When you are anticipating the arrival of a newborn, picking out names is half the fun.  But when the baby is a surprise, like Flora’s daughter who was born at Chimp Haven on Valentine’s Day, you are left—well—speechless!  So we need your help in coming up with the perfect name for this beautiful, healthy little girl.  You have until March 30, 2012 to submit your suggestion.  Just fill out the form below.   One name per  entry,please.  Thank you for helping us!

Please donate to Chimp Haven to provide for the care of our newest arrival. Click here to donate.

Animal caregivers at Chimp Haven perform daily morning, noon, and afternoon checks to ensure the well-being of all of the chimpanzees. On the morning of February 14th, one of the caregivers was performing a morning check when she saw something out of the ordinary: a tiny foot protruding from the hip pocket of Flora, one of the female chimpanzees. At first, the caregiver thought it was a stuffed animal or a trick of the light, but then Flora revealed a REAL, newborn baby girl! The caregiver immediately notified the rest of the staff, and the flurry of activity has not ended since!

Many of the chimpanzees in Flora’s group have shown great interest, including Flora’s two best friends, Gina and Ginger. The three girls have been spotted sitting or laying side by side on multiple occasions. If Flora and the baby move into another room, Gina and Ginger are sure to follow them. Another chimpanzee that has shown interest in the new arrival is Sarah. Sarah does not typically show affiliative (or friendly) behavior towards Flora, but since the baby has been born, there have been many reports of Sarah being very friendly towards Flora.  Flora is an experienced mother, and she has shown wonderful maternal instincts thus far.

Welcome to the world, little one!

The stork delivered an unexpected Valentine to Chimp Haven, The National Chimpanzee Sanctuary, on February 14, 2012.  Care givers arrived early in the morning to find Flora, a 29-year-old former research chimpanzee, clutching a new female baby chimpanzee.  The infant appears healthy, is clinging to her mother’s stomach and eating well.

Chimp Haven is a 200-acre wooded facility in Northwest Louisiana for chimpanzees primarily retired from research.  To assure that it remains a retirement community, all of its males are vasectomized.  Clearly, someone’s vasectomy was unsuccessful.

“We do not know who the father is,” explains Chimp Haven President, Dr. Linda Brent.  “We will be conducting DNA analysis as quickly as possible so that we can determine the father of the newborn and address his failed vasectomy.”  She said that the staff is also running pregnancy tests on all the other females in Flora’s social group.  So far, they are negative.

While every effort is made to prevent unwanted pregnancies in chimpanzee sanctuaries, occasionally newborns appear on the scene as a result of a vasectomy that was unsuccessful.

“We take our responsibility to prevent pregnancies very seriously, but sometimes life finds a way,” says Brent.  “The new baby will be given the best care possible and will be raised by her mother in our forested habitat similar to a wild chimpanzee.”  Flora lives in the same social group as Tracy, a chimpanzee youngster at Chimp Haven who was born unexpectedly five years ago.  DNA testing pointed to Conan as her father; he was immediately re-vasectomized.   Today, Tracy is an independent, lively chimpanzee who spends her days swinging from the trees in her spacious, wooded habitat.  Her mother, Teresa, died a year ago, but the social group with which they lived stepped up and continued to look after Tracy.

Flora gave birth 20 years ago to a male chimpanzee while she was still living at a laboratory.  By all reports, she was a good mother.  “She appears to know the right things to do,” says Kathleen Taylor, Chimp Haven’s Colony Manager. “She is very attentive to the baby and is breast feeding her.  We are giving her as much privacy as possible, as she becomes anxious when too many people are around.”  Flora has a history of intensely disliking cameras; so, it has been impossible to take a photograph of the baby so far.  If the baby looks anything like her mother, she will have a distinctive silvery brown coat – unusual for a chimpanzee.

The baby has not yet been named.  Hoping that someone will come forward to pledge lifetime support for the new baby (approximately $12,000/year), Chimp Haven is reserving naming rights for the lifetime donor.  “Whoever ‘adopts’ this baby will be like a grandparent who can have wonderful visits with the family and leave the feeding, child rearing, and discipline up to Flora and the Chimp Haven care staff,” promises Brent.

