Uganda: chimpanzees, deprived of their habitat, attack humans

I took this photo through the window of an abandoned house in a village in western Uganda. As I watched, a wild chimpanzee (Pan) entered the garden, followed by another. Even though they were staring at the windows, I knew they couldn't see me behind the reflective glass. Fortunately.

During previous field missions, I have been surrounded by dozens of wild chimpanzees and observed them up close. However, before this mission in 2017, hiding had never crossed my mind. I would never have imagined writing such a sentence.

It was before I met the Semata family. I was able to see how the depletion of land and forests as well as the shortage of food and seeds could trigger competition between primates living inside houses and those in the outside world.

I have always felt at home in nature. After college, I worked for eight years as a field biologist, specializing in spotted owls (Strix occidentalis) at Yosemite National Park, marine mammals of African coasts, and wild chimpanzees at Kibale National Park, Uganda. . Primatologist Richard Wrangham's long-term research project in this reserve aimed to understand the behaviors of wild chimpanzees and the potential environmental and anthropological consequences on them.

For most of 2011, I tracked chimpanzees habituated to human presence. After decades of unbiased encounters with their observers, these animals were confident. Since they had never been fed or harmed directly by a human, my presence was indifferent to them.

However, as Wrangham's research has confirmed, behavior changes with circumstances, for both humans and chimpanzees. Just like us, chimpanzees adapt to exploit new food sources if existing ones disappear. Also, like humans, chimpanzees are omnivores ready to defend their territory against other groups of their species. They understand the concept of aggression. Throw a rock at a habituated chimpanzee and often it will throw one back at you. Unless you are larger or more numerous, the chimpanzees that have been attacked will attack you in turn. If they have the chance, they will hunt for meat.

Six years after working in Uganda as a field biologist, I returned there this time as a wildlife and conservation photographer. My assignment for National Geographic, alongside author David Quammen, was to tell the story of the conflict between humans and chimpanzees.