Cruelty To Chimpanzees

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/willem83/5961073777/

Perhaps you saw the heading in the Independent today "Zoo to breed chimpanzees despite cruelty warning" and their little follow up story "Leading article: Are zoos justified?"

Cruelty? Warning? Just what are they going on about?

Well it all stems from a little bit of research done observing 40 Chimpanzees in 6 collections. I have yet to discover which 6 collections but I did pick through the paper which you can read yourself here:

How Abnormal Is the Behaviour of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?


I would like to thank The Independent for including the statement by Blair Drummond
head keeper Alasdair Gillies who said "There may be individuals in captivity who do display abnormal behaviour, but I think that is likely to be a result of their background. These abnormal behaviours could be learned culturally – chimps often imitate other chimps."
Now this is important. Scientists please note, because when we read the research we learn:

'Groups were either single-male (two groups) or multi-male (four groups, one of which was male only)'

'the sixth consisted of individuals who were all hand-reared.'

So two of the groups which were studied were completely abnormal in the first place. Read the report and you will see there were some rather odd group mixes there. The report states:

'Each of the 40 focal subjects displayed at least 2 abnormal behaviours'

'All 40 chimpanzees showed some abnormal behaviour. Across groups, the most prevalent behaviour (0.83) was eat faeces (Table 3; Figure 1). Six behaviours were present in all six groups (eat faeces, rock, groom stereotypically, pat genitals, regurgitate, fumble nipple) and a further two (pluck hair and hit self) were present in five of the six groups. Bite self was shown by eight individuals across four of the groups.'


I suppose that over the years I may have personally worked with 40 chimpanzees and have been thinking hard:

eat faeces - No
rock - yes in three hand reared animals, one of whom learnt it from the others. But they did not do it all the time.
groom stereotypically - yes in one animal with a rather traumatic past.*
pat genitals - No
regurgitate- No
fumble nipple - No
pluck hair - yes in the one animal with a rather traumatic past.*
hit self - yes in the one animal with a rather traumatic past.*
bite self - yes in the one animal with a rather traumatic past.*





* But an excellent mother and reared completely normal young


And the report concludes:


'Our data support a conclusion that, while most behaviour of captive chimpanzees is ‘normal’ in the sense that it is behaviour seen in their wild counterparts, abnormal behaviour is endemic in captivity. For some individuals it may dominate much of their activity, but for the rest it is a persistent element of their everyday behaviour despite living in social groups in enriched environments.'

Getting back to the Independent articles just a few minor points.

No one zoo has a 'Breeding Programme'. They may breed but a programme needs the cooperation of other zoos or the gene pool is too shallow.

"40 chimps in six leading but unnamed zoos in the UK and the US."

Who decides on what is 'leading'?

"found that all the animals studied engaged in abnormal behaviour, which included self-mutilation, repetitive"

Though self-mutilation was mentioned in the report there was not, unless I missed it any record of these particular researchers finding it. Please note that 'bite self' is not self-mutilation.

"It is very difficult to reintroduce chimps into the wild, which leaves questions over the usefulness of captive breeding programmes,"

This I reckon shows a complete lack of understanding as to the purpose of the good modern zoo. A read through a few zoo manuals and the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategy would not go amiss.

So what about this document that the press are giving so much of their time to? Well no doubt it did turn up some interesting statistics remembering of course Benjaminn Disraeli's quote "there are lies, damned lies and statistics". Yes, chimpanzees need care and attention, they need suitable housing, they need enriching. Some zoos are better than others, some chimpanzee groups are better than others. I certainly would not damn them all based on this report.

***

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Chimpanzees Make Their Own Video

Bananavision! Chimps given special video camera to make their own film

The usual saying is that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davelau/767256229/

But these chimpanzees are clearly set for a more lucrative career after becoming the first of their species to make their own film using a special video camera.

The 11 chimps at Edinburgh Zoo were given the camera in a box to record just how they view the world and were taught how to use video touch screens to help them finish the films.

The innovative project saw the hairy directors go through several trials as they made experienced power struggles, bites and fights during the filming.


Some of the footage taken was impressive according to researchers at the zoo's Budongo trail, a state-of-the-art chimpanzee facility that links the excitement of seeing the animals close-up with wildlife conservation, science, education and research.

