Chimpanzee habituation in Kibale Forest National Park presents a chance to interact with the Chimpanzee for a longer time than the usual tracking. Chimpanzees are the only primates that have been scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA. Kibale Forest National Park hosts about 1,500 characters of the primates, they live in communities of up to 100 members led by a male alpha, Chimpanzee are territorial in nature, social, intelligent and their adaptive character has evolved over time, the male alpha weighs up to 70 kilograms, coming face to face with chimpanzee is epic. They have been witnessed feeding on the forest plants, leaves, fruits, and occasionally small animals mostly monkeys.
Chimpanzee tracking in the Kibale Forest National Park began in 1993 at the Kanyanchu visitor center, the primates being visited are habituated already, and this has attracted many travelers to the national park, there are higher chances of seeing the Chimpanzees in the Forest compared to any other point of Uganda. The chimpanzee habituation process involves getting the chimpanzee used to being in the presence of humans, in this case, they are meant to proceed doing their day-to-day activities minus minding anyone present and are comfortable.
Chimpanzee habituation includes a group of researchers, primate doctors, and rangers slowly introducing man’s closest relative to the presence of humans, it is a challenging activity to do because the wild chimpanzee live deeper in the forest and easily move to new locations compared to families that have already been habituated it takes 2 years doing the process of habituation, travelers spend the day with the primates. It is a demanding activity visitors get engaged in all the activities being done while with the primates. The process is done on either a half day of full-day basis, it begins earlier in the morning at 6:00 a.m. with a briefing from the Uganda wildlife authority game ranger, they will brief you on how to conduct yourself while in the forest, once you meet the chimpanzee finally you will be allowed 4 hours interacting with the primates, it is best to take the most perfect pictures of Chimpanzee during the habituation process.
During the chimpanzee habituation process, en route, you will encounter other species of the national park including the grey checked mangabey, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, white checked monkeys, and many birds like the Rwenzori Turaco, Nathan’s francolin, crowned eagles, sunbirds, Apalis to mention a few. On rare occasions, you will meet the shy mammals of the park like forest elephants, antelopes, warthogs, and giant forest hogs.
Just like the Chimpanzee tracking, chimpanzee habituation permits are purchased prior to the tracking time, these are acquired from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. They cost $250 for foreign non-residents, $200 for foreign residents, and 250,000 shillings charged to East African citizens, it should be noted that children below the age of 15 years are not permitted to take part during this activity. Permits can be purchased directly from UWA or through a tour operator, in cases where you choose the tour operator guests write to them prior to the tracking time, bookings in advance are recommendable to avoid last-minute rush and cancellations.
There is available accommodation to spend a night or 2 while waiting on doing the activities of the national park, Examples of facilities include Kyaninga Lodge, Ndali Lodge, Isunga Lodge, and Turaco Treetops among others.