It’s that time of year again – right around the time of our wine tasting event, the chimpanzees get to enjoy the bounty from Washington State wine growing too. Thanks to Phil Cline at NHV for letting us pick up a truckload of vine trimmings for the chimps! So far they don’t seem to have a favorite varietal, but just give them time.
I searched for a video to provide a comparison of Jody’s nesting behavior to what chimpanzees do in the wild. Here are a couple, in case you are interested: Female chimpanzee making nest from tree leaves at Gombe Stream National Park and bonobo making a treetop nest. They weren’t easy to find becaues if you do a Google video search for “chimpanzee nesting” – most of the results are videos from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.
You guys provide the best enrichment for the seven roommates! You obviously put a lot of thought into keeping them happy. Cheers to you!
I am always amazed to watch Jody make a nest from natural materials, she knows exactly what she is doing with each vine, while others (Foxie and B) just don’tt seem to get the hang of it. I know some of it is learned and some of it is hard wired behavior but why do some get it and others just don’t seem to care or understand how?? I guess that’s why they are individuals, just like you and me. No matter, as I respect each of them as individuals who I respect and love.
Jody was probably captured in the wild and Foxie and Burrito were definitely born in captivity in laboratories. It seems unlikely that experience / exposure during infancy would make that much difference, but perhaps. As far as we know, Missy was also born in captivity, but she’s a great nest-maker. Maybe she was given the chance and/or exposed to other chimpanzees nesting where she came from, but Foxie and Burrito were not? We know so little about their histories it’s difficult for us to say what they experienced or witnessed beyond the notes in their files. And for sure individual variation and personality comes into play too.
Thank you Phil, for letting the vine clippings, be put to good use. I love to watch Jody and Missy, build their nests, but I was wondering is Jody the only one that uses the vines for a nest. I’ve only seen Missy build nests using blankets or towels.
Now that JB is a welder, have you all ever thought of adding a place, outside, on a pole that could be used to simulate building a nest in a tree?
nest building is amazing to watch i love all the folding in and tucking , great use of vines wonderful enrichment x
I love the concentration when they build nests. I watched 2 yr Tamu in the tree at Chimp Eden spent a good 30 minutes getting his nest just right. When he got into it, he disappeared! He was so tiny and he built a big nest!!