Celebrating SOPHIA’s 15th birthday!
As one of the younger chimps living at the sanctuary, Sophia is full of “youngest sibling energy.” Social structure and hierarchy are a big part of chimpanzee social dynamics. Just as younger siblings might push buttons and see what they can get away with, chimps often do the same!
When she first arrived, Sophia was known for having a lot of attitude and spunk. Although initially very patient and polite with the other chimps, she learned the importance of standing her ground early on. Just like younger siblings learn to speak up or get left out, Sophia learned she needs to do the same!
Her sassy attitude is still there but, according to caregivers, she’s greatly improved. This is probably due to her focusing more on her relationships within her group, which is always positive. One relationship she’s been focusing on is with Torian. Sophia and Torian often groom each other between meals and sometimes even wait to eat their chow until they’re together.
She’s done extremely well holding onto her chow and making smart decisions to avoid higher-ranking chimps at the food hopper. While she used to wait until everyone else got their food before getting hers, she now steps forward even when older males are around. Many higher-ranked chimps love “sharing” food with their lower-ranked group members, but that sharing can look a bit one-sided. Sophia previously “shared” her chow with Tiffany but recently she’s done well scarfing it down once she sees Tiffany coming.
Sophia’s facial markings are also interesting because they seem to resemble Batman! Sophia loves carrying wood wool and stuffed animal “babies” around with her everywhere she goes. She’s very good at balancing and will sometimes balance her “baby” on her back. Caregivers say she can almost always be found holding or nesting with a large pile of wood wool!
Sophia is very playful and will sometimes play with caregivers when they’re shifting the chimps for cleaning. One of her favorite games is holding the pin on the other side of the door they’re trying to close! Her caregivers say this is just one example of her playful spunkiness.
We’re so happy to see how much Sophia has grown over the past few years! Today, April 2nd, we hope you’ll join us in wishing her a happy 15th birthday. If you’d like to send her a new stuffed animal baby to celebrate, check out our Amazon wish list! Happy birthday, Sophia! We’re so excited to see you continue to grow in the coming year!