‘Chimps of the Lost Gorge’ Recap

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​In this modern age, we often believe that it is outright impossible for anything in this world to not be connected. After all, the internet is everywhere, satellites and other technologies can find just about anything on land or from the sky or space. But the harsh truth of the matter is that our world is massive and vast, and things can and will get lost upon this planet, to the point where technology does us no good when it fails or when it cannot overcome the planet’s ability to hide things, and oddly enough, the delicate eco system that is nature, also has issues sometimes with keeping its connective tissue together, as was evidenced in the BBC America documentary, Chimps of the Lost Gorge.
 
Now in this particular documentary, we are transported to Uganda, and nestled in the savannah of this beautiful nation is a massive gorge in the countryside known as the Kyambura Gorge and this massive chasm is home to rivers and lush jungle-like overgrowth and it’s also home to something incredibly rare, a lost tribe of chimpanzees, the Kyambura Chimps. These simians, who somehow found their way into this gorge fifteen years ago, stayed long enough that nature and the world evolved around them in quick enough fashion to cut them off from a habitat where they could thrive with more of their own kind.
 
For in between the gorge now, is mankind on one side, and we all know how humans would feel about chimps coming through a place that is the domain of mankind and on the other side, is pure danger. For the savannah awaits and within its bushy grass are lions and threats untold. And the fear for their safety is one factor keeping these chimps firmly planted in their valley, as they do their best to survive and well, that’s no easy task. Because these poor animals are conflicted in this place. They want to leave, they want to explore and they’re even protective of their territory, and it was obvious during this show that they want to leave, in fact some are desperate to.
 
But, a fear of the unknown is the other reason the chimps stay in this valley and while there is indeed plenty of food for them eat and tons of shelter and safety in this place since predators won’t venture into the gorge, their future is still quite perilous. After all, there are only a handful of females in this tiny group of chimps, and thus far, they’ve produced nothing but males and that lack of females is critical to the future of this group of castaways and well, I’ll just say it now, this was both heartbreaking and outright fascinating to watch. I’ve never seen this type of problem for a species in nature before, but this conundrum is precisely what this story presented to us.
 
If anything, what impressed me more about this particular documentary, is that it offered zero answers or solutions when it comes to the situation these chimps are currently in, aside from the fact that they need to be rescued and well, that made this documentary daring in its own right since most documentaries prefer to offer up some kind of happy ending if possible. But instead, this one ended up being a true slice of real life, wherein nature is cruel, and the circumstances are harsh and who knows what the future will hold for the Kyambura Chimps. But in the meantime, our only comfort when it comes to these animals, is the knowledge that for now, they’re surviving the best way they know how…

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