My Story

Umugenzi (Its Dangerous being Chimpanzee)

It’s so depressing living a life where you have no home, no parents and no one claiming you. That was my life.

They named me Umugenzi, which means friend in Kirundi a language spoken in Burundi but I had no friends in actual sense nor did I have a home or a family.

I was a desolate little friend who was taken from her home by pet traders and taken to Burundi only to be bought by a man named Costa because he felt sorry for us but didn’t know what to do with two Chimpanzees so he gave us a way to a friend of his who was an expatriate in Burundi.

We were eventually confiscated by the Burundian wildlife authorities but they couldn’t keep us. There were no proper holding facilities to hold two desolate Chimpanzees.

Imagine the stigma that lingered over us. We were then put in temporarily custody of an American woman for 15 months, until plans were made for us to be brought to Ngamba Island.

Thanks to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, we found a home at Ngamba Island and lifelong care. We finally found people that wanted us but most of all, they took us back where we belonged—in the forest.

In this forest, I have made a couple of friends myself now like Baluku, Kisembo and Oketch. I am no longer the ‘friend’ who has no friends.

Do you also want to be my friend? Find me at Ngamba Island.

1000 Pant Hoots

Umugenzi