June is birthday month here at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary as three of our chimps all celebrate their birthdays. Mwanzo, who just recently became a mother for the second time, turned 15 on June 5th. Oscar, the alpha male, turned 14 on June 10th while Joy turned 7 on June 11th.  I think they all decided to celebrate their birthday month by acting up and getting into all sorts of trouble.

Oscar, who is always fighting to prove he is the leader, became even more aggressive and fought with his best friend Ezo! I don’t know what got into him but luckily the fight wasn’t too bad and Ezo only sustained a bite mark on his thigh which I’m sure he will proudly display before it completely heals. Maybe aging got Oscar thinking his time at the top is almost up so he has to work twice as hard to prove he deserves to be the dominant leader. Personally I don’t think Oscar has much to worry about, his position is secure for now.

Mwanzo, Oscar’s sister, celebrated turning 15 by fiercely protecting her baby daughter Angela. She was getting into fights with anyone who got too close. It’s really not hard to believe Mwanzo and Oscar are related as they are both so aggressive. They share a father, Ndaronse, who was alpha male before Oscar took over, and it seems his dominant genes were passed on to his children.

Joy just seems happy with life and has become more adventurous. She got into a bit of trouble with her friends Victoria and Jane when they got too close to an eagles nest. The eagle wasn’t too amused at the intruders and chased them down the tree and around the enclosure for a while. The nest probably had little baby eagles that the chimps were eager to look at and the mother eagle was just protecting her young.

I’m happy with the progress our chimpanzees are making and look forward to many more birthdays in the future.