An unsuccessful re-introduction attempt of a wild-born captive chimpanzee Pan troglodytes, Kibale National Park, Uganda

Published source details

Treves A. & Naughton-Treves L. (1997) Case study of a chimpanzee recovered from poachers and temporarily released with wild conspecifics. Primates, 38, 315-324

Background

Efforts to re-introduce captive apes into the wild are usually undertaken in an attempt to enhance populations of endangered species and/or to liberate individuals from captivity. Chimpanzees Pan troglodytesare considered difficult to reintroduce due to their aggressiveness to unknown individuals. This paper describes the release and interactions of a captive female wild-born chimpanzee (recovered from poachers), with the human-habituated Kanyawara community (40-50 individuals) of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park (western Uganda), prior to her return to captivity.

Action

A captive, wild-born, female chimpanzee (between 4-6 years old), was illegally held captive for an estimated three to six months prior to recovery by the authorities on 19 April 1995; she was considered to have bee caught locally. Pre-release behavioral monitoring, training, provisioning and medical screening was undertaken. She climbed well, built nests and foraged on wild foods. On 24 April the confiscated chimpanzee was taken to a first forest camp, joining the Kanyawara chimpanzees on 10 May. Post-release interactions with these wild chimpanzees were recorded.

Consequences

Field observations indicated that the released female was not attacked by the wild chimpanzees upon first meeting and during periods with conspecifics she received significantly more sociable contact than aggressive. Over the initial 4-weeks, she foraged further from humans and climbed higher in the canopy as the project proceeded. She associated closely with two wild chimpanzees, an adult male and a juvenile female. However, on 20 May she was recovered from a village bordering the forest and immediately returned to the forest. Around 4-5 weeks after release, she spent progressively less time with other chimpanzees and after six weeks no longer followed wild chimpanzees at all, repeatedly returning to human settlements. The reintroduction attempt was thus terminated on 24 June, two months after first release, with the female chimpanzee returned to captivity.

Despite the failure of this re-introduction, lessons for future attempts were learnt; the authors suggest possible adjustments to re-introduction methods and post-release monitoring.

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