Pan bloglodytes: The official blog of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute

[Editor’s Note: Noella Wyatt is CHCI’s Docent of the Month for September, 2007. Noella has been a long-time dependable volunteer, and we can always count on her to help out. Docents are volunteers at CHCI who help make our Chimposiums possible: they greet guests, work the gift shop, give lectures, and guide guests during observations.]

CHCI: How did you become a docent? How did you hear about the program? What were your goals for your experience as a docent?

Back in 1987 I began working as the secretary lead for the Psychology department. At that time, Roger and Debbi and the whole gang were located on the third floor of CWU’s Psychology Building. I would often attended celebrations, would drop by food and other treats on the way to my office, and helped with projects like counting sweatshirts in the gift shop (which was little more than a closet at the time). Jane Goodall made a visit to Ellensburg in support of the new facility and I remember Debbi coming and getting me at the reception and introducing me to Jane. I felt like a blithering idiot – I could barely squeak out a “nice to meet you.” I was so overwhelmed at being introduced to her.

For years in the Psychology Building, people had wanted to visit. When the new facility was finally completed (in 1993), we would finally be able to accommodate such a project. Since I had known Washoe and her family for the past few years, when I was told they were going to start a Docent program, I jumped at the chance to stay involved with everyone. The Psychology building was lonely without them downstairs. Since I am kind of a chatter-box, it seemed natural for me to train as a Presenter and Observer Guide.

CHCI: What have you learned from the docent program? Has it changed your perceptions about yourself, chimpanzees, and other non-human animals?

I have learned that I just can’t accept that humans are the only beings with “culture” or a “productive” language. Even after 20 years, it still amazes me that I could understand what the chimpanzees are saying to the humans, and most importantly, to one another.

I have truly felt a change in my attitude toward animals. I was always a softy for an animal, but never past the point of cuteness, cuddliness, etc. Now I see things from a much different perspective, especially with regard to captive and endangered animals.

CHCI: What has been your fondest memory? What is your favorite comment or question from a guest? What has been the hardest part of docenting? The most valuable part?

Without a doubt, my fondest memory was the day the chimpanzees went outside (in the current CHCI facility) for the first time. Washoe ran over and greeted Roger and Debbie and then came to me and gave me a kiss through the glass. To this day, it makes my eyes water to remember that. I felt so honored by Washoe.

I guess my favorite comments/questions come from the children who visit. They are so open and inquisitive. There are too many questions to list.

The hardest part of docenting was when a CHCI employee called me at work to tell me Moja had died (in 2002). It was like losing a family member; it felt like a physical blow.

The most valuable part has been touching all of the lives that I have met through the years and bringing a little bit of understanding about the world and the place that humans and animals have in that world.

CHCI: Anything else?

Working with CHCI and Washoe and her family is a chance many people will never have. If you have the chance, it is worth taking. It has been rewarding beyond words. If a person is afraid that they don’t know enough to be a docent, they can and will learn—it takes time, but it is time worth taking. When you have the chance to sit and interact with Loulis—play a game of tickle or just glance into those enormous, intelligent eyes, you realize your place in the world. God did not place us here to dominate the world - He put us here to share the world.

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[Editor’s note: This is the third is a series of e-mail updates from former CHCI graduate student, Maureen McCarthy. Maureen is currently in Uganda studying a small group of free-living chimpanzees in a threatened habitat. The locals have given Maureen the pet name “Akiki” which means “traveler.” Jack, who is working alongside Maureen, is called “Atoki,” which is a type of flower.]

I miss you and hope you are well. Life is going well here. I am in good health and the research is going pretty smoothly. We are locating the chimps each day and collecting data. We collect behavioral data as well as fecal and urine samples. The samples will be examined to determine disease presence and stress hormone levels. Collecting these samples is sometimes an adventure in and of itself. At Sonso, the main Budongo Forest site, often the researchers can stand right beneath the chimps and just catch the samples as they are being created, so to speak. At our site, Kasokwa, we typically see the chimps urinating or defecating from over 40 m away, then have to walk, climb, crawl, or sometimes wade through swamp to the tree the chimps were occupying once they have vacated it. Then it’s an Easter egg hunt of sorts. I remember a primatologist who mentored me as an undergrad telling me how excited she got when she found gorilla dung. (She focused her research on the feeding behavior of gorillas.) I am beginning to understand where she was coming from, although at least we get to collect behavioral data too in addition to the lovely samples.

