This is Mave.
And this is Gordo.
Today we continued introductions by doing a one on one with Mave and Gordo. It has been a while since either chimp has done an intro, especially Gordo. He just never seems to be around when we shift for intros, but today he just waltzed into the Mezzanine and I closed the door. Gordo and Mave have met before through other intros, but today was the first time they both were really interactive with each other! When they saw each other they immediately met at the mesh to start grooming. I was waiting for a natural break between them to open the door, but I think they could have sat and groomed each other for hours. Eventually, we opened the door and they greeted each other warmly, but separated for some time. Gordo is a shy guy, so we decided maybe they need alone time. We stepped into the foyer to watch on the camera and within a few minutes they started grooming and playing. Gordo has always seemed to admire Mave from afar so we just assumed in intros that they would interact a lot, but the first few times they would greet and groom each other and then they wouldn’t interact very much after. This intro is such an improvement to their other meet ups and they spent the whole afternoon together.
Bonus photos of chimps in a comfy warm greenhouses!