Unleash your Inner Ninja with Africa’s Largest Inflatable Obstacle Course these…While a growing body of research highlights the impacts of climate change on wild apes, sanctuaries caring for apes are also feeling the impacts of a warming world.
“Climate change has had a huge impact on the sanctuaries,” says Kaitlyn Bock, head of programs for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance , a coalition of wildlife sanctuaries and centers across the continent. “All the markers of climate change have been affecting them and their operations. Everything from increased rainfall to exacerbated periods of drought.”
Dr. Stephen Ngulu, manager and veterinarian at Sweetwaters, which is part of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, says unprecedented rainfall and flooding are contributing to an array of problems for the facility. When the Ewaso Nyiro River overflowed earlier this year, the flooding damaged fences and other infrastructure at the sanctuary and restricted the chimpanzees from accessing their larger enclosures.
“The El Niño rains have been exceptionally long and heavy this past year with rains persisting for over six months and the traditional seasonal rains in excess of what they should be,” says Dr. Joshua Rukundo, a vet and executive director of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation Trust, the organization that manages the sanctuary. “This has happened in the region almost consistently over the last two to three years.
A bit further south, Zambia faces not flooding, but more frequent droughts, which have contributed to widespread hunger and increased poverty in the nation. She adds, “People’s hunger drives them to commit crimes in order to make money, so they start stealing materials such as metal from the enclosures, which can compromise the security of the enclosures and endanger the chimpanzees and the population.”
Chimfunshi is adapting by taking action to conserve as much water as possible while still providing its chimpanzees with access to clean water, even in times of scarcity. One way it achieves this is by allowing the chimpanzees more time outside their enclosures to help minimize the need for frequent cage cleaning.