Chimps Living in Harmony
Project Chimps’ Harmony Villa lived up to its name as its resident male and female chimps met for the very first time. The sanctuary’s chimpanzee care team worked for a few weeks to gradually integrate male and female chimps who had been separated into same-sex groups in the lab.
Kareem’s group of five males and Bab’s group of nine females came together easily and everyone in the sanctuary was eager to see how it would go.
According to Laura Mayo, Manager of Chimpanzee Care, the team used a “group howdy” approach to the introductions. The approach involves introducing two males to two females, then gradually building the group with their closest friends. They leave the more challenging chimps, the ones who are less agreeable to change, to the end and introduce them after the group has already become socially cohesive.
The first four
The care team started with Kareem and Alex because the two, older males get along very well with one another. They then paired Noel and Loretta in the adjacent room. The four chimps were only separated by a mesh wall and a small door.
Pairing the two older male chimpanzees, Kareem and Alex, with two younger, lower-ranking females, Noel and Loretta, worked like a charm.
“We wanted all of the low-ranking females to meet the males first,” said Crystal Alba, lead caregiver in Harmony Villa. “We really wanted to minimize the risk of the three high-ranking females in the group: Babs, Sky and LB, from forging an alliance with the males at the exclusion of the six younger females.”
Let me in!
The strategy was successful. Noel was so eager, she tried to pry the door open. When the caregivers finally opened it, she rushed in and gave big Kareem a big hug.
Loretta was a little more apprehensive. At approximately 80 pounds to Kareem’s 220, she was intimidated by the “gentle giant.” When Loretta bared her teeth with a chimpanzee fear grimace, Kareem reached out to give her a reassuring hug.
In time, the four were playing chase and grooming one another – a true sign of an affiliative bond among chimpanzees.
That night, Crystal and the care team separated the males and females and returned them to their respective groups on each side of the villa. The new friends were reluctant to part, but they complied.
LB and Amy’s turn
The next day, it was LB and Amy’s turn. This time, the caregivers decided to pair Kareem with Jermaine, another high-ranking male. LB is older and higher-ranking, but not the alpha female of the group. Amy is young and lower-ranking and usually the most playful. The caregivers were eager to see how this group of four would get along. The caregivers were ready.
Jermaine wasn’t.
Jermaine started displaying aggressively at LB and Amy. His displays frightened the females, so the care team reconsidered and invited Alex to participate instead. It turned out to be a great decision.
Experience counts
The caregivers knew from the chimps’ medical records that LB had been with males before, while the younger females, like Amy, had not.
The caregivers chose LB because she is the lowest ranking among the three older females. They chose Amy because she has a strong relationship with LB.
When the four were united, LB knew just what to do. She greeted Kareem and Alex and turned around to present her swelling to Kareem, a sign of interest and submission by a female chimpanzee.
Amy, on the other hand, was completely overwhelmed. She had no experience with males to inform her, so she balled herself up in the corner and screamed. And screamed. And screamed.
Alex reaches out
Kareem and Alex understood what was happening. So they left Amy alone and groomed with LB. Over the next few hours, Alex calmly walked by Amy with his hand out. It was a quiet gesture of friendship and after some time, it worked. Amy quickly warmed up to Alex and later to Kareem.
The care team later captured video of Kareem wrestling with tiny Amy. Kareem was careful and sensitive with the younger and smaller females. According to caregiver Crystal, imposing Kareem will roll over and lay on his back to seem less threatening to the young females during play.
Alex employed a similar passive technique to calm the less-experienced females. He sat down with his back toward them and ignored them until the females couldn’t stand it any longer. Curiosity took over and they reached out to touch him.
According to Crystal, the males in the group have shown great restraint and haven’t tried to mate with any of the females in the group who aren’t ready to.
Note: At Project Chimps all of the male chimpanzees have had vasectomies and all of the females are on birth control to avoid perpetuating chimps in captivity.
The group expands
At the end of Kareem and Alex’s first day with LB and Amy, Crystal and the team tried to separate the males from the females and return them to their original groups. But Kareem had caught on. And he wasn’t having it. Despite all manner of coaxing, Kareem was not going to separate from his new “family.” So the care team let them stay together.
