chimpanzees

Coniferous Cold Cabbage

January 26, 2021 by Chad de Bree

It began snowing on Sunday and hasn’t really stopped since. Though it hasn’t been a heavy snowfall, it’s enough for it to start to feel like winter finally is here after several bouts of warm weather. When the caregivers began to arrive at the sanctuary in the morning, they were greeted by something to remind them it is indeed near to end of January and still winter.

This is one of the Christmas trees that has been adorning the outside of the Chimp House. As some of you know, it’s somewhat of a tradition to plant the trees that decorate the enclosures for the chimpanzees’ Christmas celebration on Young’s Hill when the weather is better. Until then, it sits right outside the door.

While the conditions outside thwarted any ambitions of going outside today (though they did have access to go outside), they seemed pretty content inside the warm indoor enclosures.

After cleaning was done, Willy B, Mave, and Honey B were treated to some cabbage that was spread out in their enclosure.

After lunch, Mave and Willy B spent most of their afternoon grooming.

Honey B was busy supervising the construction workers and couldn’t be bothered with grooming or most photos today.

Meanwhile on the other side, while most of the Seven were cozy in their nests all day, there was one individual who had a lot of energy he had to burn through.

There was a good game of chase between him and I from the Greenhouse doors to the door that leads to Young’s Hill. If you’ve seen J.B.’s post a couple of weeks ago, then you know this route. A common question we get is why does Burrito ask for snow from caregivers when we can just grab it himself during winter? We don’t really know why, but let’s be honest, who wouldn’t like a hand delivered caregiver made, artisan snowball?

Plus, we, as caregivers, have a hard time deflecting Burrito’s charm when he asks for his zero-calorie treat.

With the weather seemingly on different ends of the spectrum lately, who knows what tomorrow may hold. Though Burrito may hope it holds more hands full of snow.

Stay warm, friends!

Second Lunch

January 24, 2021 by Anthony

What’s better than lunch? SECOND LUNCH.

On Friday, J.B.’s blog post featured a video of seven chimpanzees being served lunch in the Greenhouse. Today, we decided to record lunch on the other side of the building where Honey B, Mave and Willy B reside.

As J.B. explained, the seven chimps in the original group have a specific way of doing things. The newer residents are quite different; among those three, each individual has their own characteristic style and pace.

Honey B gingerly sorts through her food, eating each piece very slowly. She often saves some pieces for last by piling them up between her feet.

Mave is wary of the others and mostly keeps to herself while she scarfs down her food.

Willy B practically inhales his food, making it disappear like some sort of magic trick. When it’s all gone, he sometimes intimidates others into giving up theirs. To promote tolerance and patience, we space out his portions and reward him with extras for letting the others finish their meals in peace. Usually, this special reward is an apple. Teaching him to cooperate using positive reinforcement is less disruptive than separating him from the group. To date, it seems to be working well for Willy and his companions.

This afternoon, I served lunch to the three chimps in the Mezzanine (as you can see in the video). We completed the Mezzanine in August of 2019 and it is currently their largest indoor enclosure. Soon, the three sanctuary inhabitants will be able to access the new playrooms (which are more than twice as big) and, eventually, their own outdoor greenhouse enclosure!

Ice Escapades

January 23, 2021 by Diana

Today was another unseasonably warm January day! The morning frost shrank away in the face of the formidable sun, and the chimpanzees went exploring.

Missy was all over the hill – running, climbing, frolicking, and looking for icy treats.

There are a few hanging tires on the hill that Missy knows harbor special gifts. In the summer, the tires sometimes have wasps nests, which she, Jamie, and Jody will carefully (though not without risk) harvest to eat the larvae. In the winter, when the wasps are long gone, fallen rain collects in the bottom of the tires and freezes.

It’s not always easy removing the frozen block of ice. Today, as I watched, Missy tried a couple of different positions to get the right leverage in order to remove the ice in one of the tires.

Still was not successful, she went back inside the greenhouse, passing Jody, who was stand as sentry watching the other chimpanzees on the hill.

