Jody has become more and more invested in her chimpanzee family over the years. When the chimps first arrived at the sanctuary nine years ago, Jody kept to herself much of the time. I’m sure she appreciated living with other chimps, but she didn’t seem to feel the need to socialize with them much.
Over the last several years, though, Jody has stepped up as the mom of the group. When we open the door to Young’s Hill (the chimps’ two-acre outdoor habitat) each morning, Jody is the first out the door. She sits just at the end of the raceway and spends a moment visually scanning the hill, presumably checking for any dangers that might have appeared overnight. If one of the other chimps gets a little too adventurous out there, Jody is the first to show her concern by rushing up to them, hair standing on end, and monitoring their activity or trying to usher them back to the safety of the building.
Jody loves to forage for wild plants on Young’s Hill. She will gather as much as she can in her mouth and arms, and then hobble back down the hill toward the greenhouse, where she lies down to munch on her bounty and keep an eye on the hill in case she’s needed out there.