But the budding filmmakers also suffered similar problems as their human counterparts by recording


Read More

Chimpanzees and Fire

Strange to relate that on the 6th January we had the story below posted by New Scientist and today we have the fire in the chimp enclosure in Wellington Zoo. Happily it was an unventful incident but one from which both Wellington and all of us can learn. I often wish that there was some sort of 'fire door' to release animals. My stomach churns when I think of Zoo Fires. I know of several and all ended in tragedy. There should/must be some sort of fire risk assessment done on all zoo buildings and enclosures. It is all very well hanging up fire extinguishers and notices on what to do but can the animals reach them? Or read? What happens in the wee small hours? Is there an alarm fitted? Does your zoo have a night watchman? Food for thought! - Peter

Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/compasspoint/2115431356/

Chimp's dance suggests a mental grasp of fire

Chimps have been reported dancing in rainstorms – and now it seems our closest relation has a "fire dance", too. A dominant male chimp performed such a dance in the face of a raging savannah fire in Senegal.



Anthropologist Jill Pruetz of Iowa State University in Ames recounts that the male faced the fire with "a really exaggerated slow-motion display" before redirecting his display at chimps sheltering in a nearby baobab tree. Barking vocalisations from the male, never heard in more than 2000 hours of monitoring the group, were also heard.



Pruetz and co-author Thomas LaDuke at the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania suggest that the chimps were cognisant enough to predict the fire's movement, retreating short distances at a time while staying calm. Other animals, in contrast, panic when fire approaches.



"If chimps with their small brain size can conceptually deal with fire, then maybe we should rethink some of the

Read Full Story
 
 
Zoo Chimps Discover Fire
 
A fire at Wellington Zoo's chimp cave started after the heating was turned on to warm up the chilly primates.




The blaze, at noon yesterday, was thought to have started from an electrical fault in one of the cave's heating pads – turned on so the chimps could ward off Wellington's cold summer weather.



Zoo spokesman Matt Kennard said all 11 chimpanzees were in the enclosure when the fire started but none were injured.



"They quickly moved away through natural instinct when they smelled the smoke."



The fire service attended the blaze, which was put out within

Read Full Story
 
A MUST FOR ALL ZOOS - Fire safety risk assessment: animal premises and stables: Animal Premises and Stables

Jane Goodall is far from finished

Jane Goodall: 'My job is to give people hope'

It is half a century since she began her seminal work studying chimpanzees in Africa. But Jane Goodall says her work is far from finished


Jane Goodall, grey in complexion but resplendent in a red shawl, is sitting on the sofa in a dimly lit room in west London. The scientist-turned-environmentalist has just arrived from Bournemouth, had a rotten journey, has a hacking cough, but accepts it all stoically, rejecting the suggestion that the heating be turned up.
 
 

                                 Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/3475854108/

She is here with her talisman, a stuffed monkey called Mr H, given to her by the blind magician Gary Haun ("the Amazing Haundini"), who thought it was a chimp. Goodall, who has a childlike quality, sees a metaphorical significance in a blind magician who is able to pull the wool over the eyes of the sighted. The letter H, standing for Hope, also attracts her.



The world seems to divide into people who are besotted with Goodall and people who have barely heard of her. She is more prominent in the US, where the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is headquartered, than in the UK, despite being born here in 1934 and, after half a lifetime spent documenting the lives of chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream National Park overlooking Lake Tanganyika in the far west of Tanzania, now living with her sister Judy in their old family home in Bournemouth.



Our meeting takes place at a flat in Notting Hill that belongs to Mary Lewis, a JGI employee with a cut-glass English accent who appears to run Goodall's life as if it were a military operation. The trigger is a book Goodall has written with two fellow environmentalists: a collection of stories of survival called Hope for Animals and Their World, the written-by-committee feel of which must of course be forgiven because of its subject matter.



Even I, an intermittent eco-worrier, was moved by the battle to save the California condor, and I feel doubly guilty for criticising the book because at the end of the interview she insists on signing it for me: "For Stephen. ­Together we can make this a better world for all. Thank you for helping." Can is underlined, all is both underlined and capitalised.



These days, in her mid-70s, Goodall is more shaman than scientist. She has set aside a planned companion volume to her seminal study The Chimpanzees of Gombe, and instead tours the world preaching the need for sustainability, harmony and respect for the natural world (this makes me worry about the size of her carbon footprint).



It was in 1986 that, at a conference on chimps, she realised the extent of the crisis affecting them across Africa and determined, overnight it seems, on a life as an environmental evangelist. One journalist who has followed her career likens her to a "peripatetic Mother Teresa", and it's a good description: she combines stateliness with a kind of holiness, her religion a predominantly green one.



