Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Missy isn’t the only one taking care of her friends. Today was a super nice and sunny day (despite the foot of snow!) so the chimps hung out in the greenhouse for most of the day, and Annie spent some time quality time grooming her best friend, Missy.
Foxie makes me smile everyday.
Annie is spectacular for many reasons, but one of my favorite Annie-isms is her affinity for clasping her hands and feet together when she’s resting (any combination will do: hand-hand, foot-foot, hand-foot).
Grooming is a very important part of chimpanzee culture and serves to form alliances and strengthen bonds. The other night, there was a minor fight and Jamie got a couple of wounds on her foot and on her head. Missy is usually our most diligent groomer and often follows folks around trying to groom their injuries, which is exactly what she did for Jamie today. I suppose she could just be a clean-freak, or she could be strengthening her allies for the next conflict– it’s pretty smart either way.
Here at CSNW, we’re always looking for reasons to party. Volunteers Jeani and Julie thought it would be fun to throw a (belated) Chinese New Year party for the chimpanzees, so they went shopping for food and decorations, and then prepared a Chinese feast. The puffed rice bowls seemed to be a universal hit — you’ll see Annie and Negra enjoying them in the video below.
Many nonhuman animals have the ability to create and use tools. It’s easy to think of this behavior as simply a means to an end – a crow wants to retrieve a piece of food from a vertical tube, so she bends a piece of wire into a hook in order to pull the food out (if you weren’t aware that birds can create and use tools, you should check this out. We primates aren’t as special as we think we are).
But for humans, we know that tool use and problem solving are not always linked to a tangible goal. Why do we play chess or work on crossword puzzles? Why did I play the game Operation when I was a kid? For many people, activities that challenge our memories and problem-solving abilities, or test our dexterity and coordination, are considered fun.
What I find interesting about Jamie is not that she can find an appropriate tool, modify it if necessary, and manipulate it in order to achieve a goal that could not be achieved otherwise. What interests me is that this is Jamie’s idea of a good time. What we see in videos like the one below is a chimpanzee contemplating, deciding, planning, manipulating, straining, and struggling. For what? Not for the nut, at least not only for the nut. Jamie has a mind that goes looking for problems to solve. For her, it’s all about the challenge.
From one of the recently completed climbing structures (thanks Noah):
