A few years ago, when we were embarking upon introducing Honey B, Willy B, and Mave to the Lucky Six, Anthony (who is no longer a staff member but was coincidentally here today as a volunteer, meeting George for the first time) wrote a thoughtful blog post about the complications of introductions.
Because we are planning on introducing George to members of the Lucky Six in the coming weeks, it seemed like a good time to share Anthony’s blog post again, which you can read here.
I also thought it was important to set some expectations about how we may or may not be sharing the details of these introductions.
Introductions can be a challenge for staff and chimpanzee alike. We don’t want you to expect to be kept apprised of every pair-wise introduction that George is involved in as we embark on this process. For sure, we will share – it’s in our nature to do so and this blog certainly has gotten us in the habit of providing daily information.
In order to honor this process and George’s in-limbo status (no animal welfare charges have yet been brought against George’s former owner), we will be less synchronous with our updates, and trust that you will appreciate how taxing the introduction process can be. We will of course share updates in time!