KAMPALA, Feb 24 (Reuters) – There were 426 chimpanzees in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park last year, according to the first-ever census of the endangered species there – a count that experts hope will help conservation efforts.
The state-run Uganda Wildlife Authority conducted the census with support from U.S.-based conservation charity the Jane Goodall Institute in 2025 and announced its findings on Tuesday.
UWA Executive Director James Musinguzi said the effort had addressed the gap in documenting the status of the chimpanzees, confirming that “chimpanzees are not incidental occupants of the forest but an integral and widely distributed component of Bwindi’s great ape assemblage”.
The census, aimed at establishing the population size, density, and distribution of the species in the conservation area, is a “a major milestone in strengthening evidence-based conservation in one of Africa’s most important protected landscapes,” the UWA said in a statement.
Musinguzi said the data would also help make better “conservation investments” in the park covered in dense tropical forest, to which the “impenetrable” in its name alludes.
The 320 sq km (124 sq miles) park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one the East African country’s prized tourist attractions. It is home to a range of animals including mountain gorillas, elephants, and antelopes.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Andrei Khalip)
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