Chimpanzee chasing

During my first week in Semliki I have been busy learning the ropes and getting to grips with life as a field researcher and chimpanzee chaser.

A typical day here consists of waking before sunrise at 6am in order to get ourselves and our kit ready to depart into the forest at seven. Once in the forest we begin to search for signs of the chimpanzees – footprints, dung, discarded fruit parts and the like.

If the chimpanzees are well hidden or have travelled farther afield then the search for them can take us up to 30km around the park; up hills and over streams, through forest and savanna. Indeed my first few days in the Semliki valley were spent trekking far and wide searching for the chimpanzees to no avail. Whilst the walks through the forest are always interesting and enjoyable even without a glimpse of the chimpanzees I soon impatient to see them.

If we do not find chimpanzees then we normally stop searching after several hours and get back to camp hot, grubby and tired around 2pm. If chimpanzee calls are later heard from camp then we will go back into the forest in the evening to search again for them. If all is quiet we have the afternoon and evening free to shower, read, type up data, measure samples, send emails and so on before dinner and then an early night in preparation for the next day’s toils. We largely follow this routine for six days a week, with a much appreciated rest day on Sunday allowing us a lie-in and a chance to recharge our batteries before going into the next week.

Whilst we have so far often been following the trail of evidence indicating the past passage of chimpanzees, I have found myself chasing the chimpanzees themselves on several occasions. Sometimes we have seen a group of the chimpanzees in the morning only to have them noisily career into the distance. Each time this has happened we have followed in the direction they went, but the speed with which they travel and their ability to remain silent and invisible amongst the tree-tops, undergrowth or tall savanna grass, has meant that despite our best efforts we eventually lost them for good.

Chimpanzee chasing in Semliki is an exhausting but exhilarating activity. I find racing through the valley with only the occasional tracks, vocalisations and glimpses of hairy black outlines to guide us very exciting, but also frustrating when our exertions are in vain.

Despite having so far been disappointed on several occasions after failing to relocate lost chimpanzees, the effort of the chase is definitely worth it when we do catch up with our fascinating targets. I am certainly willing to chase chimpanzees the full length and breadth of our study site for those special occasions when we are able to locate and observe the elusive Semliki chimpanzees.

Written on Wednesday 14th July