Jewel Safaris-Uganda Primate

 

Primates -The Gorilla ,The Chimpanzee

 

These are animals which to some degree retain a primitive body plan which they share with other unrelated arboreal mammals such as squirrels, tree shrews and possums. They are long backed and short necked with five-fingered, clinging hands and feet. The fore-arms are linked to the chest by collar bones and the head has forward-oriented eyes and short flexible neck.

 

Owing to their locomotive techniques, they have developed specialized features e.g. relatively slow and careful climbers have a powerful grip in their hands and feet while fast branch runners have long tails for balance, long flexible backs, narrow hands and fingers, small thumbs and well developed bi-focal vision which helps them assess distance and space.

 

Primates feed on a variety of ripe and soft fruits while flowers, nectar, buds, young and mature leaves supplement their diet. As a result of feeding on various large quantities of food, it has led to early specialization of lineages.

 

Primates have a weak sense of smell which can be attributed to a high sense of touch and vision as a means of exploring and surviving in a world of branches.

 

In Africa, the primates are sub-divided in the order of apes and old monkeys which further sub-divides into other classes as it is shown below;

 

a) Apes

 

i) Chimpanzees; on average, a female chimpanzee weighs 30kg while a male one is between 26 and 40kg.

 

A chimpanzee is a strong ape which has long, tufted black hair, bare face, bare prominent ears and bare parts of the abdomen. It has brows which are rounded and the margins of the nostrils are scarcely raised. Female chimpanzees are slightly lighter than males and manifest a pink swelling of the ano-genital skin which declines in size due to the cycle of the menstrual period.

 

They mainly live in forests and forest galleries stretching into savannah woodlands. Chimpanzees also frequent lowland and mountain forests, manifesting a preference for mixed and colonizing communities.

 

Half of their consumed foods are leaves but bark and stems form an important diet. Animal foods range from termites, insects, birds, eggs and to nestlings. Small mammals are taken occasionally while preferred foods are figs and fruits, chimpanzees may spend their time feeding on a few species.

 

They form social communities of between 15 and 20 animals within large territories that are defended by both sexes but mostly males. Only females cross the community boundaries. Adult males are fiercely intolerant of their counter parts in neighbouring groups. Immigrant females are generally accepted into groups but their offspring may be attacked and killed.

 

Location; - Kibaale Forest N.P

                -Queen Elizabeth N.P

 

ii) Gorilla; a female gorilla on average weighs 114kg while a male one is between 160 and 210kg.

 

Gorillas are very large barrel-chested apes with relatively even hair, a bare black face and chest and small ears. They have bar shaped brows which are joined and the nostril margins are raised. Female gorillas are far much smaller compared to males. The belly of a wild gorilla is much more massive than in captive specimens. The long blue-black coat of the mountain gorilla differs from the shorter and sparser brownish coat of the lowland forms. The saddle of the mature males becomes grey or white with age hence the name ‘silver’ for old males.

 

Gorillas live in both lowland tropical rain forest, mountain and sub alpine environments. In most cases they prefer old clearings, valley bottoms and landslides where there is a dense tangle of ground level and herbaceous growth.

 

Mountain gorillas eat fewer plant species and feed mainly on leaves compared with the lowland gorillas. Vine and wild celery form a high proportion of their diet. Gorillas form small non-territorial harems dominated by single mature male. Male offspring are driven out and females not infrequently change groups. Female gorillas tend to establish bonds with males. Once the established pairs are joined by adult females, the sequence of arrival determines female rank and order.

 

The gorilla spends half of its day foraging either on move or temporarily static. Like ruminants, they have long rest periods. Mutual evasion is facilitated by frequent advertising signals emitted by dominant males, the commonest call bearing some structural resemblance of a chimpanzee hooting. When neighbouring males fail to evade one another, there are displays of roaring, chest-beating, plant-bashing implying that they are annoyed.

 

Gorillas reproduce at a very slow rate, on average one young every 4 years. Mothers give continuous attention to their young and the dominant male is always alert to the safety of all members of his group. Gorillas live for 50 to 60 years.

 

Location; - Bwindi Impenetrable Forest N.P

                -Mgahinga N.P

 

iii) Baboon; these are large terrestrial, predominantly quadrupedal monkeys of open country. Adult males are bigger and longer muzzled than females. They live in harems of a single male with one or more females. Baboons are sub divided into several classes but the common one in Uganda is an olive baboon.

 

An average male olive baboon weighs between 22-50kg while a female one weighs between 11-30kg.

 

A baboon is a grizzled, olive brown animal. Adult males have cape over neck and shoulders.

 

Its habitat is mainly woodland and forest-mosaic environment. The olive baboons entirely depend on grass as their diet in open areas and fruits in forests. Male animals may co-operate in some feeding situations.

 

Location; - Kyambura Wildlife Reserve.

 

iv) Monkeys; these are small, grizzled, grey or brownish animals with a black face, mask and white ruff. They live in groups numbering 5-76 animals. Both females and males follow a rank hierarchy but female coalitions modify the pecking order and deter male aggression towards the young.

 

All young males leave their natal group (usually joining neighbors) whereas females remain with their maternal group. Males only concert their actions during confrontations with other groups.

 

In Uganda, the common types of monkeys are De Brazza’s, white and black monkeys and the red colobus monkeys. Monkeys live in savannahs, a wide range of woodland and forest mosaics. These animals basically feed on seeds, flowers, fruits, cultivated plants, eggs and small vertebrates.

 

Location; - Kyambura Wildlife Reserve

                - Semliki Valley N.P