Chimpanzee play isn’t always rambunctious. Here’s a video of Foxie and Jody having a lazy morning play session.
Play
Monkeying Around
I was commenting the other day about how many stories in the media about chimpanzees use some sort of monkey reference, often the term “monkeying around.”
This generally irritates primatologists, partly because it’s just silly and the stories themselves often are not, but mostly because chimpanzees are NOT monkeys. Chimpanzees are great apes like gorillas, orangutans, bonobos and humans. I might as well add that gibbons are called “lesser apes” and they are not monkeys either. There are a few distinct differences between apes and monkeys, the most notable physical difference is the tail – monkeys have them, apes do not.
When I was watching Foxie, Missy and Jody in the outdoor area today, though, I had to admit that “monkeying around” is pretty much exactly how I would describe what they were doing…
Foxie and a doll’s head
Foxie is always coming up with new ways to play with her dolls.
Missy and the Kong toy
Missy seemed to be having a great time working on a food puzzle this morning. Chimpanzees engage in solitary play quite often, but I can’t remember seeing anyone smile so much in the process.
Annie gets creative
Annie and Missy never seem to tire of each other. Maybe it’s because they’re always thinking up new ways to play. This morning, during a lengthy play session, Annie decided to stand on Missy.
New enrichment
Volunteers Amanda and Tennyson helped us build a new enrichment device for the chimps. The woven fire hose has pockets to stick browse in (browse includes leaves, branches and twigs – an important part of a chimp’s diet). Many thanks to Chimps Inc. and the Honolulu Zoo for the idea! Annie, Missy and Jody spent hours picking out the cattails, bamboo and fennel.
While we were installing the browse feeder, we also hung a few more fire hose swings near the new windows. As you can see, they created the perfect game for Missy.
More benefits of the new windows
Thanks to Karen and Don Young, LUSH Cosmetics, Anna Kircher and the blog readers, and everyone who donated during our 2nd Anniversary fundraising drive, we’ve been able to replace seven caged windows in the play room with clear, chimp-proof glass. In addition to flooding the playroom with light, there are some other benefits to these new windows:
