WCS Uganda Program

Piles of clues: How nests, dung are fueling wildlife revolution

“We have turned nest and dung into data,” says Samuel Ayebare, the study’s lead author and conservation scientist with WCS.

This new wildlife monitoring method isn’t just about counting endangered species like elephants and chimpanzees; it’s about finding smarter ways to help them survive and thrive.

Piles of clues: How nests, dung are fueling wildlife revolution Researchers have turned to looking into nests of chimpanzees and the faecal matter of elephants in a bid to revolutionise wildlife science in Uganda by making the invisible visible

2025 Mountain Gorillas and Inaugural Chimpanzee Census in Bwindi, Uganda Launched
On Tuesday May 6, WCS Uganda Country Director Simon Nampindo joined the official launch of the 2025 mountain gorilla and first ever count of chimpanzees in Bwindi - Sarambwe, Uganda. Led by International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) in collaboration with partners, including WCS, under the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC), the scientific count will provide a robust estimate of the number of mountain gorillas living in Bwindi, and an indication of how the population has changed since the previous census was carried out in 2018.

Good tree nursery practices and care, are a prerequisite for forest restoration in South Western Uganda. With support from The European Union, the Uganda Biodiversity Fund and her partners are supporting agroforestry projects to raise and distribute quick maturing tree seedlings in Kikuube District.

Farmers are provided with solar irrigation infrastructure, to ensure steady seedlings supply through out the year.

The project will ensure that degraded habitats , facing pressure from refuges, commercial timber and charcoal encroacher's are restored as a mitigation to climate change in our time