The Swiss chimpanzee champion

Swiss-born Daniel Hänni has spent most of his adult life working with chimpanzees.

Hänni runs the Jane Goodall Institute Switzerland (JGI Switzerland) which he set up in 2004. It’s one of dozens of JGI offices around the world, set up in collaboration with the famous ethologist. Jane Goodall highlighted the urgent need to protect chimpanzees from extinction and redefined species conservation to include the needs of local people and the environment. According to the Institute, there were about one million chimpanzees in the wild in 1900. Today there are about 340,000.

JGI Switzerland has been working with JGI Uganda to reconnect scattered ape communities through reforestation of fragmented forests. Hänni also organises tourist trips to Uganda to visit the natural habitat of chimpanzees. Visitors usually contribute to conservation projects.