Nature’s Best Ambassadors – Matthew and Will Burrard-Lucas
Matthew and Will Burrard-Lucas, our Nature’s Best Ambassadors, recently took a trip to the Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania. Here is their story from the field. For more from the Burrard-Lucas brothers, visit their blog.
The Mahale Mountains National Park is a remote and mysterious place. It is nestled between the sandy white shores of Lake Tanganyika and the 2,000m high peaks of the Mahale Mountains. The hoots and screams of chimpanzees and other primates can be heard echoing through the dark and humid forest. The area is home to around 800 chimpanzees of which one group is habituated to humans. This “M” group has around 60 individuals.
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Chimpanzees are highly social primates and have complex relationships and hierarchies. The group is dominated by an alpha male chimpanzee that has mating rights to the females. The current alpha male of the “M” group is called Pimu. He is generally regarded as a bit of a tyrant – he often acts very aggressively towards other chimps and has even attacked his own mother. His violence has caused the group to be unsettled and the other males often perform impressive displays of their own strength. The number two chimpanzee is called Alofu, and it was with a picture of him that I won my age category in Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2005.
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Disease transmission from humans is a major concern for the chimpanzees’ health. Twelve chimps died recently from flu that would have been caught from people. This means that all visitors, guides and researches are required to wear medical face masks. These masks make it difficult to take photographs because the camera’s viewfinder fogs up. Therefore Will and I resorted to holding our breath when using our cameras – not easy after a long trek! A minimum distance of 10m from the chimps must also be maintained. Whilst these regulations make it difficult for photography, they must be respected for the welfare of the chimpanzees.
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The main threats to the Mahale Mountains National Park are isolation (wildlife corridors to neighbouring reserves are being lost), wildfires and invasive floral species such as Senna and Guava. Thankfully, poaching does not appear to be a serious issue in Mahale. Ongoing research is conducted by Japanese scientists who study the chimpanzee’s behaviour and biology. The project was started in 1965, only a few years after Jane Goodall began her research in Gombe.
No use without photographer’s permission under any circumstances.
For more from the Burrard-Lucas brothers, visit their blog.
To learn more about the Nature’s Best Ambassadors program, click here.
Filed under: Photographers in the Field
