The rains are back and the river is flooded and roaring. The chimps are enjoying the plush green with the new fresh shoots on the grass and the sound of the river. I was watching them walking back reluctantly to the house the other evening when Tess came along with her 5 year old daughter Joy, having just taken a long walk back along the river - with Joy typically riding on her mother's back - and arrived at the holding facility.

The power struggle continues… Oscar is now really giving his father – alpha male Ndaronse – a run for his money! At his age Oscar has successfully defeated all high ranking females and senior males. Most of his achievements have been largely contributed to by his mother Judy, who is the highest ranking female. Oscar’s father Ndaronse has also always been in favor of Oscar whenever he would intervene in a fight.

Ndaronse has been alpha male in his group of twenty-four chimpanzees for more than a decade, having been very successful at dethroning Safari who had been in power for a very short time. But recently, things are changing as age is catching up with him and younger, stronger, more intelligent males are coming up and challenging his position, in an effort to get a taste of the coveted life on the throne.

Roy, the new baby chimp, has just completed a successful first phase of his introduction, and is now spending his days outside with the rest of the juvenile group. Part of his orientation in the room involved the “fence-training” procedure in which a small frame fitted with wires resembling the outside enclosure’s electric fence, is put in one corner of his room and charged with just enough voltage to make it slightly uncomfortable to touch.

 

Roy’s introduction took off with a bang last Wednesday when he was introduced to an equally playful Romeo in his room for the day. We watched in wonder as the two hit it off promptly, running around excitedly at incredible speeds for most of the day. For Roy this was probably the most unforgettable day of his life so far, as it was likely his first ever direct contact with another chimp since the loss of his mother.

We were all excited on the 14th of Dec to finally receive the new baby chimp Roy at the sanctuary. Two year old Roy arrived from Nairobi to a warm welcome from the other chimps who all gathered near the fence to have a glimpse at the newcomer. Once in his new room he ran around excitedly as he familiarised himself with his new surroundings and played with Steve Mukundi, my colleague who had spent some time caring for him while at quarantine in Nairobi.

We were attracted by mixed screams coming from baboons and chimpanzees who seemed to be fighting each other about a hundred metres away from where we were waiting to guide visitors at the sanctuary during the morning visit. Although we had missed the beginning of the episode we were drawn to the area after we saw a couple of male baboons chasing chimps from the opposite side of the electric fence, trying to force their way into the enclosure.

Owing to the prevailing drought, baboons have been getting into the chimpanzee sanctuary in search of food which is more plentiful inside the sanctuary compared to the wider conservancy. Safari, the former dominant male, noticed the presence of a troop of baboons in one of the enclosures and followed them closely.

Chimpanzees in all settings use tools regularly in the wild. They use a variety of tools from different materials to accomplish a number of tasks. In captivity, chimps show every model of tool use seen in the wild with a degree and range of expression being largely a function of opportunity. Alley, a 20 year old female chimpanzee consistently makes use of this remarkable skill.