On the Fence with Chimp Behavior
By Emmett Johnson
The Wild Card
Gracie lives in the Cedar Tree Villa with other chimps around her age, all between 17-20 years old. These young adults can be rambunctious and outdoor time is their favorite. All the chimps love to go outside beside her. Gracie’s behavior is unlike the rest of her group mates because she prefers an indoor environment. And she has everyone at Project Chimps on the fence about what she will do with the newest habitat addition.
Project Chimps is adding a new “annex” that will connect the Cedar Tree villa to an outdoor space. This project increases the chimps’ daily options because they can have outdoor access daily rather than rotating and sharing a space. The outdoor space will be exclusive to the Cedar Tree Villa.
The Chimp Effect
The annex leads to the outdoors with a sky bridge that leads to the yard. There will be a “portal” between the opening of the sky bridge and the outdoors that Caregiver Alyssa is excited for the chimps to use and explore. All chimps in Cedar Tree Villa are aware of the construction and will “flip out” when they can finally use the habitat.
The Cedar Tree chimps can see the construction from the windows in their villa. When the construction workers added the mesh tunnel along the sky bridge, the chimps reacted positively. They are familiar with the material and seem to associate it with “chimp space”. They seem excited to see the structure when it is complete.
There is always at least one chimp watching the construction, and they enjoy watching the process. The alpha-ranking male, Bo, is the main chimp who tends to oversee the construction. When the construction gets too noisy, Bo will react by performing a drumming display to remind the construction team who’s boss.
But Bo’s not the only chimp who’s interesting in over-seeing the construction! The neighbor group who share the North Yard, DJT and Chimps Ahoy, have been curious to watch as well. But instead of a viewing through a window, they’ve taken to the trees. As they see the construction workers, the younger individuals have been seen climbing higher and higher in the trees to get a good look at what’s going on. Tree climbing is a natural behavior and something that Project Chimps loves to encourage and see.
Will She, or Won’t She?
The caregivers are on the fence about how Gracie will react to the new outdoor space. Gracie never goes outside but loves to go along the tunnel leading to their current outdoor space. She will sit at the end of the tunnel to hang out, one of her favorite spots.
Recently, Gracie has been rising in rank, changing her social relationships around her. These changes may give her more confidence to go outside. Alyssa is one of the primary caregivers for this group and predicts that Gracie may feel the confidence to give the great outdoors a try.
Alyssa is sure Gracie would love to play in the sky bridge because she already enjoys using the tunnels she has access to. She has worked with Gracie for the past four years, and every day the chimp surprises her. Everyone is excited to see what Gracie will do with the new construction and see if she will go outside or if she will not go outside.
Do you want to help create more outdoor spaces for the chimps? Gracie is this year’s featured chimp for Giving Tuesday. Donate here today!
