Not only is Jamie one of the most intelligent people I know, she’s also one of the most intense. While she can occasionally be insecure about her position as the boss of the group, she can also come across as super tough and confident. And apparently she’s feeling pretty confident lately because I was looking through photos from the last week and couldn’t help but notice how hardcore she looks in almost every photo. She is one tough cookie!
but despite all that toughness, she also has a sweet side:
And speaking of tough chimps, for those of you wondering about Jody today, her toe is looking better and she seems to be feeling fine. It always amazes me how tough chimps are and how quickly they heal, even from pretty serious injuries. Just Wednesday, I cut myself on my hand and you would have thought there was a 6 year old in the chimp house! No actual tears were shed, but it was close. And then there’s Jody, who lost part of a toe just the day before, and she’s out exploring Young’s Hill like it’s no big deal. Hats off to hardcore, resilient chimps!
Angela Derriso says
I was sorry to hear that they fought so bad, but I know it’s part of their nature. I’m glad no one was hurt worse.
Chimps must have a higher tolerance for pain than humans do. They just seem to know that no matter what they have to deal with it, so they keep on trucking.
Us humans though, we tend to be affected by even small amounts of pain.
With some of the more severe injuries our bodies seem to either numb the area or pump enough bio-chemicals into us to make it so we disassociate. I think that must happen to other animals too in cases of severe injury.
rita stevenson says
I often wonder how Jamie’s toughness and superior intelligence level served her in captivity. I wonder if it made it harder for her .. I just can’t imagine how a chimp goes from being a family member pet and then suddenly they are TRAPPED in a CAGE in some dingy , foreign, smelly lab,,Going from being totally adored and spoiled and so called loved, to being SOLD in to bio med research,,
I know they will NEVER be in harms way again,, they must still have sudden reminders PTSD, and they react in a outburst, or suddenly become very needy or clingy and requiring reassurance from one another or the caregivers. Can you tell when one of them is having a particularly hard moment or perhaps entire day or more. Do they come to caregivers, and seek out out reassurance and words of comfort, and treats. They all know… the caregivers care about them, and love them. How can they not,,you do so much for, more than ANYONE ever has.
Jackie says
The chimps do have tense days sometimes, not unlike us. We obviously can’t say why or what is going through their heads (a bad day could just be because you woke up on the wrong side of the bed) though we do know that Foxie and Negra have some signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (check out this blog about the research conducted by Debra Durham and Hope Ferdowsian in 2009 investigating signs of PTSD in ex-laboratory chimps, including the Cle Elum Seven: https://chimpsnw.org/2009/11/negra-5/). Usually if they are having a bad day, they tend to take it out on their caregivers. We consider ourselves at the bottom of their hierarchy and therefore the easiest and safest individuals to take their frustrations out on.
Dawn says
It is interesting that you brought this up about Jamie, Jackie, as I have often wondered how in the world she could ever live in a chimpanzee troop that included real dominant males (no knocks against Burrito, but he seems traumatized out of that role or something) — but I remember a scene in Escape to Chimp Eden where a formerly isolated (from chimps) chimp named Josephine (very, smart, escape artist trouble maker type) — had no idea how she was supposed to behave around the “mighty males” and whacked one of them with a stick!! I always think Jamie & Josephine must be soul sisters.