm more curious just to Yeah. to observe? Yeah.

[00:36:46]The mere fact that you're here with Tom who they've known this chimp has known Tom all his life, Yeah. you know, it means you're probably okay. Yeah.

[00:36:54]>> [snorts] >> So, who who have we got up in the tree here? That one is Moses. Moses? Yeah, the third alpha male.

[00:37:01]Third alpha male. Okay.

[00:37:04]Do they have a very strict hierarchy?

[00:37:06]Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:10]They're amazing.

[00:37:14]It's a real privilege for me to see chimpanzees in the wild, but it can be a very different story for the locals who live here.

[00:37:22]Due to the decreasing forest area, the chimps raid farmland destroying the local community's income and threatening their safety.

[00:37:32]Throughout the region, locals have been injured by chimpanzees and there have even been cases of child snatching and killings.

[00:37:39]I'm meeting with a farmer whose land is in the middle of this battleground.

[00:37:45]You are free?

[00:37:45]>> Yeah? You are free? Yes, absolutely. I'd love to have a look around. Yeah.

[00:37:49]You said you come from South Africa? No, I'm actually from England. From England?

[00:37:53]So, I'm trying to understand the bit about the chimps and how they affect people like yourself, the farmers. So, can I see what what what do you grow here?

[00:38:02]Yes, we grow cassava. What have you? Let me take you around.

[00:38:10]So, just tell me the different crops that you grow here. You have coffee?

[00:38:13]>> Coffee.

[00:38:14]I have cassava.

[00:38:17]I have some jackfruits. But those have been there. I grew them just they are permanent for consumption and sale for school fees.

[00:38:29]But nowadays I don't sell them because it is now food for chimps. I see. Yes.

[00:38:34]Yeah, and children also.

[00:38:36]>> [laughter] >> The chimps eat and they the children also eat.

[00:38:39]The chimps, they're right there. They they come onto your land?

[00:38:43]>> I started realizing that the chimps were in the forest around 1970. Mhm.

[00:38:51]It was when they used to shout.

[00:38:54]You could see them just in the forest.

[00:38:56]One, they wouldn't go outside. Mhm. We used to grow maize and some sugarcane around.

[00:39:04]Mhm. But when the forests were cut, people started cutting forests for cultivation, for timber and what have you, then they started coming out. So, you noticed you noticed a change of the chimps' behavior. They started coming out of the forest. Yes. Yes. They started coming out of the forest. So, that correlated with people cutting down trees.

[00:39:23]>> Yes. Yes. Yes. It was the same. Mhm. It was the same because most of the trees were cut which had fruits and what have you. Then they started scattering to look for food. And how does that impact you as a a farmer?

[00:39:37]They steal your crops? Of course I'm affected.

[00:39:40]But because they were born there and I'm here, we have to adopt to live each other, to live together.

[00:39:46]There are certain crops which they feed on. They don't feed on cassava. They don't feed on maize. They don't feed on potatoes. Do they cost you money? Do Do they Do they Do they cost you financially? Of course. Of course it costs because Let's say with the jackfruit I used to sell jackfruit to Hoima. Mhm.

[00:40:07]Nowadays I don't sell. Cuz they steal.

[00:40:09]They steal and eat.

[00:40:12]Boniface, you're you're smiling when you say this, but I imagine there are days when you get quite angry with the chimps. After day, I'm used [clears throat] I can't get angry. You can't.

[00:40:21]>> Because we have adopted a way of living with them.

[00:40:25]Now I'm I'm expanding on coffee growing because it is the crop which they don't feed on. Not yet. The coffee which the money I get from coffee I have bought some and land there where I'm going to grow matoke.

[00:40:40]So I can't see I can't grow angry because of the chimps. I'm adopted to live with them.

[00:40:46]Yes, I'm adopted. I love that. Thank you so much.

[00:40:49]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:40:58]So Matt, just explain a little bit about this group of chimpanzees. It's pretty unusual to be so close to human habitation, isn't it?

[00:41:06]Yeah, um when you think about wild chimps you tend to think about big forests, national parks, and this group of chimps uh live completely outside of a protected area, you know. Um This These are village chimps. They live very close to people. Uh there's very little habitat. Mhm. The forests are small. I mean, these forests that this group of chimps use are just a few acres. It's just remnant forest.

[00:41:30]>> And why is it so small? What's happened to their natural habitat? Well, the last 20 years almost all the forest has been cut down. And for a lot of uh local households the most ready source of money is from the forest. Okay, if you cut the trees you can make money from timber, from from selling charcoal.

[00:41:45]And then you can uh farm the land for cash crops or you can rent the land to others.

[00:41:50]The The fact is for most people they can't afford to keep forest on their land. Have the chimps almost become isolated here? I I sometimes think people imagine animals receding deeper into the forest as encroachment happens, but it strikes me there's almost nowhere for them to go from here. Yeah, um they are isolated. There are some other chimp groups in similar circumstances, you know, a few miles in either direction.

[00:42:15]As the forest is cleared, so do the migration routes. But chimps are pretty What we're learning about chimps is they're very adaptable.

[00:42:21]>> Mhm. You might think, okay, if the forest is gone, chimps aren't going to survive here. But they can. They can adapt their behavior. If you cut down their food trees, they start eating your crops.

[00:42:30]>> Mhm.

[00:42:31]>> [music] >> So Moses, you're the project manager. So you liaise and speak to the local community and try and come up with solutions. Is that right? Yes, that is right. The solutions are to prevent human-wildlife conflict. And in this case it is chimpanzees.