As I previously mentioned, one of the biggest challenges of the research is trying not to feel a bit hopeless and frustrated on a daily basis. A couple days ago, as we were looking for the chimps, we found a wire snare set on a path in the forest. Wire snares are used to trap small mammals such duikers small deer) and bushpigs, but chimpanzees often get caught in them. They an be severely injured or even killed by the snares. Many animals including chimps die slowly and painfully over days as the result of getting caught in snares. Two of the mere 15 chimps in the group we study are missing limbs from snare hunting. One adult female is missing a hand while another has lost a foot. Imagine trying to climb through the trees or carry an infant when you have lost a hand in a snare. Both females have adapted well, but sometimes move very slowly so as not to fall from the trees. Anyway, we thought we saw the men who set this snare as they walked through the forest about an hour before we stumbled upon it. We searched for more since we were certain they had set more than one trap, and sure enough, our field assistant Joseph found a second trap a short while later. We removed both.

In addition to that, people are building power lines through the forest. It’s utterly maddening. The forest is a very narrow strip, just 50 m wide in some places and 75-100 m wide in many other places. They are clearing a path right down the length of this ridiculously narrow strip to make way for the power lines. As I mentioned previously, the authorities who are supposed to curb snare hunting and logging and protect the forest appear to do little or nothing of the sort. Despite all this, the chimps are resilient and the humans seem to respect them, so this gives us at least a bit of hope…for now. Aside from the research, we are enjoying some great rainy season storms and will spend Independence Day (October 9) with the other researchers at Sonso. Our field assistant is apparently coming down with malaria (yikes) so we may
have some unplanned days off coming up.

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You might wonder, “Where do the chimpanzees go at night?” Good question! The chimpanzees have night enclosures, a series of four rooms connected by doors and tunnels, where they are invited in for their meals and to sleep at night. If you have visited CHCI during a Chimposium and remember the East and West Rooms, the night enclosures run the length of these rooms, but behind the walls that you see during the Chimposium. A person who goes through very intensive safety training operates hydraulic doors which they open for the chimpanzees to move from one area to the next. Humans are never in the same area with the chimpanzees at the same time.

If one of the chimpanzees chooses not to come in for dinner after being invited in, that’s fine; they don’t have to come in if they don’t want to. In that case, someone would stay up on the berm until it gets dark or all the chimpanzees are in, whichever comes first. Even after dark, if one of the family members is still outside, a human stays in the building with them, all night long, to make sure everyone is safe.

Let’s assume that everyone has come in for dinner, maybe something like oatmeal with onions (Washoe’s favorite) or plain white rice (Loulis’s favorite). Once everyone is safely inside the night enclosures and is enjoying their meal, humans enter their playrooms and the outdoor enclosure (the spaces you might remember from a Chimposium) to begin cleaning.

We begin by removing all of the enrichment items from the rooms. Every paper product including magazines, drawing paper, and cardboard gets thrown away at the end of each day. Every piece of clothing, all the sheets, and each stuffed animal gets laundered with bleach. All the other enrichment items, toys, purses, shoes, laminated photos, balls, and so on, gets thoroughly washed and sprayed with a very strong disinfectant.

Each of the rooms gets cleaned with high pressure hot water, is sprayed with disinfectant, rinsed again, and then squeegeed dry.

While cleaning is going on, the server continues to serve the chimpanzees their dinner, perhaps accompanying the oatmeal with a tasty tomato or cucumber. The server then gives the chimpanzees their night-time enrichment, small or slender items — like hoses, small toys, laminates, magazines, masks, and so on — anything that can fit through the gaps in the woven-wire fencing, or through the slots beneath the fencing where the chimpanzees are served their meals. The server also provides a burlap sack and two blankets for each chimpanzee to make a nest for the night. Chimpanzees in free-living situations have been observed to make a new nest every night (weaving them from leaves, branches, and the like), so Washoe, Loulis, Tatu and Dar are given the option to do the same thing.

Once cleaning is over, the enclosures are securely locked, and the meal server and other caregivers say their goodnights to the chimpanzees. We’ll return again the next morning to start another day at CHCI.

You can definitely see why it takes a lot of hard-working volunteers to keep Washoe’s family enriched, safe, and healthy!

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