Last week, Cy was sitting in the front rooms with an orangutan book. While he absolutely loves to read, he was not even touching this one. However, to my surprise, when I sat down to spend time with him, he slid the book my way. Cy does not usually hand over his reading material, so this was unexpected. I even said to him, “You gave it back?!”. Instead of leaving to swap out his book with a different one, I decided to read it to him. Cy loves having quiet moments with caregivers so I assumed he would not mind. As I started reading, I had no idea that I would soon have a front room full of chimpanzees listening to facts about orangutans.
Dora and Honey B came first.
Then Mave.
Then Rayne.
Terry.
Gordo.
Lucky.
I somehow had eight chimps gathered around to listen. I made sure to hold the book up after every page so everyone could see all of the pictures.
I will admit, since you cannot see their faces well on the camera footage, some enjoyed it more than others. Honey B appeared captivated and enjoyed looking at the pictures. I could tell Terry just wanted to groom my shoes. Gordo did not even face my direction. However, with the exception of Willy B, they all chose to gather and that felt pretty special to me.
After a few minutes had passed, the audience started to leave. First went Gordo, followed by Mave, and Lucky. Then, Cy started blowing raspberries demanding his book to be returned to him. I slid the book under the caging and he immediately grabbed it and left to the Mezzanine. He had had enough.
Please enjoy the video up above showing these events!
Marya says
Oh, Jenna, you and the group have made my day! Thought I’d take a little break from dealing with taxes and there you all were! Thank you so much to the keeper of the events in recording this wonderful example of sanctuary. I actually don’t know how to describe my feelings about it other than to say that I teared up within the first few arriving and taking their spots. Thank you for sharing this lovely experience!
Jenna Skinner says
Thanks for the kind words, Marya!
Linda C says
Oh, another thing to put on your list of “things I never knew I wanted to do in life, but turned out to be pretty cool”!
Was Willy B watching his “stories”?
Jenna Skinner says
He wasn’t watching his stories! I’m not sure where that guy was during this! It was so brief, anyone could have missed it! :joy:
Françoise says
Indeed, Marya, what to say? I find this absolutely wonderful, even sweet. I smile whenever I hear about the chimps looking at books, and so wish I could know what they are thinking. I wonder if the leavers would have come back if you had clapped at the end? Which begs the question, do chimpanzees clap? As in the physical movement? We can’t necessarily know why they would.
Thanks for this post. Definitely a memorable one.
Jenna Skinner says
Thank you so much! The chimps do clap, but not in the same ways humans do. They often clap to get the caregivers’ attention! Foxie even claps while nesting. I’ve seen other chimps at other sanctuaries clap during their displays.
Trish Swain says
Jenna. this is something I’ve wondered about over the years of following CSNW blogs! Thanks to you for sharing this amazing moment and for everything you did to reach out to your residents in such a caring way. This English teacher can’t help wondering when or if Jamie or Cy might really want to crack the code and find out what’s going on with the repeated patterns of print that come with the pictures. Can this be a step in that direction? As you held up the book along with reading to them, that could be a clue for them. Maybe it was a passing fancy – or maybe Reading 101? I fully appreciate that they don’t have to perform for our entertainment. But could they really want to go a step further with their books?
Marcie says
What a touching moment. You reached out to them at some level that was so endearing. Thanks for this and sharing with us.
Tobin says
What a great experience to observe! Thank you, Jenna, for leading the Story Hour. Perhaps some of your audience was more interested than others (were some of them expecting an early night bag?), but perhaps your reading services will be requested again?
Or, maybe Cy just wanted to have his book checked first lest its pages contain images of animals not to his liking; one just never knows where pictures of giraffes or Scooby-Doo may be lurking!
Michelle says
This make my heart sing. What a great moment that you Jenna experienced with these amazing chimps. Love to all X
Kathleen says
I am smiling from ear to ear! I absolutely loved this! Were the last two listeners disappointed they didn’t get to hear the ending? :slight_smile:
That was so dear. Do you sometimes read aloud to the chimps or was this a first? I feel as if I remember a post where maybe Kelsi or Katelyn were reading to Jamie but I can’t recall if the book was just the XtraTuf boot book and Jamie was just being shown the photos. And I’ve seen one or two join Willy B when he’s watching his stories, but now I’m quite curious if you have ever seen everyone join in to watch a movie, even if for a little while. Besides mealtime, do the chimps gather as a group for interactions with you caregivers? Was this a unique experience? No matter what, this was funny and endearing to see the crew gather round you, even if it didn’t last long.
Since you try to communicate with the chimps in their “language” (breathy pants, head bobs, and such), I am guessing much of your time with the chimps is non verbal or silent? If so, the steady rhythmic sound of your reading must have made everyone very curious! Who wouldn’t want to join in to see what was happening?! (Well….clearly Willy B wasn’t pulled to rhythm of the words, he had better things to do!)
Simon-UK says
Like everyone else, I’m so moved by this video. It’s hard to put into words but what a special moment!
By the way, what is that noise at the very end? One of the chimps vocalising or playing percussion? If so, perhaps they were expressing their contentment about story time!