We have been continuing introductions of George to members of Cy’s group. He recently met Gordo for the first time, and it was a great start to building their relationship! See today’s blog video to watch George and Gordo play, groom, and relax during their first meeting.
groom
Grooming Party
For whatever reason, the chimps in Cy’s group like to congregate in the front rooms to groom in the late afternoon. Sure, the Bray is open to them but why groom outdoors in a 2-acre habitat when you can pack together like sardines in a tiny indoor space?
Ah, but the chimps generally know what they are doing. Maybe there’s something about the forced proximity that contributes to the process. After all, this is one of most important aspects of chimpanzee social life. These are the moments that build trust and solidify relationships. This is Willy B saying sorry for being a jerk and Mave saying she respects the boss. This is Dora saying that she and Honey B can fight and still be friends and Terry saying that he just wants to be one of the boys.
Monitoring a newer group of chimps 24/7 can be exhausting but listening to them teeth clack, lip smack, and blow raspberries as I sit in the foyer writing the blog certainly brings a sense of calm, however fleeting. There will always be fights, but the work they do during these lazy afternoons will help them get through whatever is to come.
Two Stories
Story One (in one sentence): These are the feet of an explorer named Burrito.
Story Two: Rayne was grooming Mave on the catwalk of the Oakwood Greenhouse, with Dora lying next to Mave. Honey B spotted them from the Riverview Greenhouse and headed all the way over to join them.
Then she enticed Dora to groom her.
We used to think of Honey B as a loner.
This little moment made me happy.
The end.
Quality Time
The past couple mornings we have found Mave’s group spending a lot of quality time with one another before breakfast. For chimps, especially Terry’s group, it’s important to strengthen bonds. A great way to make a friendship stronger is by grooming. Recently, this group has been having their ups and downs like most chimp groups do, but when we have a few calm mornings or afternoons, watching them play or groom feels very nice to see. It is crazy to think that it has been almost a year since this group was officially put together. What they have accomplished as a group is truly something to celebrate!
There is more social work to be done in the next years to come for them, but let’s give them a round of applause for what they have accomplished so far!
Here are some bonus photos of Foxie’s group!
Foxie with one of her dolls:
Annie in the raceway:
Jamie in the portrait studio:
I love Jamie’s side-eye:
Grooming Party
Since you are reading this, you likely know that grooming is an important activity within a chimpanzee group, whether that group is in the wild or in captivity. Because us humans are a part of their social network, we take part in grooming with them, both as the groomer and the groomie (is groomie an actual word? grooming receiver is perhaps the more technical phrase).
Grooming, like many social behaviors, can be somewhat contagious, in that if you see some friends grooming, you might join in or you might find someone else to groom with you.
Grooming with Honey B
Since she was integrated into a larger group, Honey B has been making new friends, reuniting with old ones, and spending time with her half-sisters. Here she grooms with half sister, Rayne, and her old friend, Terry. Or rather, here she is being groomed. Honey B doesn’t do much grooming herself. Without knowing more you might think of that as an indication of dominance, but instead it seems to be more of a quirk. At least one study suggests that chimps with significant human interaction at a young age exhibit deficits in grooming behavior as adults, even when they are integrated into a group and engage in other social behaviors like playing. As far as I’m aware, Honey B didn’t have significantly more human interaction when she was young compared to the others in her group, but you would swear she was raised as a pet or performer if you didn’t know better. Perhaps some chimps are just more susceptible to the effects of human rearing.
In any case, it’s moments like this that make the integration process worth it.
Let’s Try This Again
I had this blog written around 1 pm. It was intended to be all about Neggie, but then we did an intro with Honey B and Terry today. Honey B and Terry’s first introduction didn’t go as we had hoped. Since then we have had them meet at the mesh a few times. Yesterday they met again at the mesh and it went really well, they were playing and laughing. We were so close to opening the door, however we humans were not quite ready yet. So today we decided if it went as well as yesterday we would open the door. Today we opened the door after letting them hangout at the mesh for a while and they did SO well! As you will see in the video, they are laughing, wrestling, and grooming. These behaviors give us hope that they have potential to integrate into a group of 9. Now, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Dyadic meeting can go really well, but once you had more chimps, it changes the dynamic of the group. But for now this was a HUGE success!
Since I teased you with an almost Neggie blog I might as well share it! This morning, as Missy’s group went onto Young’s Hill, I saw the usual people go outside. Missy sprinting out first, of course. Foxie, Jody, Annie, and Bubba formed a line and all marched out together. Jamie sauntered out on her own, but when I turned around to look at Negra in her usual nesting spot, she wasn’t there. Instead she was sitting on the Hill soaking in the warm sunshine and eating some delicious grass.
