I just found out we were nominated for Pawcurious’ 2010 Brodies for excellence in pet blogging. We were nominated for the best animal blog (non-cat/dog). Thanks for the nomination! Now the judges are going to select a smaller group of finalists. There are some really great blogs on the list! Check them out on the Pawcurious site.
Archives for January 2010
Chimpanzee Strength
As a follow-up to the last post, I thought I’d share this article that I came across last spring regarding chimpanzee strength. Judging by your comments, you either think that Burrito is incredibly strong or that I am incredibly weak. I choose to believe the former.
Honestly, I can’t think of a human on this planet who could compete with a chimpanzee in terms of sheer strength. And yet, after all these years being around chimps, I’ve never really understood why this is. Sure, they are more muscular than most humans, but that doesn’t seem to be enough to explain such a dramatic difference in power.
There are two explanations that I’ve come across, and they both seem plausible (and they are not mutually exclusive). The first says that the chimpanzee’s greater strength is due to a difference in “musculoskeletal architecture”, meaning, basically, that their muscle fibers and the geometry of the attachments between muscle and bone are different than ours. Have you ever wondered how a 150-pound deer is able to gracefully leap over garden fences on those scrawny little legs? When you think about how powerful some animals can be with such small muscles, you start to realize that size isn’t everything. But the second explanation, available in detail from the link above, says that humans simply have more “cerebral inhibition” over muscle control. Basically, our brains limit the extent to which we can use our own muscles. Only once in a blue moon do we hear of someone using all of their available strength, and only in times of severe stress – for example, stories of mothers lifting cars when their children are trapped underneath (just an example, I don’t know if that’s actually ever happened!). Chimps, on the other hand, go full-bore all the time, making tog-o-war with their human caregivers a short-lived game.
Anyway, I’m in no position to evaluate either explanation, but its interesting to think about.
Boys will be boys
The other day, Burrito and JB had a marathon play session. Tug of war is one of Burrito’s favorite games, and you’ll notice a lot of it in the video below. Of course, tug of war between chimps and humans is no real competition at all. Burrito has to play down his superior strength to accommodate our relative physical weakness (and we have to be prepared to let go at any time so we don’t get pulled into the caging!).
Negra’s son Noah
CSNW supporter Jennifer Douglas and her husband James are sponsoring the migration of Noah on behalf of his mother Negra. Check out the photo of Noah below – he looks so much like his mom!!
Noah currently lives at the Save the Chimps facility in New Mexico which was formerly owned by the Coulston Foundation – a notoriously horrid research facility that closed down when Save the Chimps stepped in to rescue the chimpanzees. Like all of the chimpanzees at the former Coulston Foundation laboratory, Noah will be making the journey to Florida where he will live on an island with a large group of chimpanzees. We’re so pleased that Jennifer and James and so many of you are reaching out to help the relatives of the Cle Elum Seven in other sanctuaries.
Thanks to Candy Crannell for alerting us that Noah is now on the Save the Chimps website, and for sponsoring the migration of Foxie’s daughter Angie (who also looks remarkably like her mother). Also check out Negra’s daughter Angel from this previous post. Many of the sons and daughters of the Cle Elum Seven are now at Save the Chimps, so more on relatives soon!
Greenhouse Update
We’re getting closer! Volunteer Jim Spencer has been coming all the way from Whidbey Island to help with construction, and together we’ve nearly completed the framing.
The greenhouse won’t be heated, but the polycarbonate panels should trap enough solar heat to make it comfortable on a sunny day. This morning, Annie spent a little time outside, despite the temperature being in the 30’s. With the greenhouse, she should be able to hang out in the outdoor area a lot more often.
Also, while the chimps love to eat snow, they don’t like to walk in it. Foxie will appreciate not having to tip toe through the cold snow to get to where she wants to go.
Phantom Nesting
Although we have never witnessed Burrito build his own nest with blankets, as we have mentioned in other blog posts, he will often sleep in someone elses’ nest. Today, I caught Burrito engaging a behavior we, at CSNW, call Phantom Nesting. This is a behavior both he and Foxie occasionally do, which involves clapping and running their clasped hands along the fence, the wall, and/or the floor. Interestingly, this is not a behavior that is seen in the wild, and is rarely seen at all. As far as we know, the behavior has only been observed in a few captive individuals, but definitely seems to be related to nesting.
*Editor’s Note (from Diana): we don’t know much about this behavior. We’d love to hear from others who work with chimpanzees both in captivity and in the wild to find out if you’ve observed nesting behavior in the absence of “normal” nesting material and/or if you’ve seen the same clapping and arm movements described above and shown in the video below.
Negra thanks you
Below is the photo of Negra taken on the first day she was in sanctuary and a photo taken just an hour ago. Negra continues to change. She’s been very playful and more active this winter than last. She still avoids conflict and likes to have blankets over her head. She has her favorite foods. And she still loves to see humans dance for her.
Negra’s continued signs of contentment are all because of the support that we have had from so many. Without individual donations, the sanctuary and the quality care that we provide would still be a figment of our imaginations. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, thanks to you all!
Today I wanted to say a special birthday thanks from Negra to a couple of people who are helping to get the stories of the Cle Elum Seven out into the world. Kathy Cochran, whose birthday is today and Margaret Parkinson, who celebrated her birthday on December 31st. These two remarkable ladies collaborated to create the book, Sanctuary: Year One that we have for sale in our online store. Thank you both and happy birthdays!
Negra on her first day at the sanctuary, after living in laboratories for decades
Negra tonight, finishing up the seeds from her night bag