Big Girls, Little Girls, Middle Girls: Female Chimps Learn From Each Other
By Anna Lietman
Chimps learn from each other. In Harmony Villa, we have “The Big Girls” and “The Little Girls,” but what about the middle girls? Harley is one such mid-ranking chimp. Her status falls below the dominant trio of Babs, Sky, and LB. However, she still sits above “Little Girls” Amy, Sarah, Loretta in the hierarchy.
Tween Harley
Harley, a tween at age 13, has a maturity surprising for her age. Despite being the youngest in the group, Harley isn’t a part of the threesome caregivers have named “The Little Girls.” She doesn’t throw nearly as many tantrums as Amy, and isn’t known for her playfulness like Loretta.
Caregivers describe Harley as “an awkward kid, trying her best to fit in, but still very socially awkward.”
Growing Up in a Lab
It’s no wonder Harley is socially awkward.
In the wild, young chimps rely heavily on the guidance of older chimps. They look to their mothers, older siblings, and other group members for cues: how to act, how to communicate, how to make friends. How to eat, how to play. How to live as a chimp! It takes a lot of time to ensure chimps learn survival skills and social skills, hence why baby chimps rely heavily on their mom for their first five years.
Many of our rescued residents who grew up in a lab setting were likely ripped from their mothers at birth. The orphans may have had limited exposure to other chimps during their early, formative years. Many were kept in cages alone, without their mothers to show them how to behave.
So when chimps come to sanctuary, they may be interacting with other chimps (or chimps of the opposite sex) for the first time. They may fail to understand social norms, and feel awkward, unsure, or anxious around other chimps. These interactions can be tricky because the chimps haven’t learned lessons that mom usually instills during childhood.
Chimps Learn Lessons Later
To compensate, Harley looks to her groupmates for guidance. But her peers don’t always pass on the best habits. Almasi, her biggest teacher and influence, likes to throw toys and rebel against caregivers. Almasi has taught Harley two somewhat misguided lessons on these topics.
Lesson #1: throwing toys is an effective way to get someone’s attention
Almasi has realized that throwing toys can release pent up emotions. Throwing toys can also attract attention; if another chimp is ignoring you, simple lob a toy in their direction.
One day, the mood in Harmony Villa remained quite tense after a fight. Caregiver Aide Abbi portrays the chimps in this post-conflict period as upset and in a bad mood.
Alpha Kareem was working to calm everyone’s nerves and restore peace. Suddenly, he saw a toy flying his way. Except it wasn’t coming from the usual suspect.
Harley, taking a cue from Almasi, added her own opinion to the tense atmosphere, in the form of toy-throwing.
“I thought she was Almasi at first. It wasn’t until she turned around that I was like, ‘Harley?! You did that? Look at you go!’” – Caregiver Aide Abbi
Timidly, she then looked to alpha Kareem to see if he would respond. “She kind of just stood there waiting for him [to react]. She was like, ‘did I mess up?’” Lucky for her, Kareem was too focused on minimizing the group drama to reprimand Harley for her outburst.
Lesson #2: you don’t have to leave a room, even if it needs to be cleaned
Another scenario in which chimps learn behaviors from each other: Almasi, Harley, and Noel consistently team up to occupy a room.
When caregivers need to clean a villa, they must move the chimps out before they can safely enter the space. They call this “shifting” the chimps. Sometimes, though, the chimps don’t want to move. They call these chimps “stubborn shifters.”
Almasi, Harley, and Noel are notoriously stubborn shifters. Curiously, it’s always the three of them that work together to keep a room.
“All of the sudden they have a rebellious phase. They all get in on it at once, and they’re all just staying in that one room. If they want to keep a room, they’re gonna keep a room.” – Caregiver Aide Abbi
Harley Grows Up
Young Harley continues to learn from her peers, and perhaps will outgrow her rebellious phase one day. Despite her maturity, Harley can be very, very stubborn. Though Abbi also uses adjectives like kind, curious, and great when talking about Harley. Abbi clearly enjoys watching Harley figure out how to navigate the world.
As she grows up under Kareem’s guidance, alongside Almasi’s troublemaking, and nearby Loretta’s playfulness, I’m sure she’ll learn all there is to learn about being a chimp.
Read more about what it’s like for a chimp to grow up in a lab setting by checking out Kareem’s story, titled #KareemStrong.
