One of the world’s most famous chimpanzee colonies is facing an existential threat, a researcher has warned, calling for urgent steps to address the issue.
From around 150 chimpanzees in the 1960s, the total population in Gombe National Park in western Tanzania has dwindled down to around 90, according to conservationists.
These chimpanzees were the ones studied by legendary primatologist Jane Goodall, whose research offered invaluable insights into human evolution and behavior.
Their habitat on the shores of Lake Tanganyika has been steadily falling prey to agricultural expansion, while the animals also face risks such as poaching and diseases.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the destruction of the forest and these chimpanzees struggling the way they are today,” Simula Maijo, a senior researcher at the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), told Anadolu.
“Each tree cut down means a loss of food and shelter for these apes.”
In Gombe National Park, located some 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of the city of Kigoma, there are no perimeter fences, allowing the chimpanzees to freely roam through the winding corridors of the forest.
These corridors connected various chimpanzee colonies in the park, but they have r apidly disappeared over past years, isolating the animals and reducing their genetic diversity, Maijo explained.
For the depleting forest area, he cited charcoal production and timber extraction as primary factors, along with “smallholder farming that has transformed the corridors into fragmented patches.”
That has increased human and wildlife conflicts, another reason for the declining numbers, while also exacerbating the risk of disease outbreaks, he added.