Ngamba contemplates vasectomy for chimpanzees

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Upon receiving a seventh captive-born chimpanzee, Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary- management is contemplating using vasectomy among chimps, as other family planning methods are proving to be ineffective.

"We have considered using vasectomy," Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary executive director Dr Joshua Rukundo says.

"That is an avenue we will explore later because we do not want to permanently disable these chimps from producing. Ideally, we hope that one day we shall be able to integrate them back into the wild," Rukundo noted.

He made the remarks on Friday during a naming ceremony of the newest baby chimp.

The chimp was named "Silver" after a Dutch wildlife conservationist Silja Verhoeven, who offered to meet the expense for the wellbeing of the newborn chimp while at the sanctuary. 

Whereas the youngest chimp was named on Friday, February 23, 2024, he was born on June 6, 2023. Silver was born to female chimp Cindy but his father is still unknown. With his petite frame and a round face adorned with notably large ears, Silver stands out among its peers.

Why the name

Naming rights at Ngamba sanctuary are typically reserved for dedicated animal caregivers yet in a special circumstance, the opportunity was extended to Silja from Silvers HR in the Netherlands. 

The name does not only reflect Silja's company, but also connotes well with the 25 years of Ngamba sanctuary's existence. 

Silja, who has for long been engaged in several conservation works especially for the Jane Goodall Institute, first travelled to Ngamba chimpanzee island in 2002 and has since, been sponsoring several programmes undertaken by the sanctuary towards the welfare of chimpanzees.

Dr Joshua Rukundo, the executive director Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary handing over a plaque to Silja Verhoeven who adopted the care of a newborn chimpanzee at Ngamba Island. (All Photos by Julius Luwemba)

Family planning among Chimpanzees

Part of the Koome archipelago in Mukono district, the 100-acre Ngamba island provides a semi-natural environment for chimpanzees rescued from animal traffickers. 

The birth of Silver, brought to a total of 53 chimps currently at Ngamba island, seven of which are captive born. All the primates born at Ngamba come as a surprise since the sanctuary was established to accommodate only rescued chimps. 

Therefore, an implant is inserted in every grown female chimpanzee as a birth control method.

However, the female chimps have always found a way of removing the implants from their bodies. 

The first primate born at the island was named 'Surprise' because it caught everyone unaware. This was later followed by several others including 'Easy,' Ruparelia', 'Tam Tam', 'Bolly', 'Themba' and now 'Silver'. 

According to Rukundo, there have been changes in the types of implants inserted in females. Each implant costs an average of $180 (about shillings 700,000).

"Chimps have a thinner skin than that of humans, making it easy for chimps to remove them," Rukundo said. 

As the sanctuary management contemplates on effecting vasectomy, the executive director said they will first use more surgical techniques such as burying the implants deeper into the flesh of the female chimp where it can't easily be retrieved by the chimp. 

Whereas there are other family planning methods such as injections, Rukundo who is also a vet doctor noted that most of such methods are not long-term, which will make it highly expensive. He, however, emphasised that before vasectomy, several other avenues shall have been exhausted.

Being an island, most of the visitors access the sanctuary from Entebbe municipality, a distance which normally takes less than one hour to sail. Under the management of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), a non-government organisation, Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary was established in October 1998.

Chimpanzees at Ngamba island are left to roam inside the 95-acre forest in search of food, water, and medicine among other necessities whereas the remaining five acres were left to accommodate the animal health facility, staff and guest quarters. 

There are 17 sanctuaries in Africa caring for orphaned and confiscated chimpanzees. "One of our wishes is to secure a bigger area with the right habitat which can enable the chimps to be integrated back into the wild," Rukundo said.

Sex life among Chimps

Chimpanzees share 98.7% DNA with humans, which makes them the closest to humans. There are thought to be 175,000 chimpanzees remaining in the world, out of which, Uganda is estimated to be having 5,000. 

Chimpanzees are highly social animals and can live in communities of 20-100 individuals. A chimpanz

Female chimpanzees become sexually active in captivity from eight to nine years when they start developing a very large swelling of the amo-genital region. 

"Menarche," the time when female chimps first menstruate, occurs when they are 7-9 years of age in captivity and between 11-12 years of age in the wild.

Their oestrous cycle is 34-36 days. On average, Chimps in the wild have their first babies when they are approximately 11-12 years of age whereas males become fertile when they are approximately 10 years of age in the wild.

Mating occurs when females are in estrus, which is only 10 days each month. Their gestation period is 225-240 days, where after, a female will start cycling again after 14 months to four years. 

The ground-breaking studies carried out by Dr Jane Goodall showed how chimpanzees are very adaptive animals with a high capability of using tools such as sticks to hunt.