Jody is at least 37 years old (we believe she was captured in Africa, so she’s possibly older than that) and she is best known for her elaborate nests, yoga poses, and just her overall proficient ability to relax. But, Young’s Hill brings about a different side to Jody. She’s much more active and even playful when she’s out there. Chimpanzees in Africa spend about 60% of their day traveling. We obviously can never replace the forests of Africa with a 2-acre enclosure, but it’s really nice to see the amount of exercise the chimps are getting out there! With a workout plan like this one, I can’t wait to see how skinny Jody will be by the end of summer!
Archives for March 2012
Groomin’ on a Sunday Afternoon
Okay, it’s not really Sunday, but I couldn’t help myself with the title.
We’ve talked about how important grooming is within chimpanzee society before (see this blog post from 2010 and this one from last year and you might as well check out this one about conflict and reassurance).
My favorite grooming to watch between chimps is when it’s a lazy afternoon and everything is calm and quiet. One chimpanzee will approach another chimp who is lying down or just sitting and chilling and start casually grooming them. The chimps often do their lazy grooming on the top of the climbing structure in the greenhouse. Often there are multiple partners grooming separately and sometimes they’ll move to a new partner or create a group of three or more chimps all grooming each other.
Below are some pics of Foxie grooming Burrito.
Foxie separates the hair on Burrito’s back with her fingers:
Foxie using her prehensile lips to groom Burrito (see this video with some other prehensile lip action):
Foxie becoming distracted from her grooming by the troll doll in her hand:
Missy & Annie
Mornings at the chimp house are pretty predictable. Burrito likes to start out the day with a long and loud display. Jody likes to camp out by the window to the kitchen so she can watch the caregivers prepare the morning smoothie. And Negra stays in her bed, under the covers, as long as she can without missing breakfast.
Missy and Annie, on the other hand, like to begin the day by playing.
Negra’s kind of day
Negra’s not a big fan of the cold, so she hasn’t been spending time on the hill. Even the greenhouse is a bit too cold for her these days. Her favorite spot is lounging in the warm playroom in front of the windows, so today was Negra’s kind of day. Missy stayed in the playroom during breakfast (so we couldn’t clean there until later) so after she ate, Negra got to go right back to lounging in the sunny playroom in her bed.
For Ned and Noreen O’Flaherty
Joan O’Flaherty sponsored today in memory of her parents, Ned and Noreen O’Flaherty. Today was their birthday (same day, two years apart). Ned and Noreen also shared a love for animals and a great concern for environmental and conservation issues, and Joan is certain they would have loved the work of CSNW. Thank you, Joan, for such a thoughtful gift.
