The Hole in His Chinny-chin-chin

By Violet Bishop

Thursday, June 17 started like any typical day. Caregivers arrived at the sanctuary at 8 a.m. and begin their morning checks on the chimps. Younger chimps were, as usual, playing and roughhousing with each other. Then Fred saw something unusual.

Jacob had a four-and-a-half-inch wound that started at his upper chin and extended to his lower chin around his lips. The wound pierced all the way through his lip, creating a hole in his chin.

The Mystery Injury

How did it happen? Shortly after the injury, I interviewed Fred and stayed in touch throughout the healing process.

Fred has a couple of different theories; one is that Jacob may have been hurt by another chimp in his family. Even though Jacob is one of the youngest in his social group, he tends to be very bold with the others. Perhaps there was a disagreement with another high-ranking member. 

But maybe it wasn’t a fight, and the injury wasn’t intended. When chimpanzees play together, sometimes they mouth each other. Mouthing is the same as play biting – it’s a sign of trust among chimps. They put their mouths together and breathe heavily, sometimes gently, or maybe not gently enough, biting each other on the lips.

Another theory is that Jacob was mouthing with another chimp who bit down a little too hard. Maybe the other chimp didn’t mean to bite all the way through Jacob’s lip, or Jacob jerked his head away without warning. Regardless of how it happened, Jacob is handling his bizarre injury very well.

The Reaction

Jacob barely let the hole in his chin injury bother him. He ate normally and kept his playful personality. On the first day, when Fred noticed his injuries, the caregivers were giving the chimps oranges. Despite the acidity, Jacob happily ate the fruit. Because the cut goes all the way through his tissue, sometimes juices will fall out of the hole while Jacob eats. Jacob looks confused more than anything.

Jacob kept his wound very clean. The other chimps in his group tried to help him too. Jacob put on a brave face; no pun intended. He acted very normal despite having a big injury on his chin. 

The Healing Process 

Chimpanzees are very good at healing on their own and Jacob received pain meds to help with discomfort and antibiotics to help prevent infection. Oral medication is a better course of treatment than giving Jacob stitches or a bandage to cover the wound. Chimps hate having a foreign object on their body and that includes things like stitches. We can’t explain to them that the stitches are there to help them. Jacob would try and remove the stitches or a bandage on his own, potentially causing further damage.

A Small Speedbump

By August, the hole in his chin had healed completely with only a pink scar as a reminder of the injury. But Jacob is still having some trouble using his bottom lip. Chimps have prehensile lips and are able to move them to manipulate their food and drink easily. Their flexible lips allow chimps to form a cup with their lower lip. It’s typical for chimps at the sanctuary to receive juice as a snack or part of their meal. Sometimes they will use their lips to have an easier time receiving the juice through the mesh walls. Jacob seems to have lost some of the flexibility that was there prior to the injury. 

We don’t know exactly what has caused Jacob to have some trouble moving his bottom lip. It’s possible there was some damage to the muscle or that he has become used to using his tongue more since he had to rest his lips during the healing process.

Pucker Up

However, we have seen some improvement in the movements. The more that Jacob exercises those muscles, the better his range of motion becomes. Pant hooting is a natural way for chimps to protrude their lips. Pant hoots allow chimps to communicate with each other over long distances and can be routinely heard throughout the sanctuary. In Jacob’s case, we hope it will help to bring full function back to his lower lip. It’s a natural chimp physical therapy exercise! 

Jacob’s intelligent and curious personality has remained throughout this injury, and we are happy to report he hasn’t changed. He continues to make significant improvements every day.

You can help Jacob and the other chimps recover from their injuries by making a donation or purchasing a medical supply off our Amazon Wishlist.