It is a secret to literally no one that my love for chimps trumps my love for anything else. From my tattoos to my shirts to my body language when I'm talking about being around the chimps, it's clear that primates and in particular the CSNW chimpanzees are some of my favorite beings on this planet.
It's this passion that makes it hard to be objective at times. Jane Goodall was often criticized, and probably still is, for her work in Gombe because she gave all of the chimps she met names and not numbers like most scientists do when they are researching animals. I'm not even going to deny my struggle in being an objective data collector and seeing animals as friends. I take solace in the fact that Jane shuts nearly everyone down, and also that I am not in the field gathering data. At the chimp house I'm merely a small piece of the puzzle there to make the chimps as happy as I can. My involvement with the hierarchy is minimal, as in I am always the lowest on the hierarchy and when a fight happens in the chimp house I am on no ones side. When fights break out in the Jorgensen House, I can tell Jasper to "be nice!" or "Don't hit your brother!" and he will scamper off. In the chimp house, I have no say in telling anyone to be nice to anyone. I'm a guest in their space, and they need to work out their problems as they see fit. It's a very important part of being a caregiver. Everyone is equal, even if in a fight everyone is mad a Burrito.
JB captured and dissected a fight between the chimps: (one of my favorite blogs!) http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org/blog/2014/09/conflict-and-reconciliation/
Thursday, a fight broke out in the chimp house. This is a typical thing. Regular, but not a frequent event. Living with the same 7 individuals is hard, and sometimes you have a disagreement. Sometimes someone gets hurt, and we have to monitor that; but the chimps always work it out. In a few minutes or in a few days-the disagreement is always solved. However, it doesn't make it any less easy to witness when it happens right in front of you.
Thursday was a pretty high arousal day. Everyone was a little on edge, and usually that means walking on pins and needles with Jamie. As a preventative action and to make Jamie as happy as I could, I went on a walk with her whenever she asked. Which was a total of 3 perimeter walks in an hour. Pretty good time, for us. In a pre-dinner moment of positive reinforcement training (PRT) a fight broke out. It all happened so fast, and even though it was right in front of my face I still don't know how it started. Before I knew it everyone was yelling at each other, swinging their arms, hitting each other and running all over the chimp house. All of the humans just stood by and watched, to try to get an idea of who was yelling at who, if anyone was hurt, etc.
I realized in a brief moment I had one hand over my mouth and one hand over my heart, fighting back a visceral reaction of trying not to cry. It's the first time during a fight I felt the need to do so. Watching your dearest friends fight in such a manner is one of the most difficult parts of spending time at CSNW. Yes, empirically I understand that chimps fight. They solve their disagreements in the way they know how, and although it would be less hard for all of them if they had the opportunity to live in a social group in the wild where they belong, they still manage to fight and make up in a matter of moments. And I genuinely had an ache in my gut watching it happen. Now I know how mom's feel when their kid is in a fight with their best friend. All you want to say is "Hug it out and lets get over it!" But there is always a chunk of disagreements we don't understand. Humans butting into issues and places we don't belong is one of the biggest issues with animal welfare today, in my opinion. (I'm still of the belief that humans aren't actually the most intelligent beings on the planet, but whatever.)
Soon it was quiet. Everyone had come down from their moment of yelling and running and we surveyed as best we could. Some cuts on a foot, nothing overwhelmingly bad. When the fight resolves, we continue on. The chimps begin grooming each other as a small step in making sure everyone is okay from the scuffle.
Mostly I am filled with so much love and respect for the chimps. When Jamie lets me brush her hair, when Missy asks for a knuckle rub, when Annie grooms my feet, etc. But there are moments like when fights break out, and my tiny black heart just wants everyone to hug it out and be okay. Some hugs do happen, but on their own time. Ain't no one about to tell miss Negra she has to do anything. :)
Until next time-
b
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