Meet Chimp Asega

Asega is an adult male who came from Democratic Republic of Congo and estimated to be born in 1998.He was confiscated from Arua, Uganda and arrived at Ngamba December 1999. Chimp Asega is amongst the most intelligent in the juveniles, very acrobatic, best at high jumping and uses his brains rather than his muscles when there are disputes in the group. And his name means ‘born in the bush’ in Lugbara.

He is an adult male, smart and curious, he spends all his time inside the holding facility with Mawa and he has been observed to be dominant over Mawa. He has improved in rank and he is currently forging a social connection with Kalema who is one of the top ranking males. Although he has not suffered any serious illness, Asega is one of the chimps who experienced a cold at the start of October 2013; he was treated and responded very well to the medication.

When opening for the chimps to go to the forest in the morning, Asega likes to stay up high in the hammock making sure that all the chimps exit before he leaves the holding. Asega rarely displays in the group but when he does it is serous and takes long to settle. When he is asking for porridge, Asega throws the grass to the caregivers as a way of catching their attention.  When he is suspicious, his lips are observed expanding and then shrinking until the caregivers attend to him by either closing/opening the door or providing food in form of enrichment.