Conservationists connect with chimps in a Ugandan rainforest as they seek a sense of communion

KIBALE NATIONAL PARK, Uganda — The man tracking chimpanzee movements in a rainforest is required to follow the primates wherever they go — except up in the trees.

Onesmas Ainebyona stalks the chimps with such spirtual determination that he's been able to win the trust of a chimp leader named Jean, who came down a tree one recent morning as Ainebyona lingered nearby.

It took Ainebyona four years to achieve rapport with Jean, an alpha male that's become so used to people that he pretends to sleep while tourists make a racket that compels other chimps to leave.

Wildlife authorities describe the process of making chimps appear comfortable around humans as “habituation,” a term that fails to account for the struggle between man and beast as they try to understand — and tolerate — each other.