First 25 Kyambura Gorge chimps identified in Uganda monitoring push

Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust says researchers have identified 25 chimpanzees in Kyambura Gorge after six months of Uganda’s first permanent, science-based monitoring program for the isolated population. The findings are meant to guide conservation action for the endangered “Lost Chimps” before declines become harder to reverse.

Why it matters: - Kyambura Gorge’s chimpanzees are isolated from other groups, which leaves the population with a limited gene pool and higher risk from human-wildlife conflict and habitat pressure. - Identifying individual chimpanzees for the first time gives conservation teams a way to track births, deaths, family groups and population shifts with more precision. - The work could help spot declines early in a slow-breeding species where problems can go unnoticed for years.

What happened: - Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust announced the first update from its Chimpanzee Monitoring Project on World Chimpanzee Day. - Researchers have identified 25 chimpanzees in Kyambura Gorge after six months of monitoring. - The program is Uganda’s first permanent, science-based monitoring effort for the gorge’s isolated chimpanzee population. - The project is a partnership among Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Jane Goodall Institute.

The details: - The monitoring builds on more than two decades of research by Nicole Simmons. - The team combines field tracking, individual facial recognition and spatial modeling. - Researchers, UWA rangers and community trackers completed 34 field expeditions over six months. - The team covered more than 500 kilometers on foot through the steep, forested gorge. - Collected data is being analyzed with spatially explicit Bayesian capture-recapture modeling. - The findings are expected to appear in a peer-reviewed scientific journal later this year. - Andrew Kato, lead researcher for the project, said every individual chimpanzee and every surrounding community member matters to the survival of the forest and the chimpanzee population. - Dr. Alexander Braczkowski, scientific director of VSPT, said the Kyambura population will serve as a case study for field surveys, facial recognition and modeling to detect demographic change early.

Between the lines: - The project is as much about people as primates. Conservation in Kyambura Gorge depends on reducing pressure from development around the forest and sustaining local support. - The monitoring program creates a baseline. That matters because the value of the data will grow as future surveys show whether the population is stable, shrinking or recovering. - The effort reflects a shift from general protection to individual-level science, which can make intervention faster and more targeted.

What's next: - Researchers will continue field surveys to expand the baseline for the isolated chimpanzee community. - The team expects to publish initial findings in a scientific journal later this year. - The broader Kyambura Gorge Ecotourism Project will keep linking habitat restoration, research, education and community partnerships. - Volcanoes Safaris says guest contributions, grants, donations and private support will continue funding the monitoring work and related conservation projects.

The bottom line: - Kyambura Gorge’s “Lost Chimps” now have a scientific monitoring system designed to turn a vulnerable population into a trackable conservation case, with tourism-linked funding helping pay for long-term protection. - The project can be explored through Volcanoes Safaris and direct support for the Kyambura Gorge Chimpanzee Monitoring Project.