I arrived at the Los Angeles Zoo and found myself surrounded with many animals. When I arrived it was just about noon, there where not many people and from looking at the place you can imagine why. The place was dirty and many of the Animal Jails where vacant( I guess there out for good behavior), I then proceeded to find some primate specimens to observe. I found myself looking at many different monkeys, apes, and chimps. After a trip around the Zoo I finally found a suitable Primate.
The Pan Troglodytes where ready for my observations. As soon as I got there the chimpanzees where up on doing there daily routine. There where many interesting things I learned from the chimps. The endangered chimps I observed where taken from Equatorial Forest of West Africa and Central Africa. Some of chimps diet consist of fruits, leaves, insects, and occasionally small mammals. The chimps I observed where subjected to carrots, lettuce, and the occasional neighborhood squirrel that enters there habitat. I was fortunate not to see poor Mr. Squirrel suffer such fate.
The chimps man made niche was constructed of cement and rock formations. Some of the chimps slept inside there cave and the others just hung out in shade of a tree. In front of the cave the chimps where able to climb a tree trunk, jump on a net, and what looked like a tree trunk with holes, for termite fishing. I counted 15 chimps in this troop but they may of been more in side the cave. The troop had about 12 chimps and three baby chimps. After getting acquainted with there habitat I began my observation.
After reading about chimps in our text book I saw the things I read about in our book where real, I saw knuckle walking and some occasional attempts of bi-pedalism. Some of the chimps where carrying carrots and lettuce leaves up down there cave. Very similar to macaques of Koshima Island, In one hand there carrying there food, and knuckle walking with the other. Something I enjoyed watching in the chimps was that they where all social and everyone was part of the community. In this community every one shared with each other and life seemed to come from it. Another positive aspect of this troop is that chimp babies belong to the community and everyone would take turns taking care of them and teaching them the ways of a caged chimpanzee. I noticed that all the older chimps had no problem sharing their food with the younger ones. In one instance the head male shared his carrots with the youngest chimp. He began studying him for a while, as a human father would. The moment ended with the male affectionately kissing the baby on his butt. I saw other chimps demonstrating the same behavior, everyone sharing their food. Although they seemed to all share their food, there was one peculiar incident. One of the little chimps ascended to the top of the cave and grabbed some carrots from an older chimp, next the older chimp confronted it and demonstrated his present. Following that I observed two females grooming each other. One female removed a foreign object from the other's ear. On a tree two chimpanzees do the same removing bugs from hair of chimp and eating them. Down below one female is examining another female's rear, she licks her. After a while I figured that the females in this troop are in estrus. The perineal region of the females is swelled. One particular female is laying around and displaying her fertility. It only took a while for a male chimp to pick up on her scent and he approached her. At the consent of both they began to communicate, looking each other in the face as if they where speaking to each other. Thereafter the female laid down, and the male began to perform, after a while another male begins howling and thumps the cave. He then approaches the male and he stops. Soon after the same male returns, now he seems to get the attention of two older males, they both get mad at him chase him away in to the cave. Paying no attention the female continues to lay there waiting for any male.
The Smaller chimps seemed to be a cause or a result of older chimps fighting. At one point I watched one female take a baby chimp as her own. The jealous mother took back her baby. The two females began to fight and they left the baby behind. The baby started screaming frantically for her mother, which is now on the other side of the cave. Another fight starts the older chimp hits smaller chimp with leaves and mother comes to defend him. The baby climbs on her back and both of them are now smacking the aggressor. After a while the fight stopped, and chimp life continued. In the background one of the little chimps goes in cave and comes back with a broken cardboard box. The baby chimp played with the box, jumping and putting it on its. The other baby chimp joins him and his cardboard box. The baby chimps where the most active in the troop. Later they would show me exercises that would help them in develop early arboreal skills. Shortly after the chimps were tired and seeked their mother's attention. One of the babies goes to his mother and breast feeds , on the other side his companion and the mother simulate the same.
The enclosed chimps hear a rattle in the cave, they know its feeding time one by one they go in cave. One mother chimp grabs its offspring and baby clings to her another female does the same. After a minute both mothers come out of cave with hand full of carrots with baby on back, sit by the cave and enjoy their carrots. I saw that the chimps were eating the carrots like we eat corn. They would bite the carrot from the side. On the other end of the cave a chimp is using his thumb to clean out his teeth of any foreign material.
After a while chimps started to notice my present, one male chimp came to edge, nearest to me and sits looking at me for about five minutes. I noticed his feet and the elongated toe, it looked like another pair of hands. On the top of the chimps habitat some Zoo Keepers startle the troop. The dominant male stood up and investigated he howled at them. The keepers drove away and startled the chimps and all of them howled. Another car passed by and a baby chimp got scared and ran to his mother for protection. A shot was fired in the background and they all started howling . The troop would panic at any loud sound they would hear.
There were also some fascinating events that took place during my observation. First I saw a chimp climb on the tree and hang by one arm, making his muscles stretch allowing him to relieve his digestive system. This created great gravity for him release droppings. Many of their behavior is copied from one chimp to another, nature called on one of the chimps he stood by the edge of the rocks and released droppings on his hand. He took it and began chewing on it. Far of to left Another chimp eats some one elseÆs droppings that are stuck to the side of the rock.
