A six-year-old chimpanzee Amaanyi was returned to her home in Rweshama Forest Reserve in Masindi district on Sunday after being hospitalized in Entebbe for over a month.

Having bean caught up in a trap, Amaanyi ’s leg was severed because the bones had been crushed .

The chimpanzee was escorted by a team that included Dr. Andrew Seguya, the director of the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC).

DR .Seguya said Amaanyi was transferred to UWEC, formermerly known as Entebbe Zoo, on July 27 where he underwent two surgeries.

In a zealuos mood , he said that he felt euphoric this having been the first time such an operation had taken place here. He added that this is the first time a chimpanzee has been rescued, treated and returned where it was rescued from.

This is a conservative move for Chimpanzees are an endangered species, and if nothing is done to protect them and their habitat, they would become extinct. As the chimps look for food, they sometimes end up in traps set up by the local people to protect their gardens from destruction.

Amaanyi was sedated at 3:00pm by doctors David Hyeroba and Peter Apell a field programmes manager under the Jane Goodall Institute, and gently carried into the forest on a tarpaulin. She gained consciousness at 4:00pm and climbed on the nearby trees.

Apell commented that the they were excited about the prospect of the chimpanzee re-uniting with her group. He added that they had removed chimps from traps before, but this was different because her leg was damaged and needed further medical attention.

Apell, said about 25% of the population of chimpanzees in Budongo had injuries caused by traps.