Those of you who have been following our blog for a while have probably gotten pretty good at telling the chimpanzees apart, but it can be tough when you’re first getting to know them. I thought it’d be fun to do a series of posts featuring each chimpanzee’s distinguishing physical characteristics.
Annie is pretty distinct looking. She has a uniformly dark face, unlike most of the other chimps, who have some white markings.
She also has prominent ears with a notch out of the right one, which you can see in these photos:
Lastly, the hair on the back of Annie’s head and shoulders is almost always standing up:
Here are a couple of photos of Annie playing with her BFF Missy. See if you can tell which one is Annie!
Great post, Elizabeth! Over the years I think I’ve pretty much learned how to id each of the 7, but it usually takes me a little study (except for Burrito. I can pick him out instantly). Love how you point out the helpful details and look forward to the next 6!
Such a very helpful post! I look forward to the rest in this series.
Great timing, Elizabeth! This is going to work out perfectly with my Level 2 chimp ID training. 🙂
I love looking at the chimps and getting a reminder of the ID. You did forget to say how beautiful Annie is! 🙂 She has such a beautiful face that is so expressive. Thanks Elizabeth. I too look forward to the other posts.
This is great! I’ve been following the chimps since 2008 and I still have problems telling Jody, Annie, and Missy apart (and Foxie, if she’s not carrying a doll!). Now I’ll have some ways to tell them apart!
Annie: dark face, notched ear, always with a bad hair day. Check. 🙂
How on earth did she get a notch in her ear and half of Buritto’s taken off? Those stupid people testing on them I’m sure! SOBs! I hate when the vets take a notch out of feral cat’s ears too if they’ve been spade. I know it’s for identification but come on, would any human want their ears messed with like this? Any way, Debbie, thank you for the ID class! I knew Annie didn’t have any white markings but I hadn’t noticed the ear or the hair. Now I’ll have a better look see and hopefully be able to pick her out! 😉
Several of the chimpanzees came to us missing some parts. It’s most likely the result of fights with other chimps during their time in labs.
I love her punk rock hairdo!!! Now it will help me pick her out. 🙂