Meet Chimp Okech
Okech is a male chimp who originated from Democratic Republic of Congo; his estimated to be born in 2001.He arrived at Ngamba on 15th March 2002 from Arua, Uganda. Okech means “born in time of drought” in Luo, a language of Northern Uganda. His steadily growing in hierarchy and enjoys teasing juvenile females in the holding facility, he is currently middle ranking among his age mates.
He is a sub adult male with less friends in the community. Okech did not experience any alarming sickness over the last few months. However, at the start of October most chimps experienced a cold and flu and Okech was one of them. He responds positively to the medication no matter how it is administered (either in porridge, honey or in bananas). His rank has improved and he was observed challenging other adult chimps like Mawa and dominant females.
Okech loves to stay behind after feeding, searching in the grass at the feeding area with hopes that there could be some hidden food. He also likes to eat leftovers and scooping the food from between the fence line. When the caregivers open the doors in the morning for chimps to leave the holding facility, Okech is one of the chimps that want to leave the holding late which gets him into fights with Mawa who wants all chimps out of the holding facility early so that he stays in with only Asega (the two spend their days indoors).
