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Happy World Chimpanzee Day!

July 14, 2020 by Chad de Bree

Together we can ensure that captive chimpanzees have a better life. Together we can save wild chimpanzees in their forest homes.

– Jane Goodall

Today marks the 60th anniversary Jane Goodall first stepped foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania. Jane Goodall and researchers who have followed her footsteps have studied the members of the Kasakela Community for 60 years at what is now called Gombe National Park. The research station now holds a Guinness World Record for the longest-running study of any wild mammal.

What set Jane Goodall apart from her colleagues at the time was she held no formal higher education degree. She was a woman. And she committed a scientific crime at the time: she named the Kasakela chimpanzees instead of assigning them numbers. Researchers were adamant about not giving chimpanzees names because it would indicate chimpanzees had things such as feelings, choice, and personalities. Flash forward to present day, there are few who would argue a chimpanzee does not posses these qualities.

I think about my entrance into the Pan troglodytes world and where I have been to where I am now. I was originally studying political science during my undergraduate studies. Long story short, I took an anthropology course, found out primatology is a sub-branch of the field, found out even further there is a lot of crossover between political theory and what we now know of primate social behavior, including chimpanzees of course. After I bit the bullet and took on another degree in anthropology, I applied to be in the Gombe Chimpanzee Lab at Arizona State University. My job was to receive photos coming in from the field and use a new state of the art process to gather measurements of the individuals of the community. The process (known as photogrammetry) is a way researchers can now track the growth of particular individuals without using a darting method. Even at my inception into chimpanzee studies, I have never known a chimpanzee by a number. They have always had names, and asking those who have studied them longer and in the field, each one was unique in their own personality and decision making process.

Though I had a grasp of this thought early on into my studies and career, it wouldn’t really hit me until 2017 when I was an intern here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It’s one thing to hear and sort of know each chimpanzee is uniquely different from the next, but to see it firsthand is another story. Personally, I don’t think anyone can mentally prepare themselves to truly comprehend just how individualistic each chimpanzee is until they spend some time with them. It is that individual factor that makes being a chimpanzee caregiver at a sanctuary such an incredible joy, yet at the same time a challenging task. Trying to balance and cater to 10 individual personalities is a very tricky feat, so we try extremely hard every day to find that balance. Some days are a great success, other days we may fall completely flat.

Knowing them as individuals affects how we care for them on a day-to-day basis. We, as staff, spend everyday with the 10 unique individuals who reside here. Since we know them, we want to make sure we clean their enclosures not just quickly, but thoroughly as well to give each of them access to as much clean area as quickly as possible. We do put a lot of thought into what we prepare for their meals and try to think of what each individual likes and doesn’t like to find a balance among all 10 so everybody is happy. And we brainstorm to think of enrichment puzzles that are not too hard for some, but also not too easy for others to help them not become bored. We do this because we want to do better for them.

So to every caregiver who has had the honor of knowing a chimpanzee, to every researcher who has had the privilege of studying chimpanzees, to every person who has ever supported a sanctuary chimpanzee, to Jane Goodall, but especially, to every chimpanzee past and present, Happy World Chimpanzee Day!

Beautiful Mave.
Willy B and his slinky.
Honey B and her skateboard.
Jody foraging on Young’s Hill for grapefruit and jack fruit.
Foxie in one of the Front Rooms.
Burrito wanting to play in one of the Front Rooms.
Jamie napping in the Greenhouse with one of her boots.
Missy drinking a frozen treat in the Greenhouse.
Annie eating her dinner in the Greenhouse.
Negra returning from a forage on Young’s Hill with a cattail.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. CeeCee says

    July 14, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    Happy World Chimpanzee day to everyone !
    What a wonderful story today, thank you for sharing Chad.
    it strikes me that because the 10 are so challenging, is also the reason they bring us all such Joy.

  2. Patti Wudi says

    July 14, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    I love reading the daily blog, but today’s is very touching. Thank you for all you do.

  3. Linda C says

    July 14, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    I know I’ve said this before, but a big part of CSNW’s charm, to followers, is that you’re small, and, through your work, we feel as though we know them, even though we’ll never get to meet. That’s much harder at places where there are 30+.
    Well done!
    Happy world chimp day!
    HOOT!

  4. Kathleen says

    July 14, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    Wonderful to have an entire day to honor chimpanzees and the one and only Dr. Jane Goodall. I smiled seeing Annie with her pineapple crown on the worldchimpanzeeday.org website.

    Thanks for sharing your story Chad. I am very curious about your experience in the Gombe Chimpanzee Lab at at Arizona State University. Very cool. The 10 chimpanzees in your care are the amazing chimp people they are today because you respect them for the unique individuals they are. So we honor all caregivers today too, because where would these chimpanzees be without you? Thank you caregivers everywhere, especially all of you at CSNW. And thank you Jane Goodall for being the beautifully unique person that you are. How fortunate the world is to have you.

    Happy World Chimpanzee Day!

  5. Tobin says

    July 15, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    May all the great apes be able to have life, and to live it in abundance.

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