Everyone has heard that chimpanzees are our closest relatives. And just like humans, chimpanzees love to play. Here at Chimp Haven our residents spend a significant part of each day playing with each other and playing with the carestaff.  Chimpanzee “play” sometimes gets a little rough but can include playing chase, wrestling, grabbing each others feet and hands, and swinging things around in the air trying to hit their friends.

Some of my favorite moments as a caregiver have been  partaking in play time with the chimpanzees.  Les and Juan will solicit caregivers, veterinary techinicians, and enrichment technicians to play chase all day long every day. In this game, Les and Juan will run back and forth along the walls within their enclosure while caregivers run along with them on the other side of the wall. It seems as though you cannot tire them out. Marcus, Tarzan, and Spider love to be tickled using a long handle spoon.  Marcus will laugh and laugh as you touch his neck, hip  and back. Tarzan tries to keep up his “tough” persona at first but eventually will give in and loves when his back is scratched with the spoon.  Spider tries to grab the spoon with her especially nimble toes, and grins as you rub her belly.  Jessica loves to play tug-a-war with her caregivers, she always wins and rarely gives up.

Sometimes it is even more rewarding to simply step back and watch the chimpanzees play with other members within their social groups. Nicky, Paul, and John all love grabbing at each others feet and trying to trip each other.  “Grandpa” Jimoh (as he is affectionately called) and baby Tracy have been spotted many times wrestling with large play face grins spread across their faces. Henry and Xavier certainly love to wrestle with each other, and sometimes their play time can get a little out of control.  Ivy is the master at using props while playing with her groupmates, although sometimes she might be the only one who is playing! She loves to swing blankets, enrichment toys, and black hollow tubes at her friends as they run away from her.

Play is a necessary and important part of life, especially chimpanzee life. I am glad to be able to experience all the different ways that the chimpanzees here at Chimp Haven play.

~Amy

There are many activities here at Chimp Haven that the chimpanzees like to participate in, and one of the preferred entertainments is painting.  They paint just like we do – with a paint brush, non-toxic paint, and a canvas.  The chimpanzees are able to choose what color they want, what kind of paint brush they want to use, and also what and where they want to paint.  Each individual chimpanzee has a painting style that best fits them and seems to fit their personality.

Ivy takes her canvas to the structure so she can sit alone and paint what comes to mind.  She always concentrates very hard and works diligently on her paintings but doesn’t spend too much time on them.  When she has perfected her picture she will bring it back to you and trade it for a reward, such as a piece of food.  Ivy has also been known to paint on her group mates.  She likes to give Harper red lips and green fingernails, which he doesn’t seem to mind.

Emma likes to paint the inside of her bedroom instead of the canvas.  She takes great joy in making the walls of her room colorful.  Les paints with a feather duster which makes unique strokes on the paper.  When given the option of different colors, Keeli hands down prefers blue.

By looking at Brent’s finished product one would think that he spent many hours making the strokes perfect and painting inside the lines.  However, Brent takes a much different approach to painting.  He uses his tongue to make a water color effect which is unlike any other chimpanzee here at Chimp Haven.  I would say that his paintings are the prettiest of them all.

My favorite painting experience was with Henry and Sarah.  They took turns using every color in the rainbow to make the most colorful, extravagant portrait I’ve seen.  When I held it up to show them the finished product the look on their face was priceless.  I almost saw a little smile on their face as if to say – “Wow!  I’m good.” Each painting is unique to the chimpanzee who paints it.  Whether it’s a few brush strokes or a canvas full of color and chaos, staff members are always excited to see what masterpiece the chimpanzees will create next.

~Lindsey

Chimp Haven Board Chairman On CareerBuilder’s Exploitation of Chimpanzees

Excerperted from a Lincoln Park Zoo press release:

Doesn’t CareerBuilder Get it?  Exploiting Chimpanzees in Latest Ad is Not Funny  

(Chicago, Jan. 26, 2012) – Chicago-based CareerBuilder has once again drawn the ire of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, a national leader in chimpanzee welfare and conservation, because of its latest highly insensitive television advertisement to be debuted during the Super Bowl XLVI, which  features costumed chimpanzees. Zoo officials charge that CareerBuilder is exploiting an endangered species and asks them once again to stop it.

