Tawnya Williams – Chimpanzee Care Supervisor
by Lindsey Ebert
Project Chimps is excited to announce the promotion of Tawnya Williams to Chimpanzee Care Supervisor!
Tawnya has been with Project Chimps for four years as a Caregiver. In her new role as Chimpanzee Care Supervisor, she will lead a team of Caregivers and Caregiver Aides. Tawnya’s team is responsible for providing food, enrichment, and training for 50 chimps.
“My goal is to help bring the team together, improve communication, work on consistency and work together to make decisions. It is an ongoing goal to improve the care of the chimps and one way is by utilizing everyone’s skills and listening to their ideas.” said Tawnya.
One of Tawnya’s latest successes was to serve as the lead for introducing the 9 males of Kirk’s group to the 10 females of Lindsey’s group. After slowly introducing the chimps, which started by the chimps only being able to see each other through a barrier, the 19 chimps are now living together at the Chimps Ahoy Villa! Tawnya has also assisted with the introductions of two other groups, helping to create a fission-fusion society at Project Chimps to emulate how chimpanzees live in the wild.
Prior to Project Chimps, Tawnya worked with animals for over 20 years. She previously cared for former lab chimps as the Primary Chimpanzee Keeper at Chattanooga Zoo, where she was inspired by how much she could help them. When she learned about Project Chimps, she instantly fell in love with the mission.
Although Tawnya has worked with many chimps over the years and says she normally doesn’t have a favorite, if she HAD to name a favorite, it would be Armond.
Armond arrived at the sanctuary in November 2019 and was part of the latest group introductions. According to Tawnya, Armond is known as the enforcer of the group. “He is an amazing chimp. He is fair, he reassures when he needs to reassure and disciplines when he needs to discipline. He supports Kirk, his alpha, and he’s a chimp’s chimp,” said Tawnya.
In addition to her current role, Tawnya is also a facilitator for the Morale and Recreation Committee, where she helps arrange fun experiences for the staff, including team building activities and holiday celebrations.
“I’ve been most impressed with how Project Chimps has moved forward this year and by not only taking care of the chimps but also taking care of the staff. We have amazing support and we are definitely valued. It’s one of the coolest things to know you not only work somewhere that you can make a difference for an animal’s life, but that you’re also valued by the facility and the people who run it,” said Tawnya.