Meet Chimp Natasha

Natasha is a female chimpanzee who is estimated to be born in 1990 and originated from Kibale/Itwara forest Uganda .She arrived at Ngamba in October 1998 and confiscated from Arua Northern Uganda. She has a short, black coat, a black face with a wrinkled forehead

Natasha is one of the smartest females in the group. She is very friendly to the dominant male chimps. She has not experienced any serious illness over the last few months. Even when other chimps in the group had a cold and flu, she did not catch the cold. As a precaution she was given medication anyway and she happily received. She is still among the highest ranking females but was picked on late in September by dominant males especially after Mika {then alpha and close friend} disappeared.

When she is selected to take part in research, Natasha willingly accepts however after entering the testing room she tends to change behavior and becomes more aggressive more so when she loses on the reward. She prefers to spend nights in the holding facility than nesting in the forest. During the afternoon feedings, Natasha is often observed stamping on the drip tree near the feeding area.  When she is anxious, she pretends to be busy and finds anything to distract her. Unlike other chimps, Natasha does not forgive and does not forget she is known to keep anger for days until the right time when she carries out revenge