“There is ample scientific evidence demonstrating the long-term negative impacts that the  use of chimpanzees in commercials has on species conservation and  welfare,” explained Steve Ross, Ph.D., assistant director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo. “These are endangered species we’re talking about. CareerBuilder is well aware that their commercials are contributing to negative outcomes for this species, which could become extinct in the next few decades, and yet they continue this damaging and archaic practice. It’s very disappointing.”

Several recent scientific studies published in notable, peer-reviewed journals including Science and PLoS One demonstrate a direct correlation between people viewing chimpanzees in commercials, such as Careerbuilder, and their conservation actions and attitudes after viewing. A pattern is clear – people who view chimpanzees in human settings, wearing clothes are less inclined to think the species is endangered and less inclined to support conservation efforts to save them. Unfortunately, the fact is that chimpanzees are in rapid decline and conservation experts fear they may be extinct within the next 10 – 50 years if significant conservation action isn’t taken.

 Cartoon by Dawn Forsythe and her friend “Herman the Chimp”
http://chimptrainersdaughter.blogspot.com/2012/01/inquiring-chimps-want-to-know-about.html

Using chimpanzees in television commercials is also rife with welfare concerns. Ross explains that animals used in entertainment are often taken from their mothers at a young age which can result in tremendous emotional and psychological distress.  The active “acting” careers of these chimpanzees are typically only a few short years, after which they become too large, strong and unmanageable.  Because chimps can live 50-60 years, those deemed no longer useful to the media may end up in suboptimal housing for the next several decades.

“There are significant conservation and welfare concerns and because of this many major advertising agencies have pledged to no longer use chimpanzees in ad campaigns,” explained Ross. “The simple fact is that using chimps in ads isn’t funny, it’s sad.  There is overwhelming public sentiment that these practices are simply not acceptable and that the lives of these chimpanzees is far more important than the few laughs they might receive during a 30-second advertisement.”

Ross is the founder of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Project ChimpCARE, a group dedicated to examining the link between media usage of chimpanzees and the conservation and welfare impacts on the species and is also Chimp Haven’s respected Board Chairman.

A group of over 2,000 has also formed on Facebook who are planning to “Change the Channel” for chimpanzees during the Super Bowl.

https://www.facebook.com/events/263827960353445/

Click here to read more information about what happens to chimpanzees and other great apes who have been used in entertainment:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0207/Super-Bowl-commercials-What-happens-to-those-CareerBuilder-chimps

Below are links to additional information and petitions:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46209656/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/zoo-says-super-bowl-ad-will-harm-chimps/#.TylYY_nQd-w

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/27/another-careerbuilder-chimp-ad-coming-zoo-expert-disappointed/

http://www.chimpcare.org/blog/2012/01/shame-on-careerbuilder

http://www.janegoodall.org/node/11169

http://news.yahoo.com/zoo-wants-company-stop-using-203155674.html

http://www.change.org/petitions/careerbuilder-stop-using-chimpanzees-in-super-bowl-ads

Mason was born on September 18^th, 1984.  His parents were Gwennie, who was also retired at Chimp Haven, and Walnut, who sired many children over the years but never made the trip to Chimp Haven.  Mason was born in a research facility and had a twin (Dixson) that didn’t survive.  Gwennie didn’t know how to care for her infants, so Mason was raised in a nursery with human caregivers. Mason was one of the first chimpanzees to arrive at Chimp Haven in 2005.  We had originally planned to put Mason in with chimpanzees that he had known in the nursery who had some physical challenges.  However, when Mason arrived and we saw what a large, handsome, and muscular male he was, our plans changed and we began to integrate Mason into the group that would be the first to experience our large wooded habitat. 

I am not sure exactly when Mason became my favorite chimpanzee.  I am sure it happened as we got to know each other over time.  Mason was handsome, to be sure, but he also had a wonderful personality that won the hearts of many over the years.

Some of my memories of Mason include the first time the chimpanzees went into the forest – you can see him here (around 2:56)  in this video walking gingerly and delicately on the forest floor for the very first time, getting mud on his knuckles and exploring his new home.

