My Story

Becky (Its Dangerous being a Chimpanzee)

When I was young, I was kidnapped from my family and sold as a pet, that is where I quickly realized how grime the world was for me as a Chimpanzee. I didn’t know who my mother was neither did I have the hope of seeing her again.

I was taken to a home in Kampala where I lived as pet, in that when the Uganda Wildlife Education Officers confiscated me, I expected them to take me to another home, get fed bananas, be neglected sometimes or may be have a rope tied around my waist.

That was the kind of picture I had drawn in my head for a long time until I reached Uganda Wildlife Education Centre. It was different, I found other Chimpanzees and our diet was changed quite often. By the time I was taken to Ngamba Island in 1998, I had come face to face with an alternative picture of what Chimpanzee life is supposed to look like.

The picture I got was Chimpanzee lives mattered too, that is why I’m glad I found a sister at the Island, her name is Chimp Sally; I call her my sister because she always reassured me when I was scared.

Most days she gave me a kiss for everything that I feared as a form of reassurance, even when I got post traumatic seizures she stood by me all the time.

It’s through that unity; love and care from which I developed a love to nurture young Chimpanzees like baby Kikyo. His, a grown man now and it makes me so proud that I was part of the growth and integration of one of my kind.

That is my contribution to Chimpanzee lives. What is your contribution to Chimpanzee lives?

1000 Pant Hoots

Becky