Sometimes it takes a little bit of play-by-play commentary to understand chimpanzee behavior..
In this video you can see Burrito displaying and pant-hooting. A chimpanzee displays when they want to look tough and intimidating to others. You will notice Burrito’s hair is erect (making him look fluffy) and he stands bipedal to make himself appear larger. A pant-hoot is a low and breathy call that rises into a louder scream-like call, and it often accompanies a display.
This particular display happened shortly after a small fight between the chimpanzees had just ended. As a fight winds down, the chimps tend to separate and let off the last little bit of “steam” they built up during the fight.
After Burrito’s display, you will see Jody approaching him and doing a lot of submissive behavior. You can see she stays low in a crouch and bobs up and down when approaching him. You can also hear her try to placate his building display with deep rapid pant-grunts. I think J.B. mentioned a while ago, but but this kind of submissive behavior isn’t necessarily a sign that Jody deeply respects Burrito, but more that she wants to avoid getting smacked during his charging display.
Most interesting how she was holding her mouth too!!!!!!!!!! TX so much!! XO to you all!
I didn’t mean “holding” her mouth, but how she had her mouth in that position!! hahaha
That was very interesting. I have read that chimps ‘bow’ to show respect to an alpha male but you are implying that this is not the case here with Jody. Does her bow tell Burrito to “leave me out of it” or is it done to imply respect no matter what her intentions really are? When Burrito started moving in Jody’s direction she sure did move quickly to get out of his way! Whew. can’t say I blame her. ; )
I think it’s sort of like she is just trying to diffuse the situation. If Jody did end up getting hit by Burrito, she would be more likely to turn on him and chase him around, rather than cower and ask for forgiveness, which might be a more traditional subordinate roll. Does that make sense?
Yes it does make sense. Thank you Anna!
Feel sorry for The Girls, having to live with such stress.
No offense, but being the only male probably isn’t a walk in the park, either.