Mason’s best friends included Puddin’ and Merv.  I remember walking down along the moat one day and finding Mason and Puddin’ sitting together by a large sweet gum full of green leaves, happily food barking, eating the leaves of the tree and enjoying each other’s company.  After Puddin’ passed in 2009 Mason mourned the loss of his friend, often spending time alone in the forest in spots where he and Puddin’ used to sit and groom one another.

Mason’s relationship with Merv was a little more complicated.  They were often described as acting like brothers.  They would fight, but if they ever actually hurt each other – you could see the hurt in their eyes and hear it in their cries.  It was almost as if they had an agreement to “pretend” fight for the sake of appearances in regards to the bigger, tougher boys like Conan and Magnum.

Mason also had a great sense of humor, made the happiest play faces and had one of the silliest chimpanzee smiles.  You could hear Mason start food barking for special treats like trail mix from a mile away – his food barking was so infectious and enthusiastic.  Mason was often described as a “kid brother” that is often pesky, but always loved.

Mason was lucky to have been cared for by many wonderful caregivers over the years. Mason himself also cared for others.  He became a very caring uncle to Tracy, the youngest chimpanzee at Chimp Haven, as soon as her mother, Teresa, would let him get close to her.  Mason looked so proud when Teresa would let him carry little Tracy on his back.  He often played with her and he often slept curled around Tracy protectively or at least near her.

A few other things about Mason’s personality that people will remember – Mason loved the green gloves that his caregivers wore when they worked with him.  He also LOVED to make noise – often scraping whatever was available across his bedroom floors during a display of his strength.  Tracy and some of the others have learned this behavior from Mason, but will never be able to make the unique faces that he did!

Mason was being treated for cardiovascular disease as are so many great apes in captivity.  On Saturday morning the news came that it was time to say goodbye to our dear Mason.

I counted Mason among my friends.  I, as well as so many staff members, donors, and friends will miss Mason dearly.  I hope he is enjoying sitting in the sun in a forest somewhere, reunited with his former group-mates, especially Teresa and Puddin’, that left this world before him.   Rest in peace Mason, you will forever be in our hearts.

Amy Fultz – Chimp Haven Behavior and Education Program Manager

Click here for a photo album of photos of Mason taken over the years.

Rock Center, the NBC news magazine show, discussed chimpanzee retirement and chimpanzees in biomedical research on their January 30th episode. NBC correspondent Lisa Myers addressed the issue of research chimpanzee retirement and spoke with Chimp Haven President and Director, Dr. Linda Brent.  The first part of the piece took place at Texas Biomed in San Antonio, Texas. Chimp Haven was featured in the second part of the piece.

Click here for the written story and to watch videos of the two part piece.

Developed by Gordon Gallup Jr. in 1970, the mirror test was designed as a qualitative way to assess if animals possess self-awareness. The test is simple; place a mirror in front of an animal. Do they recognize the reflection in the mirror as themselves? This is tested with two dye spots being placed on the test subject, a test spot (in an area the animal will see clearly in the mirror) and a control spot (on a hidden part of the body). To pass the test, the animal will behave in a way that shows they are aware of this dot. They will position their body to look at the dot or use their reflection to inspect the dot on their own body. Presently humans (after 18 months), apes (gibbons, bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas), elephants, bottlenose dolphins, orcas, pigeons and European Magpies have passed this test. When presented with mirrors animals, will typically study their face, teeth and other areas of the body they normally aren’t able to see.

At Chimp Haven Inc., mirrors are given to the chimpanzees as enrichment. They are offered small mirrors that are hung on the outside of the mesh or larger mirrors that are placed a couple of feet from the mesh. It is thrilling every time to watch the reactions of the chimps when mirrors are put up. Elsie, a playful 34 year old chimp, always has the best response. Recently, I was able to watch her as I was setting up this enrichment in the wing.  Elsie was being groomed by her long time companion Johnnie, who was removing bits of hay from her hair. I put the mirror up in the room next to where they were interacting. Elsie immediately broke their grooming session and ran over to the mirror. She positioned herself directly in front of the mirror gazing deeply into her own yellow-tan eyes. Johnnie slowly followed and tried to resume their grooming. Elsie flicked her hands away from her. Looking into the mirror, Elsie began to pick the remaining bits of straw off her head and chest. It is amazing how such a simple behavior that we participate in daily, can be used to show a higher level of cognition in animals.

-Adrienne Mrsny