A beautiful group shot - everyone in the trees!
The day before yesterday Shegue,
Clara and Flora were moved into the dormitory and today they joined the forest
group! These three females are from one of the adult groups, and the idea is
that we will mix up the integrations so that at each stage we are giving the
new chimpanzees time to bond. This will hopefully avoid the group fragmenting
at a later time.
When these three adult females
were released, it was a slower process than with the infants or juveniles. Shegue,
Clara and Flora have been in the concrete cages for many years and therefore
moving into this open space can be stressful and scary for a while. They also
need to become used too many young boisterous chimpanzees running around at the
same time!
The day went well, but slower than with the younger chimpanzees who
have adapted very quickly. Flora and Shegue were the most scared – while Clara
was a little more confident and decided to focus on trying to crack the nuts
she found in the forest. Finding it very difficult – she realised the easiest
option was to collect a handful and take them to her caregiver Claude to crack
for her!
We know with time Shegue, Clara
and Flora will soon be as confident as the younger chimpanzees in the forest!
We are happy to move as slow as they need to adapt to this new environment.
Clara - first time in the forest
Fizi getting to know Clara
Gari relaxing in the forest
Flora adapting to the new environment
Misisi, Kanshi and Shegue at the pond - 3 groups becoming 1
Kanshi climbing
Gorgeous Shegue - its been a long time since she has been in a forest! It will take time to adjust!
1 comment:
Very exciting! Congratulations on the successful move. I'm looking forward to getting back to Lwiro and seeing the chimps and baboons in their new enclosures. --Josh
Post a Comment