Jody suddenly got up and started walking up the hill with no small amount of determination. Missy must have been watching Jody from the greenhouse, because she quickly came back outside (with two crayons in her mouth).

She seemed to suspect what Jody was up to, and ran to get ahead of her.

By the time Jody reached the first tire…

Missy had already absconded with the treat and ran up the hill, nature’s bounty in hand.

Sleight of Hand

January 19, 2021 by Chad de Bree

One common question that we are asked right here on the blog, as well on Facebook and Instagram is how do we know what the chimpanzees are trying to tell us, or how do we know what they’re requesting. A lot of it has to do with gestural communication.

Throughout the years, studies have been conducted to study to what length nonhuman apes can learn a human language, specifically American Sign Language. Washoe and her chimpanzee family, Koko the gorilla, Chantek the orangutan, and even Kanzi the bonobo has learned to communicate using a Lexigram. But what about those who didn’t learn a human language or other human form of communication? What about just natural gestures?

All of the large-bodied apes use gestural communication. This includes chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, and of course us, humans. So hopefully it won’t come as a surprise there is some overlap. Not just within the gestures themselves, but how he learn and use them.

In some of the more recent studies, researchers have been looking for the intentionality of gestures. They adapted some methods child behaviorists look at in infant’s ability to learn and communicate using gestures. The some of the key things researchers look for are audience checking, response waiting, and persistence.

Audience checking is just as it sounds. Is the person who is about to try to communicate aware the intended recipient is paying attention to them? If so, they will proceed to gesture. If not, the communicator will adjust their position to ensure the recipient sees them, or do an attention getter. There’s no point in trying to do a visual form of communication if the recipient isn’t looking at you, right? In the case of some of the chimps here, the attention getting comes in different forms. For instance, Burrito will usually blow Bronx cheers or start kicking the caging. Honey B will blow Bronx cheers or clap her hands loudly. Jamie will sometimes throw things such as toys, alfalfa cubes, cowboy boots, etc.

Response waiting is when the communicator waits to see if you got the correct message. Did you fulfill their request?

If that message is not received correctly, then persistence comes about. Maybe you didn’t understand the first time, so the communicator will give you the gesture again or modify it to some degree to make sure you understand, which may include the use of additional gestures.

Most of the gestures the chimpanzees here use toward human caregivers are requests. And one of the simplest gestures to look for is pointing.

When Jamie wants to go for a walk around Young’s Hill, she will deploy her attention getter. Once she has our attention, she will point until we get whatever combination of caregiver and boots she has in mind. When a caregiver comes back with a pair of boots, but they are the wrong boots, she will proceed to continue point and waving her fist again. As we get closer to her perfect walking combination, her gesturing slows down. However if we are way off mark, it speeds up and usually includes her patting her own head and/or stomping her foot. Once the combination is found, she races to the Hill, with caregiver and boots in tow.

We, as caregivers, don’t just look for the pointing. We have to put into consideration the context of the situation. As some of you know, Jamie also loves Gator races. About half way up Young’s Hill, Jamie will stop, look at us, then turn to point in the direction of the Gator. This is one of the easiest ones caregivers caught on too because it’s unmistakable. The second we take a step in the direction of the Gator, Jamie stops her gesturing, and prepares to get a running head start.

Here is her Gator request in play.

Burrito, when he’s on his snowy treat kick, starts his Bronx cheers and points in the direction of snow.

This is another one we have come to understand very quickly. When I first started here, I would ask him what he was pointing at. As I would head outside looking around, his Bronx cheers would become louder, and he would point in different directions (if snow was everywhere), or if there was only a single patch of snow, he make sure he is pointing to that patch and start nodding his head. Once I give him his snowy treats, he will *usually* stop because his request was fulfilled.

However, as some of you know, Burrito’s snow addiction sometimes knows no bounds.

He will only stop until he has the right amount he is requesting.

One of the other easiest ones we know is when we are about to serve a food item that isn’t as high on there priority list. Negra and Foxie are masters at this one. Four fingers will protrude through the mesh to sort of push away the item.

