As you may already know, chimpanzees groom each other for both socialization and hygiene. They keep diligent track of any injury their friends have sustained and are always on hand to squeeze, prod, pick at, or even gently bite an offending wound. This does a pretty good job of keeping things open and clean. At the sanctuary, no one is more dedicated to the job of wound groomer than Missy Chimpanzee (AKA Dr. Missy).
Last week we had to do a quick surgical procedure to stitch Jody’s partially detached eyelid back together. She continues to recover and improve, but as an added precaution to make sure she heals smoothly (and gets to keep her stitches as long as possible), we separated her again from the group yesterday evening. Dr. Missy will need to wait a bit longer before she can do some serious grooming.
The doctor in action:
