Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

Ngamba Island is a chimpanzee sanctuary, located on Lake Victoria in Uganda.  The island is home to 39 chimpanzees, all of whom were rescued from the horrific bushmeat or pet trades. 

Many of these chimpanzees will have seen their parents and family killed in front of them, and often arrive on the island traumatised and malnourished.  These rescued chimps are the lucky ones - many die before they are found and rescued. Ngamba is seen by many as a role model sanctuary, with excellent facilities and extremely skilled care-givers and vets.  The chimpanzees live in social groups, and spend the majority of their time in a 100 acre rainforest enclosure.  Before the sanctuary was established, the forest was degraded, but since the chimps’ arrival, the island has blossomed, and is now home to more than 120 species of bird, 50,000 fruit bats, monitor lizards, hippos and other wildlife.

Read an interview with Lilly Ajarova, Executive Director of the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary