Acknowledgements
Support for the Budongo Forest Project (BFP), which has made this study of the Sonso
chimpanzees possible, has come from very many sources. I especially want to acknowledge
the help of Jane Goodall, Andy Johns and Derek Pomeroy in the very early stages when
it was sink or swim for BFP, and to Jeff Burley, Howard Wright and Per Wegge a little
later when their help made all the difference. I am indebted to the late Peter Miller for
his support and encouragement in the early days, and also to Moses Okua, John Okedi
and Lawrence Kiwanuka for permission to study the chimpanzees living in the Budongo
Forest Reserve.
My family has been a constant source of encouragement and help. My wife Frankie
was with me from the beginning, when we lived in Budongo Forest for a year, cutting
and creeping through the forest to watch the shy and frightened chimpanzees. She has
been a constant source of help and optimism for which I am deeply grateful. My son
Jake underestimates the huge contribution he made during his year as a volunteer orga-
nizing the building of our wonderful camp out of ruined sawmill buildings in the heart
of the forest. My daughter Janie likewise came out in the early years and made a video
about the work of the Project which has been shown at conferences and meetings and
has helped put us on the map.
I thank my good friend David Dickins for allowing me to accompany and assist him
on his fieldwork visits to Lundy Island to study kittiwakes; during the years we did this
in the 1980s I realized that I too wanted to get more involved in fieldwork and this got
me started on the idea of going back to Budongo. For the final irresistible stimulus to go
back I thank Shirley McGreal (see Appendix F).
For their support over the years I would like to thank Chuck Southwick, Doug
Candland, Duane Quiatt and Janette Wallis. All have been tremendous assets at times
when the going got tough.
I thank my collaborators at Sonso (we are still collaborating!), in particular Janette
Wallis, Linda Vigilant, Leslie Knapp and Jenny Greenham. Their inputs into the work
reported in the book have been considerable.
Without the support of our Directors and Assistant Directors the BFP would have
been a pale shadow of itself: Chris Bakuneeta, Andy Plumptre, Jeremy Lindsell, Fred
Babweteera, Mark Attwater, Hugh Notman, Lucy Beresford-Stooke, Michael Mbogga,
Sean O’Hara, Gerald Eilu and Nick Newton-Fisher — all have made mighty contributions
to the Project’s success.