On Friday 16th we were joined by the rest of the gang, JJ and Nic finished cleaning and fixing the Goma house, fighting their way through until the early hours of Friday morning. They were very happy to see the chimps as the chimps were to see them. Although Yongesa sulked with JJ for the first day after his 3 day abandonment of her. I managed to learn the rest of the 23 chimps and match the face to all of them bar 6!
I had my first experience with a different set of chimps- 2 four year olds and 2 one year olds, who will be the next additions to the Goma group. A little wary at first as the older female, Felisita nearly succeeded in amputating Nicole’s thumb earlier in the day, but my fears were swiftly eradicated. The two older ones loved their new toy and the attention, using my head as a trampoline jumping from the ceiling. The two babies, Muhungi and Alzasse, took a while to come out of their shells, by which time Muhungu enjoyed greatly attempting to descalp me, whilst more reserved Alzasse let me groom her a little. Neither are used to being picked up so were very cautious, but eventually I got them both to sit on my lap. A slow beginning but a beginning.
Back in the Goma cage Shege broke the door she plunged her jaws into my leg over, and Etaito has calmed down slightly when Balume leaves. Time has helped, and the presence of Nic and JJ. I am his complete last resort- I don’t think he would spit on me if I was on fire! We don’t have the best relationship, and I don’t think he would see me as his protector!
The day after playing with the four, they went in to make the big 14. First in the dormitory to have a little contact through the bars, then on into the big wide world. We were a little worried about the babies- Muhungu let both me and Balume hold him but Alzasse refused any contact apart from her 3 friends and sat sternly in the corner. Then the door opened… The first thing we saw was Shege bounding over to Alzasse, obviously more than terrifying, but all she did was give her a sniff and a hug. Definitely a good start. Amissi strutted his stuff roaming around stomping his feet, Shege swiftly let Felisita know she was the boss, as she had done with Kenya. The babies were a little intimated at first- Alzasse keeps to her corners and Muhungu clings to any bit of familiar fur her can get his scrawny little fingers on!
In the morning everybody was safe and well and the little ones didn’t seem to be phased, so another successful addition!
I had my first experience with a different set of chimps- 2 four year olds and 2 one year olds, who will be the next additions to the Goma group. A little wary at first as the older female, Felisita nearly succeeded in amputating Nicole’s thumb earlier in the day, but my fears were swiftly eradicated. The two older ones loved their new toy and the attention, using my head as a trampoline jumping from the ceiling. The two babies, Muhungi and Alzasse, took a while to come out of their shells, by which time Muhungu enjoyed greatly attempting to descalp me, whilst more reserved Alzasse let me groom her a little. Neither are used to being picked up so were very cautious, but eventually I got them both to sit on my lap. A slow beginning but a beginning.
Back in the Goma cage Shege broke the door she plunged her jaws into my leg over, and Etaito has calmed down slightly when Balume leaves. Time has helped, and the presence of Nic and JJ. I am his complete last resort- I don’t think he would spit on me if I was on fire! We don’t have the best relationship, and I don’t think he would see me as his protector!
The day after playing with the four, they went in to make the big 14. First in the dormitory to have a little contact through the bars, then on into the big wide world. We were a little worried about the babies- Muhungu let both me and Balume hold him but Alzasse refused any contact apart from her 3 friends and sat sternly in the corner. Then the door opened… The first thing we saw was Shege bounding over to Alzasse, obviously more than terrifying, but all she did was give her a sniff and a hug. Definitely a good start. Amissi strutted his stuff roaming around stomping his feet, Shege swiftly let Felisita know she was the boss, as she had done with Kenya. The babies were a little intimated at first- Alzasse keeps to her corners and Muhungu clings to any bit of familiar fur her can get his scrawny little fingers on!
In the morning everybody was safe and well and the little ones didn’t seem to be phased, so another successful addition!
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