The next day, the team added Noel and Loretta back into the new group and the social bonds started to deepen. The team let this group get to know one another over many days.
Then a special day came. Kareem and Alex got to go outside into the sanctuary’s forested, 6-acre habitat with females for the first time. Kareem had only been outside a few times, so it was wonderful that he had the sanctuary’s greatest outdoor athlete by his side to show him the habitat. With Noel by his side, Kareem had the confidence to explore farther than ever before.
With input from Chimpanzee Caregiver Supervisor Holly Soubiea, caregivers, and caregiver aides, Laura decided to add in the other three males, beginning with Ronald. Ronald is low-ranking and had been with females before. He’s the biological father of three chimps in the sanctuary today: twins Buttercup and Charisse and young Kennedy.
Ronald couldn’t wait to meet LB. The two already seemed to have a “thing,” after seeing one other through the mesh inside the villa since the males’ arrival in sanctuary. According to Crystal, Ronald did well and hit it off with LB right away.
Amy wasn’t doing as well, however. So the team added her friend Sarah into the mix. It helped to calm Amy and Sarah blended right in.
Jermaine comes back
Then it was time to bring back Jermaine. And everyone wondered how he would do.
The team decided to introduce the final two males, Jermaine and Collin, at the same time. This time, Jermaine did better, though he wasn’t nearly as gentle as Kareem and Alex. Jermaine stomped and displayed but eventually settled down and groomed with Noel, who seems to be everyone’s friend.
Harley and Almasi join in
After a few more days of stabilization, it was time to add the last of the younger females to the group: Harley and Almasi. The team predicted they would have a greater challenge integrating with the male chimps, so they brought them in together.
“We worried that Almasi would freak out because she’s prone to erratic behavior with higher-ranking chimps,” said Crystal, adding, “but she didn’t. She did really well.”
Harley, however, was another story.
Totally unpredictable
“Harley is totally unpredictable,” said Crystal. “She is low-ranking, timid, quiet, and gets very nervous.”
Harley had trouble with the new males. According to Crystal, she caused the trouble.
When the males came near, Harley would lunge and try to bite them. When she passed by a male, she would reach out and slap him.
“Thankfully, the males were good at ignoring her bad behavior,” added Crystal.
Kareem was patient, but wary. He would not let Harley pass behind him so he could keep an eye on her in case she tried to bite.
Harley wasn’t the only female chimp to test the males’ patience. Sarah poked the males at first too.
“She’d stab at them and run away,” said Crystal, with a bit of amusement.
Creating a diversion
According to Crystal, Sarah once tried to go after Ronald. When Kareem tried to break up the conflict, the younger females piled up on Kareem in Sarah’s defense.
In a demonstration of his amazing intelligence, Kareem created a diversion! He moved toward the window and began alarm calling as if there were a threat outside. The females fell for the ruse and the distraction ended the altercation.
Harley and Sarah have since calmed down but are still figuring it all out. After being raised in a same-sex group in a research lab, they will need to watch the older females to learn more appropriate behavior.
The caregivers share that Harley has taken a shine to Collin, but he’s justifiably cautious.
Powerhouse females
If the males thought Harley was someone to contend with, they were about to be challenged even further.
They were about to meet the “big girls.”
They were about to meet Babs and Sky.
When the females of Harmony Villa first arrived in sanctuary, it was clear that Babs, Sky and LB were a powerhouse trio. They dominated the group of nine. It was also clear that Babs was the largest and strongest female chimp in the entire sanctuary.
Sky was also a force to be reckoned with. She is wary of people, wary of other chimps, and never hesitates to put the other females in their place.
How would Babs and Sky react to a 220-pound alpha male like Kareem?
The team couldn’t wait to find out.
Enter Babs and Sky
Laura and the team reduced the size of the new group before bringing in Babs and Sky. They kept the strongest males, Kareem and Jermaine, along with Noel. They chose Noel because she is the highest ranking of the younger females and gets along well with Sky.
As the five chimps came together, it was clear that Sky was terrified. Just like Amy, she screamed and ran away from the males. She climbed to the upper deck of the villa bedroom and shrank away from the group. So the males turned their attention to Babs.
