166 The problem of snares
trailing herbs,^65 but for many years now the majority (85%) are made of wire: wire from
inside car tyres, or from bicycle brake cables, or from telephone lines, or from electric
cable. Sources of wire are markets, other people, and old, non-functional sawmills.
Nylon cord from locally available nylon sacks accounts for the remaining 15% and can
do as much damage as wire but is not liked as much because it decays in the moist con-
ditions of the forest (Tumusiime 2002). The BFP has a large collection of confiscated
snares. The hunters who put them in the forest are not specialized or highly skilled; most
up-country Ugandans can do it. In a study of snaring in Budongo Forest, Tumusiime
(2002) found that 23% of respondents to a questionnaire admitted to having ever made
snares; 97% of snares were set either in the forest or in their cultivated plots; the remain-
ing 3% were sold to hunters.
Snare types
There are two main types of wire snare:^66 one is attached to a sapling at the edge of the
animal trail and hangs in a noose shape just above the ground placed so that a duiker will
put its head into the snare as it walks along, and the snare will tighten around its neck as
it walks forward. The second, more effective type is sprung: the noose is as above but
the end of the snare is attached to a sapling that has been bent over and held in place with
a toggle, so that when the wire is pulled by the animal the sapling springs back into
place tightening the noose around the animal’s neck or, often, its foot. Both types are
found in Budongo. Chimpanzees apparently have difficulty spotting these snares or
don’t know what to look out for, and they put a hand or foot into the noose and then
panic and pull tighter and tighter; if, eventually, they succeed in getting away the noose
is embedded tightly around fingers, wrist or ankle, with consequences to be described
below. Six Budongo shaares are shown in Fig. 9.1.
Traps
Besides snares there are traps. Traps are normally set for a different reason than snares,
and in a different location. Whereas snares are set inside the forest to catch duikers, pigs,
porcupines, rats or guinea fowl, traps are set around the edges of farmers’ fields to
catch crop-raiding animals. The commonest form of trap is the leg-hold trap: a pair of
toothed metal jaws is held open by a metal spring mechanism; when the animal steps
between the open jaws it releases the spring and the trap snaps shut gripping the arm,
(^65) The climber most commonly used for snares is called Mutega nendemeaning ‘catching blue duiker’.
The species is extremely tough, particularly when dry. A chimpanzee would have no difficulty in chewing
through it, thus this species can be seen as ‘chimp friendly’. Personally I would like to see all snares made
of this material in order to save the hands and feet of so many chimapanzees. All hunting is illegal in the Forest
Reserves and BFP cannot promote illegal activities; however, we are exploring this possibility with Uganda
Wildlife Authority at the present time. 66
Wire for snares is these days obtained (illegally) from the Kinyara Sugar Works, located near the
Budongo Forest (Tumusiime 2002).