Nothing can distract chimpanzees from eating their breakfast – except, of course, for drama from the group of chimpanzees next door.
Many thanks to everyone who took the time to pose questions on our Ask Us Anything blog post. Based on the video above, I thought I could begin by answering a question posed by Kathleen:
Have you seen any changes within The Seven now that new chimpanzees are living “in their home”. Have any shown signs of stress or anxiety over the commotions and basic existence of chimpanzees living next door? Do any over groom, or are any obsessively curious over the new neighbors? Things like that.
If there is anxiety or stressors, did it/does it lead to any new conflicts/squabbles within the group?
To be perfectly honest, I think there are both benefits and drawbacks to having multiple groups of chimpanzees living near one another.
The main drawback is that chimpanzees exhibit a significant amount of emotional contagion, particularly during high-arousal situations. So yes, there are occasions where a conflict on one side of the chimp house leads to a conflict on the other side, for no other reason than the chimps get worked up listening to the screaming and end up scuffling with each other. That’s not to say that these squabbles aren’t based on some preexisting grudge, but the proximate cause seems, at least from our perspective, to be the behavior of the chimps in the other group.
These “spillover” conflicts are pretty rare, however, and the mere existence of another group nearby doesn’t appear to cause any chronic stress or tension. Generally, I’d say having another group nearby is a benefit. For one thing, all social primates seem to be drawn to drama. And all the better if that drama is happening on TV, in a magazine, or among the folks next door where it won’t impact us personally. The Cle Elum Seven chimps are riveted by the arguments taking place across the way and will stop whatever they are doing to watch The Real Housewives of Phase 2, as you can see in the video. In a way, it can actually improve group cohesion – after all, nothing makes an ingroup like an outgroup! What else could possibly make Jamie and Burrito feel like they are on the same team?
But it’s not just drama that they are interested in. The girls often swoon when Willy B is within view, and Burrito spends a lot of time trying to get his neighbors’ attention at the window. Chimpanzees are social animals and though the two groups can’t live together at this time, they often benefit from interacting at a distance. It makes their otherwise small world just a bit larger.
