Surveys of attitudes to chimpanzees must, therefore, be made inside chimpanzee
habitat. Two studies have been made specifically focusing on chimpanzees, one in
Nyakafunjo village (Watkins 2001) and one in Nyabyeya Parish (Kiwede 2001). A third
study has been made comparing attitudes towards a number of crop raiding species
including chimpanzees (Tweheyo et al.in press).
Cristy Watkins interviewed 53 adult individuals (23 women, 30 men) at Nyakafunjo
village just outside the forest (Watkins 2001). Her interpreter was one of our field assist-
ants from the BFP. Of the people interviewed, 45% saw chimpanzees on a daily basis.
This happened in the forest, at the edge of the forest, or in mango trees or other crops in
gardens and fields nearby.
People tended to have either neutral interactions, where both the chimpanzee and the person
ignored and passed each other, or fearful interactions where either the chimpanzee ran or the
human ran. While some people might ignore the chimpanzee, let it eat or pass by, some mentioned
that they sometimes stood to watch the chimpanzee’s behavior. People seemed to identify with
chimpanzee behaviors that were similar to human behavior, like food sharing, grooming and
maternal behaviors. 86% of respondents felt that chimpanzees were not pests. Chimpanzees are
most frequently seen in mango trees near human residences, or occasionally stealing a sugar cane
stem, but people were adamant about the fact that ‘according to the law of chimps’ they take one
helping for themselves and if they have a ‘friend’ or a ‘wife’, they will take two. Similarly if chim-
panzees were raiding maize or sugarcane crops, people maintained that it was better to allow the
chimpanzee to eat one stem, because when the chimpanzee was through it would leave the stem
there, with the top part still intact. If people were to chase the chimpanzee away, it would flee with
the stem, rendering the top useful part inaccessible to the farmer.
Regardless of the manner in which humans and chimpanzees interacted, chimpanzees were still
not considered pests. Similarly, occupation did not have an effect on the perception of chimpanzees
as pests. The majority of all occupation categories felt that chimpanzees were not pests. The length of
time respondents had lived in Nyakafunjo did not affect this perception either (Watkins 2001: 43–4).Interestingly (especially in view of current debates in taxonomy!) 11.3% of Watkins’
respondents thought chimpanzees were human rather than animal. Even those who
thought they were animal believed they were related to people. Like baboons, chim-
panzees were regarded as clever, but unlike baboons, ‘chimpanzees have a good charac-
ter, and are friendly, well behaved and considerate’. Whereas only 6% felt that a
captured baboon should be spared, 100% felt that a captured chimpanzee should be
spared. (Of those who wanted captured baboons spared, all qualified this by saying that
they should be controlled and kept in the forest.)
Watkins asked whether chimpanzees were threatened: 45.3% thought that
chimpanzees were not threatened at all, but 28.3% listed snares and other dangers from
people as threats, while 13.2% listed drought, lack of food and illness as potential
threats; 79.2% felt that simply leaving the chimpanzees alone would significantly help
them. At the same time, 34% stated that tourism and research were the most important
benefits from chimpanzees.
208 The human foreground