{"id":10018,"date":"2024-07-06T21:51:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T18:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=10018"},"modified":"2024-07-06T21:51:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T18:51:04","slug":"africas-ape-sanctuaries-face-climate-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/africas-ape-sanctuaries-face-climate-heat","title":{"rendered":"Africa’s Ape sanctuaries face climate heat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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.<\/p>\n

Sanctuaries across Africa are affected by changing weather patterns, including both droughts and floods, increasing the challenges of caring for resident apes.<\/p>\n

Extreme weather also increases the likelihood of human-wildlife conflict in conservation areas, and makes daily life more difficult for sanctuary staff and their families and communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In April 2024, above-average rainfall caused Kenya\u2019s Ewaso Nyiro River<\/a> to burst its banks, flooding the area and wreaking havoc for residents, including more than two dozen rescued chimpanzees at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Recent research<\/a>\u00a0predicts that in the next three decades Africa\u2019s apes will be increasingly affected by climate change, facing more extreme events like wildfires, floods and heat waves. However, it\u2019s not just wild apes that are at risk when it comes to a warming world: great ape sanctuaries across the continent<\/a> are feeling the heat too.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change<\/a> has had a huge impact on the sanctuaries,\u201d says Kaitlyn Bock, head of programs for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), a coalition of wildlife sanctuaries and centers across the continent. \u201cAll the markers of climate change<\/a> have been affecting them and their operations. Everything from increased rainfall to exacerbated periods of drought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bock says these changes<\/a> seem to be happening rapidly across PASA\u2019s 23 member organizations, which care for gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and other primates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think climate change<\/a> is something that happens over time, you know, we\u2019re seeing this happen gradually over many years \u2026 but for the sanctuaries, it doesn\u2019t feel very gradual.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tourist facilities at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary flooded as water levels in Lake Victoria, which surrounds the facility, reached unprecedented levels. Image Courtesy of Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation<\/a> Trust in Uganda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From extreme flooding to droughts<\/h3>\n

While climate change<\/a> is affecting ape sanctuaries across the continent, it manifests in different ways. For example, flooding is the major concern in parts of East Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Stephen Ngulu, manager and veterinarian at Sweetwaters, which is part of Ol Pejeta Conservancy<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis severely impacts the chimpanzees\u2019 welfare, and keeping them in confined areas heightens the risks of physical conflicts between chimpanzees,\u201d Ngulu says, adding that these circumstances also increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks within the chimpanzee population.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, flooded roads hamper staff ability to access and assess areas for damage. Plus, difficult passage impacts the transport and cost of food and supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch situations are deemed crises within a sanctuary,\u201d Ngulu says.<\/p>\n

Flooding in neighboring Uganda is also causing significant challenges for Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, as water<\/a> levels in Lake Victoria, which surrounds the facility, have reached unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n

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Flood damage to the supporting wall for an electric fence securing outdoor enclosures for chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Image courtesy of Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation<\/a> Trust in Uganda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe El Ni\u00f1o 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,\u201d says Dr. Joshua Rukundo, a vet and executive director<\/a> of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation Trust, the organization that manages the sanctuary. \u201cThis has happened in the region almost consistently over the last<\/a> two to three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest impacts of this flooding has been the forced closure of visitor facilities, which has hampered the organization\u2019s ability to generate money to support the sanctuary and wild chimpanzee conservation efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, changing weather patterns have also affected<\/a> the organization\u2019s alternative livelihood programs, which help plant high-value, conflict-resistant crops such as potatoes, beans and coffee. Unpredictable rains have caused root rot and crop losses, which Rukundo says also increases competition for the \u201cmeager available resources by communities<\/a> and wildlife, exacerbating human-wildlife conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plus, the situation is taking up staff time. Rukundo says workers are constantly tasked with adjusting fencing electrification and repairing damaged areas of fences, among other things.<\/p>\n

