As J.B. excitedly described last week, Mave finally decided to explore the outdoors. We don’t know what prompted her newfound bravery, but we are here for it!
And so, apparently, is Gordo.
greeting
The Greeting Committee
At the sanctuary, a way to know spring has officially ended and summer has kicked off is the Greenhouse panels coming down. The Greenhouse panels keep the Greenhouse secure in the winter months from snow and rain. It also maintains temperature quite a bit, which while helpful in the fall/winter, it would be quite brutal if we did not remove them in the summer. Once Washington gets warm enough, which is usually late May or early June, the Greenhouse panels come down and the chimps get to take in the fresh air and breezes, apart from being in their outdoor habitats and chute space. The Greenhouses are a popular hangout spot year-round, but the chimps definitely get excited for the panels coming off. Specifically this year with the panels coming off of Greenhouse 1, there was much excitement because it allowed Jamie’s group to watch Cy’s group more closely on The Bray and in their chute.
One of my personal favorite things about my job is the greeting committee every morning. Is it considered a committee if it is just one person? Either way, one of my most favorite things is driving up the driveway on my way into work and seeing Cy waiting to greet me in the Riverview Greenhouse. Some days, he sits there quietly and stares. Some days, he bipedal swaggers with excitement. I decided to record Cy’s morning greetings randomly so I could make a blog video about it. Apologies in advance for having to listen to my high-pitched, excited voice greeting Cy back!
Being Neighborly
I think this video answers a couple of FAQs – the two separate groups at the sanctuary do have visual access to each other (the video “Back in the Chute” is still one of my top five from 2022), and we plan to have the separate groups in their respective adjacent habitats at the same time eventually! They will be separated by four fences and space in between. What other questions to you have about the outdoor access plans?
Good morning, Neggie!
I am feeling quite lucky today as I just got back from a beautiful family vacation last night! After being away for a little while, the humans at the sanctuary are always happy to be reunited with their chimpanzee friends, and the feeling is usually mutual. I was delighted to see that Central Washington has maintained its mild winter, so the chimps and I celebrated the morning with multiple walks around a snow-less Young’s Hill.
Ellie the neighborhood elk has been spending most of her winter away from the sanctuary, but now that the snow has gone, she made an appearance on the property this morning.
At one point, I saw each of the 7 chimpanzees get some fresh air, including Foxie accompanied by her Dora doll.
More walks are in order this afternoon, so I’ll just leave you with a bonus photo of this much smaller non-human primate we saw leaping through the trees of a Costa Rican national park.
As per usual
I wasn’t sure what sort of reaction I would get from the chimpanzees when I arrived at the sanctuary this morning. It’s been two months since my last shift and today marks my first day “back on the job.” After two months of being on maternity leave, I was curious. I was curious to see if the initial morning greeting between each of the chimps and myself would be any different than that of any other morning I have been here. In particular, I was curious to see what the boss (Jamie chimpanzee) would do. Would she come right over to me and demand to see my shoes or mark my absence with some other sort of greeting/non-greeting.
Turns out, this morning’s greetings were no different than any other day I have been at the sanctuary. There was no staring at my belly (or rather the lack of a large protrusion from my mid section). It was strictly “business as usual” for Jamie in particular. She barely looked at me before sitting down and demanding to see my shoes (by extending her fingers and gesturing toward my shoes), which she stared at ever so intently. Burrito gave a quick head nod and stuck his lips out through the caging to kiss the back of my hand. Negra gave a series of head nods and extended lips from her blanket nest, not moving any closer toward me. Annie and Missy were too busy engrossed in play to notice I was there and Jody was busy napping in her nest.
I wouldn’t have it any other way. I absolutely love that there was no difference in the way they greeted or didn’t greet me this morning. I love that (and I can only speak for myself and not for the chimps), it was like I was never gone.
Jamie demanded I join her for her perimeter patrol around Young’s Hill, as per usual (me on the outside of the electric fences and her on the inside).
Contact
Chimpanzees engage in close physical contact for a variety of reasons. They might be seeking reassurance, playfully tickling one another, or quietly grooming. If two chimpanzees haven’t seen each other in a while, they often embrace each other just as we would. But what I love most is seeing chimpanzees hug, kiss, or hold hands out of sheer joy or celebration. For the Cle Elum Seven, just being on Young’s Hill is still reason enough to celebrate
Jamie encounters Foxie on the hill and puts her arm around her friend:
Foxie responds by giving Jamie a “soft bite” on her back (this is a friendly behavior):
Foxie and Jamie run off with big smiles on their faces:
Later, Jamie walked by Jody, who was eating grass near the bamboo. Jamie stops and gives Jody and quick kiss:
Chimpanzee kisses are slightly different than human kisses. A chimp kiss usually involves a soft bite, often with the lips covering the teeth, and some breathy panting. When Jody moved to a different bamboo grove, she received a kiss on the arm from Foxie:
A dominant male chimpanzee usually accepts submissive greetings from subordinates like a king is greeted by a commoner. The subordinates are made (or choose?) to grovel, and the dominant male acts like he is being generous by allowing the subordinate to be in his presence. Burrito, however, is not dominant, and he lacks some rudimentary chimpanzee social skills. Rather than submit to the females or accept their submission, he usually closes his eyes and acts like he doesn’t even see them when they approach him. But sometimes Jamie won’t let him get away with that, and in this case she ran after him and grabbed his feet. While foot-grabbing is usually an invitation to play, in this case Jamie seemed to be forcing Burrito to simply acknowledge her friendly greeting.
Sometimes greetings are preceded by a lengthy introduction. Jody often greets Burrito in this manner – there is a lot of pant grunting and bobbing (bouncing up and down on all fours), and in Jody’s case even some soft pant-hooting, before the two ever make contact. In this clip, Annie waits for Foxie to approach and gives her an extended greeting:
Greeting
Chimpanzees give each other really sweet greetings after they’ve been separated for some amount of time. Jody spent all afternoon on the hill yesterday by herself, and when she started heading back Annie was getting pretty excited. I didn’t catch a very long video, but I did get a quick snippet of Annie’s sweet greeting with Jody. I wanted to include some explanations of Annie’s greeting behaviors, so you may have to watch the video twice!
Typically less-dominant individuals greet more-dominant members of a group. Although Jody isn’t the leader, she is more dominant than Annie (although Annie is definitely asserting herself and has much more confidence these days than she did when they first arrived). In the video, you’ll see Annie bipedally (up on her feet) swagger with her hair standing on end (pilo erect). These behaviors are indicative of a high arousal state, basically meaning she’s excited. Then you’ll see her crouch down and run toward Jody. The crouching down is a sign of submission, and it shows Annie’s respect for Jody. When she contacts Jody she gives her a hug and simultaneously offers an open mouth kiss (it’s hard to see, but that is what she’s doing!) And finally as they head back into the greenhouse together, Annie dabs Jody’s back.
Even though this all occurred in just 15 seconds or so, there’s a lot of communication going on! Chimpanzees are really amazing and complex beings.