The message of her new book, with its stories about black-footed ferrets, American crocodiles and whooping cranes, is surprisingly upbeat. "My job seems to have increasingly become giving people hope, so that instead of doing nothing and sinking into depression, they take action," she tells me. "It's very clear to me that unless we get a critical mass of people involved in trying to create a better world for our great-grandchildren, we'd better stop having children altogether."

Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/defrostca/4073157291/

Goodall has chosen to focus on the heroes fighting – and occasionally winning – individual battles, in the hope of attracting others to participate in a war she does not yet accept is lost. "I've seen areas totally despoiled that have been brought back to life. Animals that were almost gone have, with captive breeding or protection in the wild, been given another chance. If we stop now, everything's going to go.So we have to keep on doing our best for as long as we can, and if we're going to die, let's die fighting." The apocalypse is conjured up in a croaky and curiously detached monotone.



Do governments understand the scale of the crisis? Goodall argues that many are still in hock to "dark forces" – vested interests such as the fossil fuel industry and agribusiness. Politicians, she says, should stop parroting the myth of limitless expansion. "Unlimited economic growth on a planet of finite resources is not possible; it doesn't make sense. I thought this financial ­crisis would help people realise that, but it seems very much like, 'Oh, let's get back to business as usual.'"



Much of her evangelising is directed at the young. Her institute – set up to protect chimps and their habitats ­almost 10 years before that Damascene moment in 1986 – has a dynamic youth wing called Roots and Shoots, which started in 1991 when 16 young Tanzanians met on the porch of her home in Dar es Salaam to discuss environmental issues affecting their lives. Twenty years later, there are groups in 114 countries, with hundreds of thousands of youngsters involved in community projects. After a slow start, it has taken off in the UK in the past couple of years, with 700 groups now participating. But apart from the HQ in Arlington, Virginia, which has 20-plus staff, most of the JGIs that coordinate these projects are shoestring operations, and the institute has been hit hard by the credit crunch. "We're in a financial hole in the US because of the downturn," Goodall admits. "Money that should have come in has been cut."



The organisation had just held a meeting in Belgium to discuss how to dig itself out, and one priority is to recruit an executive director. Is that recognition of a time when someone will need to take over from her? "Of course," Goodall says. "It will probably be a collection of four people taking over from me." Despite the holiness, she is not guilty of false modesty.



The institute today is not just concerned with her beloved chimps. "To me, it was obvious to grow from wild chimps to saving their forest to seeing about their conditions in captivity to working with local people and kids," she says. "You can kill yourself saving forests and chimps, but if new generations aren't going to be better stewards there's no point. That's why I'm so ­passionate about Roots and Shoots."



Until the 1986 conference, she had assumed she would spend her life studying chimps. "It was wonderful out in the forest collecting data and ­analysing it, giving a few lectures, writing books." In her 1999 book, Reason For Hope: A Spiritual Journey, she

Read full story HERE

Chimpanzee population under threat from Volcano

Volcanic eruption threatens rare chimpanzees in DR Congo

In the pre-dawn hours on Saturday, rangers at Virunga National Park were awoken by the sound of Mt. Nyamulagira erupting.

                                                                      Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davelau/

Located 16 miles from the eastern city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Virunga National Park is home to the largest remaining continuous population of chimpanzees in the world.



In addition, the park is home to the endangered mountain gorilla, hippopotamus, leopard and other animals. The gorilla's are said to be safe as they live further east and are not in direct threat from the eruption.



Virunga National Park Director Emmanuel de Merode said that park staff, working in conjunction with civilian and military authorities, have been mobilized and continue to assess the risks and take appropriate action.



At 10,023 feet, Mt. Nyamulagira is the most active volcano in ....

Full Article - HERE

Blue Movies For Chimpanzees

It is not a new idea and has been used several times in different zoos over the years. It always generates attention from the press which in turn helps gate revenue. What I would like to know is whether 'Blue' movies for primates has ever actually resulted in increased sexual activity by the audience? Please comment below if you know. - Peter
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Zoo keepers go ‘blue’ in the face for a chimp of the old block...

A the end of their wits trying to persuade the male chimpanzees in the Chamarajendra Zoological Garden to mate with the female of the species, so that the zoo can have a baby chimp or two,The keepers have struck upon what they think is an idea bright if not blue.