A bit further south, Zambia faces not flooding, but more frequent droughts, which have contributed to widespread hunger and increased poverty in the nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A chimpanzee at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya, which hosts apes rescued from traumatic situtions. Image by Ray in Manila via\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a>\u00a0(CC BY 2.0<\/a>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peggy Motsch, executive director<\/a> of the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust, which cares for rescued chimpanzees, says the sanctuary is struggling to provide a consistent supply of food and water to the animals in its care. The sanctuary partners with local communities<\/a> to source food, but agricultural challenges linked to drought are making this more difficult, she says. To help, Chimfunshi has introduced conservation farming practices on its land, but water scarcity<\/a> hinders farming efforts.<\/p>\n

Plus, \u201call this shortage of water and food is leading to an increase in prices, which is causing great difficulties for the population and also for the sanctuary, as we depend on external donations to meet our needs,\u201d Motsch says.<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cPeople\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not just sanctuary animals that are impacted by worsening weather<\/a> conditions. Motsch says Chimfunshi staff struggle to feed their own families and that the sanctuary is \u201cconstantly looking for ways to help alleviate their food security<\/a> challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Water shortages in places like Zambia also make it harder to keep up with the sanitary measures necessary to protect<\/a> people from contagious diseases, Bock says. For example, access to clean water is necessary to maintain the level of hygiene required to prevent the transmission of cholera, an infectious disease. Ongoing drought in Zambia is making this difficult, and 21,000 cases of this potentially fatal disease were reported there from January 2023 to January 2024,\u00a0according to the United Nations.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just an example of one of the emergencies that certainly affects the chimps and the animals that are there, but in maybe greater ways is affecting the people<\/a> and the staff that work there,\u201d Bock says.<\/p>\n

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Embankment repairs carried out at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Repairing damage caused by extreme weather<\/a> eats up sanctuary resources and staff time. Image courtesy of Chimpanzee Sanctuary & Wildlife Conservation Trust in Uganda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Building resilience<\/h3>\n

PASA has a special fund<\/a> to help sanctuaries cope with emergency situations. For instance, the organization helped pay for infrastructure to help mitigate<\/a> some of the flooding problems at Sweetwaters in Kenya. Money is limited, though, and Bock says these kinds of crises are popping up more and more as the planet warms.<\/p>\n

However, Bock says, sanctuary staff are exceptionally hardy in the face of such challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in this line of work, it requires a level of resourcefulness and resilience, which I think our sanctuaries have in spades,\u201d Bock says. \u201cThese are very tough, adaptive, strong-willed and passionate people who are very committed, and working against the odds is sort of our bread and butter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chimfunshi is adapting by taking action to conserve as much water<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

In addition, a number of sanctuaries or their partner organizations have enacted conservation programs that not only help to restore wild apes\u2019 habitats, but also aim to recover forests that can help fight climate change<\/a> by serving as carbon sinks. For instance, Sweetwaters has a tree-planting program<\/a>, though this has also been impacted by unpredictable weather patterns.<\/p>\n

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Casual grouping of various male and female bonobos (Pan paniscus), adult and juvenile, at Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa. Image by TK Naliaka via\u00a0wikemedia commons<\/a>(\u00a0CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC), the NGO that started Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary, established Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve, a protected area of more than 48,500 hectares (120,000 acres) in the Congo Basin<\/a> rainforest. Not only does the reserve function as the world\u2019s only bonobo rewilding site, but its peat swamp terrain also serves as a climate-stabilizing carbon<\/a> sink, says Candor Soraya Bourne, director of conservation partnerships for Friends of the Bonobos, ABC\u2019s U.S.-based partner organization.<\/p>\n

In this way, the organization\u2019s conservation efforts can benefit both imperiled apes<\/a> like bonobos, which Bourne notes are an umbrella species, and humans alike, as we race together against the effects of rising global temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, we don\u2019t consider humans to be benefactors of the conservation<\/a> of umbrella species,\u201d she says. \u201cBut considering its global climate relevance, why not count humans as one of the thousands of species that are dependent on the Congo Basin<\/a> rainforest staying alive and intact?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. Sanctuaries across Africa are affected by changing weather patterns, including both droughts and floods, increasing the challenges of caring for resident apes. Extreme weather also increases the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10018"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10024,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10018\/revisions\/10024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}