habituated chimp, the chimp will often throw one
back. Unless you are larger or outnumber them,
chimps that have been chased may chase you. And
provided the opportunity, chimps will hunt for meat.
SIX YEARS AFTER I’D WORKED in western Uganda as
a field biologist, I returned as a wildlife and conser-
vation photographer. My assignment for National
Geographic, with writer David Quammen, was to tell
the story of human-chimpanzee conflict.
Though the village of Kyamajaka isn’t far from the
Kibale research project, the chimps around Kyama-
jaka are habituated to humans in a different way.
They are wary of the people they encounter on a daily
basis. These chimps are in competition with their
human neighbors. The native forests that supported
the chimps have been cleared for farming, so they
now feed primarily on human-grown crops. They go
on evening food raids near homes before returning
to the sliver of forest where perhaps 20 mature trees
are their refuge from the human world.
The forays don’t stop there. The house where I took
this picture belonged to the Semata family—farmer
Omuhereza, his wife, Ntegeka, and their four young
children. To live there was to feel constantly at risk
of attack by chimps, Ntegeka told me. She described
how the animals would show up in their front yard
and peer into their windows, scaring the family.
The unthinkable occurred on July 20, 2014. As
Ntegeka worked in the garden, she kept the chil-
dren with her. But in an instant when her back was
turned, a large chimp grabbed her toddler son,
Mujuni, and ran. Villagers who gave chase foundThe National Geographic Society, committed to illuminat-
ing and protecting the wonder of our world, has funded
Explorer Ronan Donovan’s work since 2014. A Montana-based
wildlife photographer, Donovan is also a filmmaker, an artist,
and a mountaineer.
Wild chimpanzees
whose natural
habitat has shrunk
approach a home
in Kyamajaka.FEBRUARY 2022 31