There are three male chimpanzees in the Mysore zoo, Mason, 19, Vali, 15 and Guru, 22. There are also two female chimpanzees Marilla, 18, and Ganga, 42. They are kept in separate enclosures to prevent possiblities of getting into fights. With all the tricks in their trade to rouse the primeval instincts of the three male chimps mate with the two females in zoo having failed miserably so far, the staff are planning to procure some animal sex movies, of chimps mating, hoping to rouse the resident chimps enough for them have a go at the females in the enclosure.




The staff have managed to get such a film and are now plans are afoot to place the male chimps in a closed room where the “motivational” film will be screened. The zoo keepers had the less-than-bright idea of showing the male chimps
 
>>>Read Full Article>>>

Chimpanzee Tool Use Can Be Very Sophisticated

Chimps use cleavers and anvils as tools to chop food

For the first time, chimpanzees have been seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.

Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/defrostca/

Chimps in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea, Africa, use both stone and wooden cleavers, as well as stone anvils, to process Treculia fruits.



The apes are not simply cracking into the Treculia to get to otherwise unobtainable food, say researchers.



Instead, they are actively chopping up the food into more manageable portions.



Observations of the behaviour are published in the journal Primates.



PhD student Kathelijne Koops and Professor William McGrew of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, studied a group of chimps living wild in the Nimba Mountains.




Ms Koops research is focused on the use by the chimps of elementary technology, such as the use of tools while foraging.



"Chimpanzees across Africa vary greatly in the types of tools they use to obtain food. Some groups use stones as hammers and anvils to crack open nuts, whereas others use twigs to fish for termites," she says.



The apes' use of such tools can be surprisingly sophisticated.



"For example, nut-cracking in the Bossou chimpanzee community in Guinea involves the use of a movable hammer and anvil, and sometimes the additional use of stabilising wedges to make the anvil more level and so more efficient," explains Ms Koops.




"Termite fishing in some chimpanzee communities in the Republic of Congo involves the use of a tool set, i.e. different tool components used sequentially to achieve the same goal.



"These chimpanzees were found to deliberately modify termite fishing probes by creating a brush-end, before using them to fish for termites."



Volleyball-sized fruit



But together with Prof McGrew and Prof Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University in Japan, Ms Koops has discovered another startling use of tools not previously recorded.



During a monthly survey of chimps (Pan troglodytes) living in the mountain forests, she came across stone and rocks that had clearly be used by the apes to process Treculia fruits.



These fruits, which can be the size of a volleyball and weigh up to 8.5kg, are hard and fibrous.




But despite lacking a hard outer shell, they are too big for a chimpanzee to get its jaws around and bite into.



So, instead, the chimps use a range of tools to chop them into smaller pieces.



Ms Koops found stone and wooden cleavers, as well as stone anvils used

>>>READ FULL ARTICLE>>>

Wild chimps have near human understanding of fire

Wild chimps have near human understanding of fire, says study by ISU's Pruetz

The use and control of fire are behavioral characteristics that distinguish humans from other animals. Now, a new study by Iowa State University anthropologist Jill Pruetz reports that savanna chimpanzees in Senegal have a near human understanding of wildfires and change their behavior in anticipation of the fire's movement.




An ISU associate professor of anthropology, Pruetz and Thomas LaDuke, an associate professor of biological sciences at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University, co-authored the paper, which will be posted online Friday by the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. It will be published in a 2010 edition of the journal.



Data on the chimps' behavior with seasonal fires was collected by Pruetz during two specific encounters in March and April 2006. She reports that wildfires are set yearly by humans for land clearing and hunting, and most areas within the chimpanzees' home range experience burning to some degree.



Chimps have calm understanding of wildfires

The researchers interpret the chimpanzees' behavior to the wildfires as being predictive, rather than responsive, in that they showed no signals of stress or fear -- other than avoiding the fire as it approached them.



"It was the end of the dry season, so the fires burn so hot and burn up trees really fast, and they [the chimps] were so calm about it. They were a lot better than I was, that's for sure," said Pruetz, who was selected a 2008 National Geographic Emerging Explorer for her previous research on the savanna chimpanzees at the Fongoli research site in Senegal.



