Chimpanzee Displays: Causing a Ruckus
December 17, 2016 by Diana -
J.B. shared a slo mo video of Jamie displaying yesterday (her slowed down vocalization sounds pretty intimidating!).
In keeping with the theme, below is a video of all seven chimpanzees taking part in displaying earlier today.
If you are interested in this sort of thing, you might also find this video that shows and explains a conflict among the chimpanzees, a fascinating watch.
8 Comments
Subscribe to the Blog and
Get Notified of New Posts First!
If you like what see, be sure to subscribe. Personally written by the caregivers themselves, 365 days a year, you’ll get an insiders glimpse of all the goings on at the sanctuary. Follow us!
Stir crazy?
Maybe, though this type of displaying happens year-round 😉
Just fascinating!! U see the same thing with some ppl too hahaha!! They are just wonderfully able to express themselves in this excellentl environment you guys provide!! i’m so proud to be a part of it!!
So much freedom to be chimps!
Early on, Jamie is hooting and Foxie appears to be getting out of her way and in doing so passes Jamie and she reaches out to touch Jamie. What does this gesture mean in this circumstance? Is she showing a lesser rank or agreeing “I’m on your side” incase Jamie’s display goes beyond just making noise?
And I love Missy’s ‘belly rub’ before she starts and her head shake too! It’s as if she wasn’t getting right, she shook it off and began again with more gusto.
This was so cool Diana, thanks so much for catching the chimps doing what they do so we can learn more about them! I am very curious about their displays. It was great seeing them all together checking each other out. It must feel so good to blow off that steam.
I would say that Foxie was letting Jamie know she acknowledged Jamie’s rank and probably also letting her know that Foxie’s subsequent display was a joining in rather than a reacting against Jamie – there’s so much reassurance that goes on between chimpanzees during these high-arousal situations, I’m sure a lot of it I miss.
Scratching is a really interesting behavior in chimpanzees and other primates! Some might be related to the piloerection (hair standing on end) that naturally occurs when chimpanzees are excited. J.B. wrote about it here: https://staging.chimpsnw.org/2014/12/keep-away-3/
Do human toddler tantrums have any connection to chimp displays? Seems like the same energy in a smaller body.
Though it might look similar, I would say it’s much more complicated than a toddler throwing a tantrum. There’s a lot of information being communicated through the displaying and the vocalizations that accompany the displaying. Here’s a recent study that looked at information transmitted via chimpanzee pant-hoots in the wild: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep38226