Foxie has a love/hate relationship with dolls. Sometimes she seems scared of them, and she will attack them with a rapid series of karate chops to the torso (very impressive). But then she will carry them around for the rest of the day and even nest with them. Today, Foxie carried this troll doll around in her “pelvic pocket”, an area between the hip and the thigh where chimps like to hold objects.
Burrito can look so innocent sometimes. I took this photo two minutes after he ran through the group, hitting the girls indiscriminately (as far as I could tell) as he went. Negra was very upset. But minutes later, everything was quiet again. Such is life in the chimp world… J.B.
Well, shoot, yep. The chimpanzee world is male dominated if I have my facts straight. And it sounds like the males seem to have a habit of rather beating up on the females to keep it that way. Too bad they can’t learn from the Bonobos, where the females team up and stand their ground with the males so it’s more equal.
Question on Foxie with the dolls – I wonder whether any or all of that love/hate behavior could be related to her babies being taken from her and the emotional trauma that had to cause(?)
Hi Shelly,
Yes, male chimps can be rough. But as we’ve all seen in human society, physical strength isn’t everything. In fact, we’ve noticed that Jamie plays Burrito like a puppet sometimes, using him and his strength to get what she wants. She’s extremely clever and he can be a bit naive (this I say after knowing them for only a month – perhaps he will prove me wrong?). Oh, and the females do team up once and a while to put Burrito in his place. He may be the only male, but he’s far from a respected leader of the group.
We wondered the same thing about Foxie’s behavior with dolls. In the end I guess we’ll never really know. Captivity itself produces some very strange behavior, and chimps have just as many personality quirks as we do. So perhaps its just an idiosyncrasy. But many captive chimps engage in imaginary play with dolls, even putting them on their backs as free-living chimps would do when they travel. And with a history like Foxie’s, who knows what memories that stirs up…
J.B.
Thanks so much for your response JB!! 🙂
Oh that sweet face, I love it
I love your pictures and enjoy getting to know the chimps.The videos I watch over and over I wish I lived closer and could visit it that is allowed. Thank you for all the hard work you-all are doing.I am falling in love with all the chimps.P.S. I love the troll the pink girl.