JUST LIKE US

DEEP IN THE HEART OF UGANDA'S QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK LIES A REMARKABLE ECOSYSTEM THAT IS HOME TO A UNIQUE GROUP OF CHIMPANZEES

- CHARUKESI RAMADURAI

NOTHING HAS PREPARED me for the strange kinship I feel with the chimpanzees in front of me. I know these primates share 98.8 per cent of their DNA with humans, both believed to have evolved from a common ancestor millions of years ago. What I didn't know—until I see them in their own habitats—is just how humanlike their facial expressions, social interactions and communication patterns are.

I am in a quiet corner of Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, the East African country known largely for its small population of endangered mountain gorillas. More specifically, I was in the area known as Kyambura (pronounced chum-boo-rah) Gorge, a compact rainforest 100 metres below ground level. I am here to hike through this "sunken forest" in search of the isolated family of about 30 chimpanzees that have lived here for decades, cut off from other habitats and troops.

This family has been slowly and painstakingly habituated to human presence by the wildlife rangers and researchers. Visitors can now hike into the forest to search for them and spend an hour in their company. There are strict instructions we need to follow, like maintaining a safe distance from them and wearing a surgical mask in their presence (since great apes have been known to easily catch ailments from humans). Each group consists of no more than eight people, accompanied by two experienced ranger-guides from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Our guide for the morning hike is Judith Nyamihanda, who has been doing this for 24 years and says she can never get tired of it. “Every day is different, you never know what you are going to see and experience in the forest,’ she says with a twinkle in her eyes.