No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Once again sorry for the delay in updates, I have been very busy working nonstop 12 days in a row. I have been up, down, and all around the Budongo Forest Reserve, experiencing the other sites where research on chimpanzees is taking place.

First, I visited Kaniyo-Pabidi, an ecotourism site. It is a gorgeous pristine forest with 87 chimps in the study group. The forest was so beautiful it was depressing to think of how degraded Kasokwa is. We could easily follow the chimps in the trees and on the ground, as the undergrowth is not very thick. I became fast friends with the field assistants Justin and Joyce. Not only did I enjoy the serenity in the forest, but I really appreciated a hot running water shower! :)

I also visited Sonso, the main research station in the forest. I had to do habitat work for Zinta, what most people consider "hardship duty." Habitat work involves making a 1 km transect, plotting points every 5o m. At each point, a GPS is taken, and all trees in a 12.7 m radius are identified and measured by diameter at breast height. It is tedious and dirty work, especially in the rain! I had to crawl under vines, over logs, through lantana, and wade through a swamp.
So after 2 days of this, it was a treat to go out with the Sonso chimps. They are so well habituated and trusting; a group of at least 8 individuals laid down on the ground within 30 feet of where I sat for an hour long nap.

It was also refreshing to be among the intellectual company of other researchers for a few days, and to escape the village gossip (see below). Tony described to me the challenges and excitement of being involved in the Chimp Health Monitoring Program; Anya vented frustration over the moisture ruining expensive camera equipment, and meanwhile Mario detailed the findings of several Theory of Mind studies done with ravens.


I enjoyed my little vacation, but it helped me realize there is not place like 'home' in Kibwona. Though the forest is really more of a scrap heap of trees not wanted by loggers overgrown with invasive lantana species, the chimps more of a textbook case study on population bottleneck than a thriving community, and the villagers more reliant on witchcraft, myth and alcohol than education, banks and healthcare, living in Kibwona has been an incomparable experiences most primate researchers (or most people from developed nations) never have the chance to enjoy.

How could I forget passing by a small gathering only to find out it was tha town council deliberating how to deal with a man intending to kill 9 people accused of witchcraft? Or hearing of the antics of Mama Roddin's crazy sister hopping on one leg naked though the village? Or my personal favorite- the gummy alcoholic who tried to sell me a bag of his teeth so he could afford to quench his thirst.

The chimps, too, have been memorable, and this past week has been one of the best yet. I am able to get closer to them when they are on the ground--I have witnessed who makes the teeth clacking noise while grooming, whosteals sugar cane from others (Komuntu in both cases; how sugar cane is processed and shared with offspring; I have learned to recognize some voices and distinct pant hoots (Abooki wanting to raid sugar cane, Kangeye fleeing from insistent suitors); and I have laughed a the infants' energetic and curious playfulness, to their mothers' chagrin.

Most recently I watched Ajabu hang upside down by his feet and fall repeatedly on top of his mother Kakono sleeping in their nest. When she left the nest looking perturbed, Ajabu had a huge smile on his face and began bouncing in the nest balanced delicately on the flexible branches, reminding me of myself jumping on the bed as a youngster. Though I must reiterate that chimpanzees are APES, not monkeys, it also brought to mind the familiar refrain "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

As the research comes to a close, I am sad to leave these chimps behind, their future uncertain in this forest caught between multiple avenues of human disturbance-- logging, hunting, farming (not to mention the lack of gene flow...). Will Kakono live to see healthy grandchimpies bouncing around? Ruhara, whose first son burned to death while caught crop raiding, and whose second son's hand is mutating into a uselesss claw because of a wire tightly wound around his wrist, recently gave birth to another baby; will the third time be the charm for her?

While it is difficult not to despair, there is reason for hope as researchers collaborate to find a solution, as Roots & Shoots groups in the area learn more about conserving forest resources, and as people around the globe become more aware of their personal impact.

-Katie

Great photo

Also- check out this great photo that Shannon took: http://aquasoulphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/4596798_BwpYr#275430459_MoTNq-A-LB

Im collecting data on Komuntu in this photo.

Feeling Better!

Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in updates, I have been recovering from malaria. Last weekend I got retested, and there is no malaria parasite in my blood :) I feel SO much better now, and I am back to work every day.

