Social Awkwardness
March 23, 2014 by Elizabeth -
Burrito and Foxie had a nice, peaceful grooming session in the greenhouse this afternoon.
Soon Jamie approached and joined them. Burrito is pretty intimidated by Jamie, and on another day he might have bowed out when she approached, but today his strategy was to pretend she wasn’t there.
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Omigod — that last photo!
Burrito: Do you see anyone there?
Foxie: Nope. No one at all.
Elizabeth — What happened next?
They settled back down to grooming, and a few minutes later Missy and Annie joined them, making a huge chimp pile. 🙂 Burrito stuck it out.
Does she bully him?
You could say she bullies him a little. She treats him like an obnoxious little brother. Which, in all fairness, is how he often behaves. 😉
<3
Foxie and Burrito look like a couple of teenagers who had the mother come in at an awkward moment.
Usually you hear scientists and experts always speak of the “alpha-male”. I wonder, if this constellation in which Jamie is the “alpha-female” is unique or more common than one might think.
Another topic that has nothing to do with this pictures, but comes to my mind: There is a new Hep C drug in Germany available since Jan 2014 called Sovaldi. It reduces the necessity to use interferon with its devastating side effects. In case any chimpanzee should have been involved in any way in the process of creating this remedy, I am forever grateful!!
Greetings from Bayreuth,Germany,
Martin
In the wild, it is typically a male chimpanzee who’s in charge, but captivity levels the playing field a bit for the females, and it’s not uncommon for captive groups to have a female leader.