Babs took one look at Kareem and seemed to realize that she had finally met her match. Kareem stood up tall and stomped toward her, his hair piloerect; making him seem even more massive than he already is. Babs instantly understood that Kareem was in charge. Kareem, in turn, seemed to realize that he could have a powerful ally in Babs.
Patriarchal society
In the wild, chimpanzee societies are patriarchal, with one alpha male leading a group of 3 to 15 chimpanzees. The groups will share a territory with other groups that may total up to 150 individuals. The females play an important role in determining who becomes and remains the alpha male. Their “political” backing can determine the social hierarchy and structure of the group.
Babs recognized Kareem as another leader and greeted him first. Then she went on to meet the rest of the males. Noel went to the top of the villa to reassure Sky and help to keep her calm. The rest of the males left Sky alone to give her time to adjust.
Eventually, Kareem reached out to Sky. He slowly poked his head up into the top level; gently resting his head on the decking. Sky was still stressed, so he quietly withdrew. He tried again later, stretching out a hand to her in a gesture of friendship. Though she wasn’t ready to shake hands, it helped her to calm down and now she’s allowing the males to come a little closer.
Like a boss
Kareem proved his leadership abilities throughout the group’s formation.
“It was fascinating watching Kareem change his style to match the personality and needs of each chimp in the group,” said chimpanzee care manager Laura.
Laura and her team did an excellent job of assessing the chimps’ needs as well.
They built the group thoughtfully and provided comforting distractions to ease the tension of the introduction process. Before each new introduction, the care team scattered a generous amount of the chimpanzees’ favorite foods, so the chimps would have something else to distract and comfort them.
After only a few weeks, the 14 former research chimps in Harmony Villa are truly living in harmony. That’s not to say there isn’t drama. There are always conflicts in chimpanzee social groups. Chimpanzees fight. Then they make up.
Ever vigilant
Whether the group is inside the villas’ climate-controlled bedroom or out on the open-air enclosed porch, Kareem will sit in a central location so he can see everyone in the group. That way, he can anticipate fights and swing into action to break them up.
Kareem and Babs are backing each other up, like true leaders, to maintain order in the group. And that’s important, because Kareem HATES drama.
After nearly three decades in research, in some of the nation’s most notorious labs, Kareem has had enough of the screams of other chimpanzees in distress.
Amy learned this about Kareem just the other day.
The lower-ranking female interpreted Kareem’s support as a “free pass” for a moment of bad behavior. When one of the higher-ranking chimps stole a piece of her lunch, she threw a huge tantrum. She hung from the higher brachiating bars in the villa (bars that allow the chimps to twirl and swing) and kicked her feet as she screamed in frustration. Kareem – again having none of it – calmly approached her, peeled her fingers from the bar, and she plopped to the floor! He didn’t react. He didn’t punish her. He just made her stop.
Harmony has its benefits
According to caregiver Crystal, creating a more normal chimpanzee social structure has had a positive effect on nearly all of the chimps.
“Lowest-ranking Loretta is the happiest I’ve ever seen her,” noted Crystal, adding, “She now plays with all the boys and really seems to like Kareem.”
Even Sky has become comfortable with the males. She especially likes Alex now and will stretch out her hand to touch his hand for reassurance.
The males and females are also enjoying the sanctuary’s outdoor habitat together. Thirteen of the 14 chimps are now foraging and climbing together in their mountain forest. Alex, who remains indoors, may soon join them, but he’ll do it when he’s ready.
A new family
Younger chimps like Loretta and Amy were bred for research but were likely never used in testing or experiments. They escaped the life that older chimps like Kareem, Alex and Jermaine endured.
As they play together now, Loretta and Amy can’t possibly imagine what it must mean for an older chimp like Kareem to finally have a family.
We can’t know either.
We just know that at Project Chimps, with your support, we can provide this new group with a forever home and the prospect of expanding their social group into a larger fission-fusion society.
Just as it should have been for them in the wilds of Africa.
There are still nearly 150 chimpanzees in the lab who are waiting to come to sanctuary…waiting for a chance to explore the outdoors, to forage with friends, to stretch their limbs and climb around. You can help make this possible by making a donation to Project Chimps, sponsoring one of our amazing chimpanzees, or purchasing an item from our Amazon Wish List.
Photos by Crystal Alba.