Chimpanzee habituation safaris in Kibale Forest National Park. Kibale National Park is located in western Uganda near the fort portal district. The park is on an area of 766 sq. km, established in 1993 to protect wildlife and the forest. Kibale national park is home to about 70 mammal species, 375 bird species, and 13 primates. Kibale national park is managed and controlled by the Uganda wildlife authority.

Chimpanzee habituation is a process of training chimpanzees to get used to having human beings around them and preparing them to be tracked and the chimpanzee habituation experience enables visitors to accompany researchers in the forest. Kibale National Park has over 1500 chimpanzees alone in Uganda. Chimpanzee habituation activity is available on a full or half day basis. Visitors can go early at 6:00 – 6:00 am and watch chimpanzees leaving their nests before feeding, copulation, hunting, breastfeeding, resting, patrolling, and displaying up to when it’s their time to build other nests at 7 pm

For one to carry out chimpanzee habituation they need a permit from Uganda wildlife authority these permits are more expensive than chimpanzee tracking permits and these permits are supposed to be booked 3 months before the actual date. These permits go for USD 220 for foreign nonresidents, USD 150 for foreign residents, and USD 70 for east African citizens that’s Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.

On the day of habituation, you will take your breakfast and pack your lunch then head out to meet the guide that will lead you while in the forest. A maximum of 8 people group inclusive of researchers and guides in a single session is permitted to go and see these chimpanzees. If you are lucky and you woke up early you will find these chimpanzees in their nests and see them copulate, breastfeed, patrol their territories and hunt or even see them build the nets where they are going to sleep at night

However when you try out chimpanzee habituation expect to see other primates in Kibale National Park and these include bush babies, central African monkey, black and white colobus monkey, blue monkey, L’hoest’s monkey, and red colobus monkey while mammals include red and blue duikers, sitatungas, giant forest hogs, bushbucks, African buffalo and if lucky you can get to see the lions and leopards which sometimes migrate from queen Elizabeth national park.