Table Of ContentTHE RESOCIALIZATION OF CHIMPANZEES, Pan troglodytes
By
CAROLE NOON
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1996
Copyright 1996
by
Carole Noon
.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Linda Wolfe, Jane Goodall, and Shirley
McGreal for their support and encouragement since the
earliest stages this project. Sheila and Dave Siddle have my
deepest respect for responding to Pal and the others with the
imagination and determination that made this research
possible. Special thanks are due Tess Lemmon. To all the
chimpanzees I have known, not just those in this project, I
extend my appreciation. I have eavesdropped on every little
detail of their lives and they have been my teachers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
ABSTRACT vi
CHAPTERS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
Current Threats 3
Lifestyle 5
Socialization 17
Growth and Development 23
Conclusion 34
2 RESOCIALIZATION 35
Introduction 35
Resocialization 37
Relevance of Resocialization 39
Current Status of Chimpanzees 47
3 CHIMFUNSHI WILDLIFE ORPHANAGE 48
4 ESTABLISHMENT OF A SEVEN-ACRE WALLED ENCLOSURE 58
Introduction 58
Methods 58
Results 63
Discussion 71
5 THE BEHAVIOR OF A GROUP OF INFANT CHIMPANZEES. 76
Methods 76
Results 78
Discussion 83
6 RESOCIALIZATION OF A GROUP OF CHIMPANZEES 91
Introduction 91
Methods 92
Results 98
Discussion 99
IV
7 CONCLUSION 114
Resocialization 115
Chimfunshi Revisited 121
Captive Chimpanzees 124
Chimpanzee Politics 127
BIBLIOGRAPHY 139
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 155
v
Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
THE RESOCIALIZATION OF CHIMPANZEES, Pan troglodytes
By
Carole Noon
May 1996
,
Chair: Linda D. Wolfe
Major Department: Anthropology
The Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage is home to over 50
chimpanzees that have been confiscated from smugglers or from
people who were keeping them as pets. What the chimpanzees
have in common is that they have been denied the opportunity
for normal socialization. Resocialization refers to process
by which a previously isolated chimpanzee, or one with
limited social experience, is gradually exposed to a series
of increasingly complex social situations. Three behavioral
research projects were conducted at Chimfunshi on chimpanzees
in varying stages of the resocialization process.
The first project documented the behavior of a group of
chimpanzees after their release into a seven and one half
acre outdoor woodland enclosure and their behavior two years
after release. The results of this study showed that the
chimpanzees used the enclosure differentially and exhibited
natural behaviors such as building tree nests. The
association patterns of the chimpanzees changed from same age
groups after release to mixed ages groups two years later.
vi
The purpose of the second research project was to
determine the behavioral repertoire of six infant chimpanzees
who had been orphaned under the age of one year. The results
of this research yielded an activity budget that showed the
infants spent most of their time involved in play, feeding
and travel. In addition, it was revealed that these infants
engaged in reassuring behaviors and possessed rudimentary
tool use and nest building skills.
The third project was conducted during the formation of
a social group of chimpanzees in a fourteen acre enclosure.
The purpose of this study was to determine if the behavior of
two chimpanzees in adjacent cages could be used to predict
their behavior upon meeting. The results suggest that
preintroduction relationships may be reliable in predicting
the outcome of introductions. However, the research
presented in this dissertation indicate that resocialization
is an interplay of intelligence, individual and observational
learning, inherent capabilities, experience and the influence
of other members of the social group.
Vll
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Historically, chimpanzees. Pan troglodytes, lived
throughout equatorial Africa from southern Senegal through
central Africa to western Tanzania (Yerkes and Yerkes, 1929;
Hill, 1969). This is an area almost the size of the United
States and includes 25 countries (Lemmon, 1994). Today
chimpanzees are extinct in four of those 25 countries and are
down to such low numbers (100—200) in five other countries
that extermination can be expected soon (Committee for
Conservation and Care of Chimpanzees, 1987). In an
additional five countries resident populations are so small
and fragmented that they are severely at risk (Teleki, 1989).
Only ten of the original 25 countries have chimpanzee
populations that exceed 1000 (Committee for Conservation and
Care of Chimpanzees, 1987). There may be as few as 150,000
chimpanzees surviving in Africa today (Teleki, 1989). Figure
1
2
1-1 shows the historical and current range of chimpanzees in
Africa.
Historic range Present Range
Figure 1-1. Historical and present range of chimpanzees.
Source: Lemmon, 1994.
In 1976, the United States upgraded the chimpanzee from
Vulnerable to Threatened status in its domestic Endangered
Species Act in order to regulate exploitation that might be
detrimental to chimpanzee survival (Oates, 1985). By 1977,
the chimpanzee appeared on Appendix 1 of the Convention of
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (Peterson
and Goodall, 1993). CITES distinguishes Appendix 1 species
as in imminent danger of extinction (Kavanagh and Bennett,
1984). The International Union for the Convention of Nature
(IUCN) then classified chimpanzees as Vulnerable on the IUCN
.
3
Mammal Red Data List. This IUCN listing recognized that
chimpanzees would become more endangered in the near future
if the factors of population decline continued to operate
(Teleki, 1989)
In 1985, the IUCN Primate Specialist Group published
their Action Plan for African Primates (Oates, 1985). The
Action Plan rated chimpanzees in a High Priority category due
to their vulnerability. In 1988, the United States
Department of Interior reclassified the status of wild
chimpanzees from Threatened to Endangered on the Endangered
Species List reinforcing the Appendix 1 classification by
CITES (Peterson and Goodall, 1993).
Current Threats
In spite of international legislation and their status
as an endangered species chimpanzee numbers continue to
decline rapidly in those countries where wild populations
still occur. The primary threats to chimpanzee populations
are habitat loss and hunting (Teleki, 1989). As the human
population increases the need for wood, the major source of
energy in Africa, increases (Peterson and Goodall, 1993).
To meet the growing demand for firewood, gathering trips
penetrate deeper and deeper into previously undisturbed
habitat. Likewise, increasing local agricultural activities
