It’s often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is often true. But pictures are only snapshots of a single instant, and they often fail to provide perspective or context. If you saw this photo of Jamie:
you might conclude that she is a depressed chimpanzee who lives in a small cage. But your conclusions would begin to be better informed if you also saw this photo of her wrestling and laughing with her friend Foxie:
or this photo of her surveying her kingdom:
These are all moments in Jamie’s life, and taken together, they begin to paint a picture of Jamie’s personality and her experience in sanctuary. But individually, none of them are the complete story. Jamie is a complex person made up of unique interests, personality traits, and life experiences. Like most of us, she is impossible to categorize, and she is full of contradictions. She is bossy and insecure, selfish and generous, serious and lighthearted, gentle and brutal. She does probably experience depression and feel confined at times, and she also experiences joy and freedom. She is sometimes sweet and sometimes a little mean-spirited and we love all of her.
This is equally true of all of the chimpanzees, and though we do our best to share a variety of perspectives on this blog over time, most of the time you are only seeing a snapshot in any given blog post. The snapshots we share are always honest snapshots, but they are never the complete story. We love the chimps we care for not because they are angels or victims or martyrs, but because they are each individuals who are amazing and flawed and perplexing. It’s one of our greatest joys to get to gradually discover their complete stories.
Speaking of incomplete pictures…. I have not seen any mention of any issues of sexual dominance, given that there is one male chimpanzee among 6 females. It’s certainly something that plays large in the lives of wild chimpanzees. What is the case in confined? sanctuary? Were there medical inventions by the labs that have affected this? I just want to get a true picture of the social complexity you speak of.
Thanks as always.
Sexual behavior is usually among the behavior that is exhibited abnormally in captive chimpanzees, particularly ones who have grown up in labs with little or no contact with other chimps. Though Burrito seems to have urges, he doesn’t seem to have any idea what to do about them, so we don’t see sexual behavior between the chimps at the sanctuary.
Thanks for the answer. Makes sense. Perhaps sad but then I expect such behavior would make sanctuaries very difficult to manage, and possibly more confusing for the chimpanzees. And likely there would be more conflicts. It is fortunate that despite having had no role models in the labs the chimpanzees have managed to find within themselves many of the normal behaviors needed to live with each other, apparently the most essential ones. Maybe this is nature’s way of ensuring their survival. Cooperation and the ability to resolve conflicts mean a longer life.
I love her little pink fingernails.
I swear, this author is not only an animal care giver, but an English major! Your compositions are a delight to read! And obviously come straight from the heart! I love reading the insight all of you share!
Thank you, Maggie!
Actually, Jamie doesn’t look depressed at all in that first picture! Her eyes are filled with mischief (at least to my uneducated eyes 🙂 )!
That illustrates my point perfectly, Amy. You’ve been following the blog for years and know the chimps well, but someone who is introduced to Jamie for the first time via that photo might just see the caging and the pout, and miss the mischief. 😉
Chimpanzees and humans may be very different but we are very much the same too aren’t we? It takes time, sometimes a lifetime, to better understand an individual and still, a little something is always kept secretive. This is why I enjoy your blog posts. You open up and share some of the mystery of what it means to be chimpanzee. Through all of your observations and photos, I enjoy learning who these sanctuary people are. I have great respect and admiration for each individual. Thanks for showing us how all the snapshots tie together.
What an interesting topic you bring up Elizabeth, and yes, so well written. And perspectives can vary from person to person based upon their own experiences, so what someone perceives the picture to show may not be the same as another person.