Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Rainy day

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Sometimes on a rainy day, all I want to do is cuddle up with a blanket or two and read a good book or even take a nap. That has not been the case for Jamie today. She has kept herself quite active with the help of volunteer caregiver Becca, despite the rain. She has already walked around Young’s Hill four times in between heavy rain periods. And when it did start raining harder, she took action right away and ran the rest of the way around the hill.

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When she was not walking around Young’s Hill, she was flipping through magazines and inspecting some of her boots. And she even allowed herself some down time to sit quietly.

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Chimp mothers

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Yesterday was Negra’s son Noah’s birthday, and Save the Chimps posted a photo of the birthday boy which I shared today on our Facebook page. We’ve shared stories of Noah before (as well as Negra’s daughters Angel (also at Save the Chimps) and Heidi (she’s sadly still in a lab).

A question we almost always get is whether the chimps would recognize their kids should they ever have the chance to. For the kids that are no longer in labs (Negra’s kids Noah and Angel at Save the Chimps, Foxie’s daughter Angie at Save the Chimps, Jody’s kids Andrea, Bart, and Clay at Save the Chimps, Annie’s kids Mariah and Virgil at Save the Chimps and son Tobias at Chimp Haven, and Missy’s kids Josh and Honey B at Wildlife Waystation) that will likely never happen. It’s also not too likely that their kids who are still in labs would ever be reunited with them (Foxie’s kids Kelsey and David, Negra’s daughter Heidi, and Jody’s son Levi) because they are fully grown adults and it would be difficult to integrate them into our existing group.

But if at another sanctuary a mother were reunited with her children, would they recognize each other? My response to this question is usually simply: probably not. As is the case with most lab births, their babies were taken away from them within days (sometimes just hours) so the likelihood that they would recognize their fully grown children is pretty slim. I think of human births where the babies are given for adoption — would they recognize their biological child 20 years later? Probably not… but maybe. There have been stories of chimps being reunited with their mothers after being separated from each other very early on, who showed signs of recognizing each other. So, I guess the answer should be: probably not, but it is possible.

Here’s some recent photos of our chimp mothers:

Annie

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Foxie

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Jody

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Missy

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Negra

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We are grateful to the sanctuaries who are caring for the Cle Elum Seven’s children, and hope that one day soon Levi, Kelsey, David, Heidi, and the hundreds of other chimps still in labs will find a sanctuary to call home.

Droopy lip vs heavy lip

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My all time favorite chimpanzee facial expression is the “relaxed face with drooped lip.”

Jody is famous for her drooped lip face. In fact, I discovered today that if you do a google image search for “drooped lip chimpanzee,” the first three images that come up are of Jody!

But there’s another set of perhaps not as famous lips among the Cle Elum Seven – those of Negra. Rather than classic drooped lip, we like to describe Negra’s lips as “heavy.”

Below are some examples of each. What do you think is more charming – Jody’s drooped lip or Negra’s heavy lip?

 

JODY:

Jody drooped lip face profile

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web Jody sit on structure YH drooped lip IMG_3467

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web Jody close up drooped lip Young's Hill YH IMG_5486

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Jody drooped lip while walking

 

NEGRA:

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web Negra room four close up arms crossed lip out looking toward window

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Negra heavy lip with eyes closed

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Grooming is so cool

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We’ve talked about the importance of grooming among chimpanzees before, and it’s pretty well known what an essential aspect of life grooming is for most primates. Below is a video of very good friends Burrito and Foxie grooming, with Missy (off-camera), occasionally also grooming Burrito.

There’s a lot of cool things about grooming. In a comment on a post back in 2009, I mentioned some of the following:

The basics: aside from the social aspects, grooming is the removal of dirt and debris and the tending to wounds (licking and picking scabs). It’s why chimpanzees don’t need baths – they do a really good job of cleaning themselves and each other – no water necessary.

The debris found on the grooming partner is not necessarily consumed, even though the lips are usually involved in grooming because chimpanzees use their prehensile lips, almost like another set of fingers, for many activities like inspecting objects, turning the pages of a magazine (in captivity), and especially in grooming.

Increased grooming often occurs after a conflict to reassure and/or “make up” with one another and to cement social bonds. Grooming has a calming affect, which is easy to see when you observe chimpanzees grooming one another. A study of wild chimpanzees that used non-invasive methods to collect urine samples after grooming bouts found that oxytocin (sometimes referred to as “the love hormone”) levels were higher in bonded grooming partners than in samples collected of chimpanzees who had not been grooming or had been grooming with a “non-bond partner.”

Regarding lip movements during grooming: it is common for chimpanzees, as well as other primates, to “lip smack” or “teeth clack” or make other “sympathetic mouth movements” when grooming (also when performing other fine motor behaviors – like many of us who move our tongue a certain way when we’re really concentrating on a task).

Each chimpanzee does his/her own thing, Burrito is a lip smacker (he may teeth clack on occasion too), Foxie is a teeth clacker, and Annie makes raspberry sounds with her lips. The intensity of the mouth movement/noise will increase if something (especially a wound or scab) is found during grooming.

Some scientists have hypothesized that these sympathetic mouth movements were an evolutionary step towards spoken language. Our friend Gabriel Waters and [former] Central WA University professor Dr. Fouts published a study on this theory a few years back: http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1349990, and there was a book with this premise called Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language, which I admittedly still need to read, that argued that gossip for humans is what grooming is for chimpanzees and other non-human primates.

So, with all that information, here’s the video of Burrito and Foxie strengthening their friendship through grooming today:

 

Best of today

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There were so many good photos of each of the chimpanzees that I had to share them all on today’s blog. It’s really hard to pick a favorite.

Annie’s beauty is beyond words.
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Missy actually sat still long enough for us to get a few photos.
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Foxie enjoyed her pears at breakfast. Perhaps they taste better by the mouthful.
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Burrito spent part of the afternoon playing with his wooden blocks and his own arm.
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Jamie took a moment to pose for the camera before going for a walk on Young’s Hill.
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Jody took some time to groom herself and ponder her surroundings.
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Negra in her favorite nesting spot on the catwalk.
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Happy Birthday, Adrienne!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by the chimpanzees’ (and the humans’!) good friend, Adrienne Armstrong! Adrienne, her family, and friends have done so much to help the chimpanzees and make their lives better. Her kindness and compassion are evident in all she does and how she chooses to live her life.

Adrienne, we are so touched that you chose to spend your own special day by making the chimps’ day special as well. Thank you! All of us here at CSNW hope you have the best of days, and that all the good you offer others comes back to you tenfold! Happy Birthday (with lots of food grunts and pant hoots)!!

Ever the charmer, Burrito:

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