If we attempt again to serve that item, the gesture occurs again and sometimes with a little swipe to let us know this is not what they want right now. Today, Kelsi was serving onions, both Negra and Foxie did the same gesture to let her know it was not time for onions. The time was for sweet potatoes.

There are many resources to learn about chimpanzee gestures. One of the most informative is The Great Ape Dictionary created by gesture researchers from the University of St. Andrews.

There is also a great NOVA Wonders documentary episode on PBS called What Are Animals Saying?

out of the shadow

January 16, 2021 by Diana

In the past, we’ve described Burrito as being tentative and unsure about things.

It took a while for him to join Jamie on her perimeter walks of Young’s Hill. In July of 2013, about ten months after the 2-acre enclosure was complete, J.B. writes that Missy, Annie, and Jody were often seen taking part in Jamie’s adventures at the top of the hill and all around the perimeter, while Burrito, Foxie, and Negra tended to stick to the lower half of the enclosure.

By October of that same year, Burrito was occasionally joining Jamie on her perimeter walks, On these walks, he was always the follower.

In March of 2015, Katelyn describes how Burrito was joining more perimeter patrols, and even relaxing a bit. A few days later, Burrito started to invite caregivers to go on walks without Jamie, which J.B. excitedly wrote about (read to the end for one reason he was excited).

Jamie’s walks still far eclipsed Burrito’s in quantity, and most of Burrito’s were with other chimpanzees with him following behind.

Burrito would often appear to be hesitant when Jamie veered off the usual pathway. Katelyn described Burrito gingerly following Jamie as she effortless climbed the Twister structure in September of 2016.

Today Burrito took twice as many walks / runs as Jamie around the perimeter. Some with just him and me and some with a chimpanzee group.

He was the occasional leader, sometimes even waiting for Jamie to catch up.

He and Jamie appeared to decide at the same time to climb up Twister.

But Burrito was the only one to go to the very top.

Before going back inside, on his own, he took a path less traveled to explore a different part of the hill.

Choices, opportunities, and space that allow for gradual gains in confidence and incremental steps towards discovery – this really is what sanctuary is about.

Slight Change of Plans

January 12, 2021 by Chad de Bree

I planned on posting a blog about chimpanzee gestures since a common question we have received in the comments on Facebook, Instagram, and even here within the blog is about when any of them request something from us and how we know. I.e. Jamie requesting to go on a walk, her requesting the Gator, Burrito requesting snowy treats, Foxie asking for a doll, etc. Also because gestures are near and dear to my heart, and has consumed most of my life for the past couple of years as part of my studies. However, as we all know every day is different and what you had planned in mind could change within an instant.

Today was one of those days. Not because anything bad happened. In fact, today was a really calm and smooth day. The chimpanzees were very cooperative in going where they needed to go so we could clean enclosures. Cleaning was done at a relatively fast pace. There were virtually no fights (there were minor arguments, but nothing too serious that resulted from them). All this calm on a day nobody has decided to go outside since it had snowed a little bit last night.

What caused me to change course and post something different were these:

Honey B and Mave had one heck of a play session earlier today. It reminded me of the old Andy Capp cartoon. Just a cloud of fur with feet and hands flung everywhere, and every so often a head would pop out. Except it wasn’t a fight like in the cartoon strips. This was play.

Then there was Honey B at lunch, enjoying her leek.

Kelsi and I debated for a longer time than we would like to admit about which of the two photos were better and to include. So we decided the best decision would for me to just include both of them. Though they are extremely similar, there are some minor differences that add a little pizzazz to each them, respectively. For instance, in the top one you can really see the coloration of Honey B’s eyelids and detail in her face. While the bottom one has the slight little turn away from the camera with a little side-eye that adds a little sass.

For me, these photos HAD to be shared today and could not wait. But don’t fret, I will post the blog about gestures soon enough. Maybe with photos a little better than the ones I currently have. As I mentioned before, every day is different.

Here are some bonus photos from today:

Jamie resting on her favorite barrel.