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Free eBook
By Dr Matt McLennan, BCCP Director
In chimpanzee society, young females normally leave their birth community when they reach adolescence and join another group to begin their reproductive lives, avoiding breeding with close male relatives such as their fathers, uncles, and brothers. Young females in the Budongo–Bugoma Corridor face unusually challenging circumstances. In this fast-developing, human-dominated landscape, setting out alone in search of other chimpanzees is risky. The riverside forests and swamps that once served as their migration routes have mostly been cut down and replaced by farmland, villages, and towns, and the landscape is now crisscrossed with busy roads. These challenges are illustrated by “city chimps”: young females whose wanderings lead them into the residential outskirts of Hoima City. Learn more about this changing landscape in our free eBook, The chimpanzees next door.
Rosette’s 18 months in the city
In Part 1 of this story, I described how Rosette wandered into residential parts of Hoima City in 2023. Some residents were fiercely intolerant of Rosette, who slept in their eucalyptus plantations and dared to help herself to their mangoes and jackfruit. Certain prominent residents complained bitterly to anyone who would listen that they were being terrorised by a “dangerous wild animal” that had “invaded” their land. The story made local radio, national television, and the national newspapers. In response, the wildlife authorities sent a specialist veterinary team three times to translocate Rosette. Each time, she evaded capture, only to reappear after the vet team had left!
Rosette’s 18 months in the city infographic.
While the authorities’ efforts to relocate Rosette were very understandable under the circumstances, I personally hoped she would find her own way out of the city, find another chimpanzee group to join, and continue her life in the wild.
A surprise in Birongo
By February 2025, 18 months after Rosette first appeared in the city, reports of her whereabouts stopped, and we didn’t know what had happened to her. Then, in April 2025, we began surveys in an area 15 km west of the city to find out the current status of chimpanzees there. We were told that a small group of chimpanzees ranged near Birongo village. Our observations revealed a small band of just five chimpanzees: an adult male, an adult female with a young infant, a juvenile, and one adolescent female. To our surprise, the young female turned out to be Rosette!
Rosette in Birongo (May 2025).
A triumph against the odds
Rosette’s new family infographic.
Rosette’s story is a triumph against the odds. After facing daily intolerance for 18 months and narrowly escaping capture several times, she eventually found her way out of the residential area and, somehow, located other wild chimpanzees 15 km away. Her new family is admittedly small, with just one male. Even so, the arrival of Rosette, a young breeding female, is a major boost for the small band of Birongo chimpanzees, giving them a better chance of survival in the future. Sign up for our newsletter to hear more stories like Rosette’s.
Rosette in Birongo (August 2025).
Rosette made it against the odds, but many young females never do. Your donation supports our Chimpanzee Monitors, who follow chimpanzees like Rosette and help people and chimpanzees share the land.