"They [the chimps] were experts at predicting where it was going to go," she continued. "I could predict it, sort of, but if it were just me, I would have left. At

>>>FULL ARTICLE>>>

Ape Care Staff Supervisor

Ape Care Staff Supervisor
Center for Great Apes

The Center for Great Apes has a new position for an Ape Care Staff Supervisor to oversee the day-to-day activities of the caregiver staff in providing optimal care for the health and welfare of our sanctuary apes. The Center for Great Apes is a reputable, established, and growing sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees in need of permanent lifetime care. The Center maintains these animals in a safe and enriching habitat, providing exemplary care in accordance with and exceeding federal and state regulations.

Position Summary:

The Ape Care Staff Supervisor is directly responsible for the day-to-day activities of the caregiver staff. This position is for a working supervisor who will participate wherever needed in caregiver duties. This person will work in a positive partnership with the founding director and support the Center’s mission as established by the founding director and board of directors.

Responsibilities include:

t Working with founding director and the staff caregivers to develop the best care plan in areas of diet, health maintenance, enrichment, socialization with other apes, and training behaviors

t Maintaining a positive team-oriented attitude supportive of the Center and its mission and representing the Center to all employees, volunteers, members, donors, visitors, vendors, and on-site workers with friendliness, courtesy and professionalism

t Supervising ape care staff in carrying out all aspects of:
§ Diet
§ Enrichment activities & equipment
§ Health care procedures
§ Cooperative husbandry training
§ Managing ape behavior situations
§ Ensuring all safety practices, requirements, and recommendations are met or exceeded
§ Cleaning routines

Supervisory responsibilities will require this person to:
Participate in interviewing and selection of applicants for caregivers, interns, and volunteers
Oversee orientation on safety policies and procedures
Oversee training of ape care staff, interns, and ape-care volunteers
Schedule work-shifts
Hold periodic meetings with ape care staff
Plan performance evaluations
Fill in when needed for daily ape care routine including shifting, feeding, training, cleaning, providing enrichment, and doing daily health checks
Lead caregiver staff during emergencies
Coordinate with veterinarian on health care issues

This position may also require the ape care supervisor to:
Assist the veterinarian with medical procedures
Give tours occasionally to visitors and donors
Give presentations at conferences or workshops and represent the Center in a professional and positive manner

Qualifications:
7+ years of experience in great ape care giving (preferably both orangutans and chimpanzees)
5 years experience of direct supervision of staff coworkers and demonstrated success in leading coworkers in teamwork building
Demonstrated leadership ability to create a team environment that supports effective teamwork and collaboration with ape care staff
Demonstrated ability to interact with staff in a positive manner and lead staff to success in their job
Excellent communication abilities with staff, management, members/donors, and visitors
Good writing and report skills
Ability to be calm and make decisions in crisis situations or emergencies
Willingness to tackle challenges and problem solve


Preferred:
Dart gun training and chemical immobilization knowledge
Positive reinforcement training experience with captive apes
Leadership or supervisory training or courses
Veterinary tech experience, fecal exams, previous assistance in great ape health exams
Able to lift 50 pounds and work outdoors in extreme heat during summer when required


The Center for Great Apes is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This position is located in Wauchula, FL, between Sarasota/Tampa Bay, Ft. Meyers/Naples, and Orlando metropolitan areas.

Visit www.CenterForGreatApes.org to learn more about the Center.

Contact Information:
Please email your resume to patti@centerforgreatapes.org or FAX to 863-767-8904

Keeper: African Apes Section - Twycross Zoo

Keeper: African Apes Section - Twycross Zoo
£301 to £332 pw

We have a vacancy for an experienced keeper to join our African Apes Section, mostly working with chimpanzees but also assisting with gorillas and bonobos.

Applicants must have experience as a professional keeper working with at least one of the great ape species. The ideal candidate will also have some experience of occupational enrichment.

The pay rates are £301.79 pw (£15,693 pa) for a Grade 2 Keeper, £316.21 pw (£16,443 pa) for a Grade 1 Keeper and £332.69 pw (£17,300 pa) for a Senior Keeper. Grade is determined by the job holder’s level of competence, expertise and knowledge, not length of service.

We offer a choice of weekly or monthly pay, uniform, 31 days holiday, 5% employer’s pension contribution and the possibility of on-site accommodation.

Twycross Zoo is in Leicestershire, a registered charity and home to over a thousand animals of 250 different species. We have exciting plans for developing the Zoo further, continuing our work in conservation of endangered species and providing the very best environment that we can.

If you are interested, please send your CV with a covering letter to recruitment@twycrosszoo.org or post it to Human Resources, Twycross Zoo, Atherstone CV9 3PX. Closing date: as soon as we can appoint the right person.