This was the impressive moment a chimpanzee at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe used a branch to retrieve fruit that was in the water.

The clip, filmed on June 20, 2019, shows the chimp working out how to get its food demonstrating inventive tool-use to retrieve a piece of fruit from the moat by fetching a branch and skilfully drawing it within reach.

Keeper Dan Mirembe explained: "When poachers capture baby apes for the illegal wildlife trade, their mother and other family members are killed, so 20 rescued chimps at the centre, likely represent 100 dead members of this endangered species. This is why the education work done by primate sanctuaries across Africa is so important, so the next generation understands the importance of conservation."

July 14th is #WorldChimpanzeeDay - a day to celebrate our zoological next of kin, with whom we share some 99 per cent of our DNA. They are self-aware, social beings whose communities across 21 African countries are under threat. In this video, we see a rescued chimpanzee in the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre https://uwec.ug/, demonstrating inventive tool-use to retrieve a piece of fruit from the moat by fetching a branch and skilfully drawing it within reach. Keeper Dan Mirembe then explains that when poachers capture baby apes for the #illegalwildifetrade, their mother and other family members are killed, so 20 rescued chimps likely represent 100 dead members of this endangered species. This is why the education work done by primate sanctuaries across Africa https://pasa.org/ is so important, so the next generation understands the importance of conservation. Not only do chimpanzees deserve our respect for ethical reasons, their habitat is critical in global efforts to prevent dangerous #climatechange. Chimpanzees are among the most important seed-dispersal agents - #GardenersoftheForest (see https://www.journals.elsevier.com/global-and-planetary-change/news/will-african-forests-recover-again-as-before?) so protecting them today ensures there are trees to sequester and store carbon tomorrow.
Many areas of chimpanzee habitat straddle international borders and as the apes move back and forth according to seasonal food sources, cooperation between governments is essential. This is why the species is protected under the UN Convention on Migratory Species www.CMS.int and why efforts are under way to protect them and their cultural diversity, e.g. https://www.cms.int/en/document/concerted-action-nut-cracking-populations-chimpanzees-pan-troglodytes-verus-west-africa using the recently published IUCN Action Plan http://www.primate-sg.org/action_plans

On #WorldChimpanzeeDay see Chimpanzee tool-use: using branch to get fruit in moat at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, Entebbe