Meet Ruth Imalingat
Field Guide in Kyambura Gorge, Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Published:
- 12 March 2019
Ruth is one of the few female guides that works trekking chimpanzees in Kyambura Gorge, Uganda.
The Kyambura Gorge, a mystical sunken forest, is located at the heart of Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda and is home to some incredibly diverse wildlife. Amongst this wildlife are 27 chimpanzees, who have become known as the “Lost Chimpanzees”.
These chimps have been isolated and completely cut off from the rest of the vast jungle in Queen Elizabeth National Park, as a result of deforestation and the expansion of local communities. This isolation has left them on the brink of extinction.
Organisations like Volcanoes Safaris and individuals like, Ruth are working tirelessly to safeguard not only these chimpanzees, but the entire Kyambura Gorge ecosystem.
As a child, Ruth would listen to her uncle’s stories about what it was like to be a ranger, which instilled within her a passion for conservation. Ruth began her career as a Research Assistant and after five years she became the first and only female Field Guide among many man. While working everyday in this jungle can be challenging work, Ruth is driven by her passion and love for chimpanzees and has dedicated her life to doing all that she can do protect these “Lost Chimpanzees”.
No job is for a man
and no job is for a woman,
a woman can do anything.
