If you read J.B.’s blog post yesterday, you know that we’ve had quite an interesting development at the sanctuary. Negra, who normally ignores enrichment, has taken a shine to troll dolls, which up until now have been Foxie’s “thing.”
An unrelated fact that you may have noticed if you’ve been with us for a while is that Negra is not as often pictured participating in forages on Young’s Hill as the other chimpanzees. Sometimes Negra decides not to join the group on the hill for forages. We are not entirely sure why this is, and we are trying to figure it out right now (more on that later).
The new development today is that Negra took a troll doll with her to forage on the hill!
It certainly seems that Foxie is able to get comfort from her dolls that she carries everywhere – a kind of security blanket, and perhaps Negra is experiencing something similar with the dolls now.
This is a not-very-good photo of Negra, with the troll doll in her right hand as she is walking back to the greenhouse with a mouthful of lettuce:
Here is Negra passing Foxie (her inspiration?). I like the way that chimpanzees, even when there is lots of room (like 2 acres), will go out of their way to have physical contact:
I was excited to get this photo – you can see Negra’s hand around the troll and Foxie’s around a Dora as they walk in opposite directions:
One of the many things that I love about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is that all staff caregivers meet twice a month to talk about the chimpanzees and raise concerns or even just share stories. One of our recent topics has been Negra’s reluctance to participate in forages. For a while, every time that Negra did not forage with the group, we would give her a meal in the greenhouse or inside the building. But then it seemed that she wasn’t even considering going onto the hill, perhaps because she knew she would get her own private picnic. She does sometimes show anxiety about going on the hill, and we don’t want to cause her to miss lunch if she is responding out of genuine fear.
However, we do want to encourage all of the chimps to experience everything that the sanctuary has to offer, to get exercise, and to work on overcoming situations that might cause a little bit of anxiety. So, a few weeks ago we decided to try not giving Negra a private meal if she didn’t at least make a move to participate in the forage. This may be providing her the encouragement that she needed to join the group in foraging.
At our last meeting we decided to start recording the different factors that may be influencing Negra to choose whether or not to participate in forages on the hill. But now we might just have to add one – whether or not she has a troll doll with her!
I love it!
Wonderful! I hope the troll dolls help Negra overcome her anxiety and encourage her to take part in the forages.
Fascinating! I could imagine how all the open outdoor space could be scary. And this reminds me of a favorite quote:
“Before I knew you, I thought brave was not being afraid. You’ve taught me that bravery is being afraid and doing it anyway.” ~Laurell K. Hamilton (also on Tatu’s web page!)
I love that quote! Thank you, Kathleen.
This is interesting and reminds me of humans when they are depressed or become afflicted with demenita. I worked in skilled care which included working with people with Alzheimer’s disease a type of demenita, and both my parents had this disease as well. Their personalities changed and this included being more reclusive afraid to leave the home. But before that time my mom had depression (undiagnosed) and she just liked to keep to herself. Interestingly enough what you are trying to do for Negra is the same type of thing that works with humans and are older in age-such as Negra. One type of therapy that works is socialization for older adults, senior centers, adult day care and even a visit from a meals on wheels volunteer. This behavior that Negra is exhibiting reminds me of and older human adult isolating due to age or depression or both or even early signs of dementia . Not that I know Negra has dementia her behavior reminds of the early stages of this disease as many begin to hide or withdrawal.
Interesting, Nancy! We did participate in a study that looked at signs of depression and PTSD and Negra clearly had both. She did show improvement after some time. It certainly is difficult to know how much to “push” in these cases, but we hope she’ll choose to participate in more forages. She has been socializing with the chimpanzees inside the building – it’s a wonderful sight to see Negra playing!
Has Negra experienced her very own New Troll doll yet? I’d like to see how she reacts to that. You go Negra and thank you Foxie for sharing your lovelies with Negra! ?
Well, there were quite a few new trolls on Foxie’s birthday, and Negra adopted at least one. We haven’t handed her a troll yet, but she just choose among those that we set out as part of their enrichment. We will have to try picking out a doll to give to Negra 🙂
I was thrilled to hear about Negra and her doll – even getting to witness the beginning of what is sure to be a new milestone in Negra’s life!
She has always seemed cautious, and as the oldest of the chimps, I think I can understand. When I suddenly found myself discussing a major life change with my husband, it was uncomfortable and a little bit frightened to think of myself moving outside of all that I knew in my life. It seems as if Negra is taking her own sweet time deciding what she wants to do and giving herself time to feel comfortable with that decision – never having had the ability to make decisions about her own life until the last six years. And for those who are naturally cautious, there’s always fear in making a deicsion. Sometimes its just more comforting to stay with what you know.
Change is scary and some people (and chimpanzees?) are slow to adapt to it. This is why, out of all the stories you’ve told, I’ve been the happiest to hear when the chimpanzees have overcome a fear. JB’s post a few days ago about Foxe’s first days at the sanctuary and how a troll dolls changed her life reminded me why Foxie become one of my first favorites.
You all are great at giving the chimps space to make their decisions and working to help overcome their anxieties.