![]() The 'Kibale Snare Removal Programme' is part of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, which has now been doing research into the chimps of the Kibale National Park for almost three decades. “Foreign poachers also come along to try and earn money from illegal snare-trapping and hunting." "Not all the people who set snares are locals who need to feed their families," she points out. So the problem is that it is no longer sustainable for them to go on using the forest in the same way as they always have." But the growth of Uganda's population has increased dramatically in recent years - the country has been in the world top ten in terms of population growth. "It's correct that they've been setting snares for centuries. So why should they be deprived of the right to follow their tradition of setting snares? Uganda's rural population has been using snares for centuries, and poor rural people need to put food on the table for their families. Removing a poacher's snares doesn't put him off - he will simply set a new snare because they're so cheap to make," she says. "Snares are a problem throughout eastern central Africa because they're so easy to set. “One outcome is that our local group of chimps get caught up in snares less frequently," says Hartel, who is also involved in information campaigns in schools around the national park, which raise awareness about the consequences of snares.Įven though the snares are removed from the forest, this is not nearly enough to stop local trappers coming back and setting new snares, she points out. This has meant that we now have a safe zone in the national park where we rarely find snares,” She says. “Our programme has hired six rangers who patrol the area and remove snares. This applies both to the chimps’ chances of finding food, their ability to climb trees and move around, and how it affects their social life and hierarchy within the group.Īt the same time, Hartel hopes to help stop the extensive injuries caused by the snares, through the Kibale Snare Removal Programme. In her research, Hartel is investigating how chimps are affected when so many of them sustain injuries from snares. Because it had become weak, other apes then tore its eye out," says Nielsen. I remember one chimp in particular, who had lost a hand in a snare. When a chimp is injured, the others exploit the opportunity to push them down the hierarchy. "I've seen chimps in Uganda sitting there without hands leading miserable lives. ![]() When a chimp is caught in a snare, the damage may not only be a physical injury, but they will also lose their status in the group. Nielsen points out that chimpanzees are intelligent animals that live in social groups. But they sustain major wounds and some of them lose a hand or a foot," says Nielsen. Unlike antelopes, they are usually so big and strong that they can tear themselves away and survive. But it's very common for large primates to be caught. "They're usually set by poor local inhabitants to catch small antelopes or something else to eat. "In some places the ground is overrun with traps - there's barely a rat hole without a trap," he says. He agrees that snares are a huge, pervasive problem for local fauna. Martin Reinhardt Nielsen from the Department of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, studies trapping and poaching in a number of countries in Africa. And ultimately, the finger, foot, or hand falls off," says Hartel. “We often find that the snare has cut its way deep into the flesh and cut off the blood circulation. They simply tighten the snare every time they try to pull themselves free,” she says. Chimps and other animals panic, however, and don't try to release themselves. "It hurts, but we humans have the advantage that we can take a snare off. She too has been caught in snares in the Kibale forests, which like land mines can be difficult to see. Our colleagues have set up cameras in the forests, where we can see that around half the wild chimps have been injured by snares. “But I think the problem is bigger than that, certainly in the Kibale National Park. "It's estimated that about a third of Uganda's chimpanzees have been injured by snares,” says Hartel. According to Hartel, there are some 15,000 snares in the Kibale forests at any one time and although the snares are intended for small animals, many chimps are caught in the primitive traps. The job of removing the snares is, however, far from straightforward. In her research she is examining how snare injuries impact on the lives of the chimps, while at the same time leading the 'Kibale Snare Removal Programme' - endeavouring to rid the Kibale National Park of snares. Jessica Hartel from Aarhus University in Denmark, takes notes on chimpanzee behaviour during a field trip to the Kibale National Park in 2011.
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