Though this week I'm really taking a "vacation" to visit the other
sites where Zinta is collecting data. Zinta is the PhD student who selected me for this project. It is a comparative study of different forest sites, looking at the chimpanzee stress response to human impact on the forest. As you can imagine, Kasokwa, where I have been collecting data, is very disturbed. the other sites are Busingiro (heavily logged), Kaniyo-Pabidi (pristine forest used for ecotourism), and Sonso (logged in the 1960s, now used for scientific research only).

I visited Shannon at the
Kaniyo-Pabidi ecotourism site, which is so much nicer than where I am
in Kasokwa. There is a REAL forest there, with 87 chimps! there are so
many not all of them have names, so Shannon is having fun naming them
after herself, etc. To see a real pristine primary forest only makes
more clear just how degraded Kasokwa is; disappointing, really, that
people let the devastation go so far.

I am still trying to think of a good name for the new baby chimp in
Kasokwa- if I can ID the gender I get to pick a name. But the chimps
here are very dispersed lately, not traveling in a big group anymore,
and I havent seen Ruhara and baby in a while. It is the end of the dry
season, so food is scarce, and we often catch some of them raiding
sugar cane. I even saw one chimp cross the main road, where people
speed a lot, to raid the crops of the households on the other side!
(probably eating mangoes and cassava or peanuts, whatever he can
find).

It is raining a LOT- one day we got 9.6 cm (about 4 inches), and
yesterday we got rained out of the forest. We were sitting in the rain
for about an hour and it wasnt stopping, and the chimps had already
moved on, so field assistant Joseph and I just decided to go home for some hot
chocolate :) .

Tomorrow morning I will go to Sonso, the main research area where
Zinta herself has been collecting data. She is on vacation with her
parents in town, so I have to do habitat work for her. This is what
all volunteers consider "hardship duty"- cutting transects, measuring
tree diameters, determining species and phenology of all plants in 3
meter radius, etc. excessively slow and tedious work. (this must be
done at all the sites, except kasokwa, because there is not enough
forest to do a full 500-m transect; i guess i cant get off that easy
after all!)

But it should be fun to be in "camp" with the other researchers, as
many of them are from st andrews, or plan to attend in the fall, so i
can make some friends and get away from the village for a few days.
Also, sonso has a nice kitchen with a real oven, so ill go wild making
good food! Ive been joking that when i get home i will get so fat
eating all the foods i miss, haha.

Im still planning on my july 1 flight out (arriving at LAX on july 3).
Though Zinta has just alerted me of a big conservation conference in
Uganda on july 5, I think one conference will be enough this year- I
signed up for the one in Edinburgh (IPS) for Aug 3-8. I have a hostel,
and just need to research some flights. Shannon and I are still trying
to plan our travels together, and she intends to keep her may 31
flight, so we will have a month together, then i will have a month on
my own. I will probably spend most of that time with my friend Femke,
who lives in Botswana.

So far the VERY tentative plan is: April 30- goodbye party in Kasokwa.
Travel to Rwenzori mountains and/or queen elizabeth NP in Uganda. May
7 we are booked to see the gorillas in Bwindi. From there, will bus to
Kampala, then Nairobi. (Shannon departs from Nairobi). we will visit
masai mara, then charter a dhow trip through the Lamu islands off the
coast of Kenya (she loves to sail and snorkel). When she leaves, I
will continue south through Arusha/Dar es Salaam to see Arusha NP and
Zanzibar. I will take an overnight charter bus to Zambia to see
victoria falls, then cross the border into Botswana and do a mokoro
tour of the delta. Then I will stay with Femke in a wild dog camp in
Maun where she is working. This seems like a lot, but time flies when
you are having fun!

I miss you all very much! Love, Katie

I'm sure I'll laugh about this someday...

I'm sure I'll laugh about this someday, but right now, having malaria sucks.

I guess taking Malarone every morning, sleeping under a mosquito net, and dousing myself in 100% DEET spray each morning isn't enough to deter those pesky mosquitos.

I went to the doctor and got some medication- Metronidazole (2 pills 3 times a day) and Artemether and Lumefantrine tablets (4 pills 2 times a day). So if I can manage to stay awake and coherent, I might actually be able to follow this silly regimen, in addition to the vitamins, probiotics, and other pills lined up on my bedside table. At least I'll be ingesting more than bananas, rice, and 7up.

I hope everyone else is healthy and well... I'll send another update about the chimps when I am well enough to go back out in the field.
-Katie