During the process of the nine’s introduction, we had kept front room 7 closed off from them. The reasoning behind having it closed from the chimpanzees was that it posed some safety concerns. This room is smaller than the others and it only has one entry and exit way, making it a dead end. After the chimps were integrated, and out of rational skepticism, we continued to leave it closed as it served as an extra room in case we needed to separate a fight or isolate an individual. The thought of them getting into a serious fight in such a tight spot with only one way to escape had us a bit nervous. That said, considering that the group seems to be handling itself pretty well, during our most recent staff meeting we decided to give it back to them on a see-how-it-goes basis.
Before the groups were integrated, front room 7 was an all time crowd favorite. Honey B loved to nest in there, Rayne loved to use the firehose as a hammock to relax, Lucky would gather blankets and refuse to shift for us with a very determined looking grin, and the boys loved running through the three front rooms while playing chase with us. As you can all imagine, all nine were very excited to have the room again. Our hope is that they get to keep access to their favorite room forever!
