Watching a movie while eating snow
December 27, 2008 by Diana -
Here is Burrito watching his current favorite movie while snacking on some snow. The narrators in the film are talking about what chimpanzees eat. Foxie and Jody are in the background and Negra makes an appearance at the end. If you go directly to our You Tube page, you can choose to watch the video in high quality.
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All he needs now is a recliner and a bag of popcorn. He’s so enthralled by the show.
Maybe Negra turned up because that’s her favorite part of the show. 🙂
Doesn’t he LOVE it! It is so heart warming to see him so very attentive to the video. It will be interesting to see if he is enthralled by all DVDs or if he is selective. Thanks again, so much, for sharing so much with us.
Diana,
Thank-you soooooo much for posting this!!!! I love seeing it and I bet whoever Santa is will too!
No getting them hooked on “chimp soap operas” though, they still need to play with all their cool enrichment stuff! ;-0
hey maybe we should get the makers to develop a “chimps in the forest Wii”………..
Oh Shelly, I like the way you think! That would be a great Wii game!
I love the snow munching while the movie is playing. They are having to much fun! Thanks for sharing this.(As always).
It looks like the video has quickly become their favorite. I’m for some popcorn in bags for them to snack on with the next show. Of course some snow too in case they get thirsty. It sounds like Negra was doing a bit of narrating herself. I love it!!!!
LOL – I wonder if you can train the chimps to run a remote, and turn the tv on and off for themselves?
Given all the stories we’ve heard about Burrito ‘terrorizing’ the girls with his adolescent male displaying, it’s a bit of a wonder to see him so captivated and sitting still. 🙂
Although – I’ve noticed in a couple of videos that Burrito sometimes rocks back and forth a bit. Is this a behavior that indicates interest or excitement, or is this a leftover from his all-too-many years of being confined in a small space? It’s not a common behavior for chimps in the wild, is it?
Negra’s vocalization was for Burrito’s benefit – a type of submissive vocalization used when chimpanzees approach others.
Good question about the rocking – rocking can be a stereotypical behavior like hair-plucking indicating stress and/or boredom, and can even carry-over to more enriched environments like sanctuaries. Many chimpanzees, especially young chimps who have been taken from their mother at a young age, exhibit rocking behavior. This type of rocking is more self-directed and exaggerated, though, and often occurs in the absence of external stimulation.
Burrito’s rocking (mostly shaking his head), in this context, is more an indication that he is intensely concentrating. He does this when he’s being served food that he really wants too. Jody also gently shook her head back and forth in a similar way when she was watching the video. I don’t view this as an abnormal or stereotypical behavior, but we’re definitely watching for things that could be hold-overs from their days of living in laboratories.
so dear.