[00:42:49]Chimpanzee-human conflict. So this project is basically to provide solutions. For example, you can see up there we have a borehole.

[00:43:00]Mhm. The purpose for that borehole is to provide safe, clean domestic water for domestic use because initially people used to go down to get water in the river, the river which is within the chimp habitat and this would cause a conflict between humans and chimpanzees. And what about compensation? If a farmer has lost a crop, sugarcane, uh avocados, can you ever pay them uh some compensation? Basically by law it is not allowed to compensate people for the property destroyed by wildlife.

[00:43:37]In this case I would be violating the law.

[00:43:41]But what we do is teach these people to develop resilient mechanisms so that they can coexist with chimpanzees. But on humanitarian grounds So but as we in Chimpanzee and Community Project we don't directly compensate the victims.

[00:43:56]Speaking to some of the locals and and the community liaison people they say it's on one hand it's losing the crops, but the other thing is a fear.

[00:44:07]Especially women and children are very fearful of chimps. They're big, strong animals. How can you ensure that there's as little interactions between chimps and and young children, for example?

[00:44:22]Actually we have been educating people, especially women and children. We have always told them at least if they are going through the forest they have to move in groups.

[00:44:31]They have to understand basic chimp behavior. They don't need to provoke them. They don't need to throw sticks. They don't need to shout. They don't need to mimic them. So that if they see chimps crossing they can wait and chimps cross other than maybe fighting to go through the same path and that can cause a conflict between humans and chimpanzees.

[00:44:55]Matt and Tom have told us that the group of chimps are close [music] to crossing this road, which is the main route from Hoima and cuts through forest and farmland.

[00:45:06]>> [music] >> It's vital to the economy, but a danger to local wildlife.

[00:45:14]So I've come to catch up with the the chimps.

[00:45:17]Busy main road, unlikely area to to see chimpanzees. Hey guys, how's it going? Hi Ben. Good to see you. Hey John Mary. Hey. So uh So where Where are our friends? Well, um the chimps are in this undergrowth here on this side of the road. Right. And it seems that they're probably going to cross the road, which um as you can imagine is a very dangerous thing for the chimps to do. Um So we're going to wait a bit to see if they cross.

[00:45:42]So two things are going around.

[00:45:43]Obviously a busy road, but I can also see young children Yep. walking along the road. This is one of the local concerns, isn't it, with the interactions?

[00:45:50]>> this road gets a lot of foot traffic. Um it's a very busy road. The road has recently been constructed. It used to be a dirt road, but now it's been tarmacked. Yeah. Um which is much So it's become much more dangerous for the chimps. Faster cars.

[00:46:02]>> Much faster cars, a lot more road traffic. Um and of course dangerous for the for the people as well. Yeah. So all of this um gravel across the road, is this a way to try and This is a temporary speed bump. When the road is finalized, uh they're going to put permanent speed bumps there, the the road authorities. So it should help. It should slow the traffic. This is exactly where the chimps normally cross.

[00:46:22]>> Yeah. Um Have chimps been hit? Yep. In 2015 one of the adult females was hit right here and killed by a car. No, really?

[00:46:30]Would you Would you say that the roads are one of the big problems facing these chimps? Yeah, the roads are really dangerous and um they're a barrier to movement. They're barrier to dispersal.

[00:46:40]And uh as the roads all over the area are being developed then the populations of chimpanzees are becoming increasingly isolated. But this is presumably one of the big struggles everyone has, development >> Yeah.

[00:46:53]uh versus conservation. And And they don't always go hand in hand.

[00:46:57]>> No, they don't. And of course, you know, uh Uganda has a right to develop. Um the local people here they want the roads.

[00:47:03]They want the electricity. Mhm. Um Is there a place for chimpanzees in this landscape? You know, no one really knows. Can you have your cake and eat it? Exactly.

[00:47:13]Let's hope so.

[00:47:22]It's been amazing for me. First of all, I've seen chimps for the first time.

[00:47:25]Seeing them up in the trees this morning making all that noise, staring intently was incredible. You know, that you feel like they're looking into your soul.

[00:47:35]But the real reason for be for me being here was to understand more about [music] this this conflict between human and chimp.

[00:47:45]And I mean, look where I am. I'm in the middle of human habitation. There are farmhouses around. There's children around. I'm around fields of um crops, deforestation. And that little forest behind me is the last remaining habitat for this this particular group of of chimps.

[00:48:02]People do need to make a living. There's a lot of poverty around here. Uganda needs to develop. But at the same time it was humans that forced these chimps >> [music] >> so close to human settlements. So we also have to come up with a compromise.

[00:48:17]And there there lies the answer, compromise.

[00:48:19][music] How do we compromise? It's very It's easy for me to say that to a a farmer who has nothing, whose crop has just been um stolen by a chimp. You know, they they they they are owed something in return.

[00:48:32]Now whether that's compensation and Uganda needs to change the laws or whether that's is a continuation of what organizations like the one I've been with today have been doing, supplementing school fees, helping improve the infrastructure. Maybe Maybe that's the answer, but these chimps need our help because that's all that remains. And that might not be there in a year's time.

[00:48:57]>> [music] >> Human-wildlife conflict varies globally.

[00:49:02]And these communities, authorities, and foundations in Uganda and Namibia are just some examples of those attempting to find answers.

[00:49:11]But with no standalone solution, how do we ensure the survival of the species?

[00:49:24]>> [music] >> Oh.

[00:49:38]>> [music] >> Oh.

[00:49:42]>> [music] >> Oh.