Chimps adjust to life after Washoe
Dar is one of the three remaining chimpanzees at the CWU Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. (Courtesy of CWU)
Posted: Saturday, September 18, 2010
ELLENSBURG—Come October it will have been three years since Washoe died.
The death of Washoe, the first chimpanzee to learn human sign language, brought international attention to Ellensburg and Central Washington University's Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute.
The three surviving chimpanzees that call the institute home are still adjusting.
"The dynamic of the group is still not worked out," said Mary Lee Jensvold, associate director of the institute.
The three surviving residents at CHCI are Tatu, Dar and Loulis. The original group at CWU included Washoe, who died in 2007 and Moja who died in 2002.
Loulis, Washoe's adopted son, has had the toughest time adjusting, said Deborah Fouts, director of the CHCI.
Fouts, with a chuckle, referred to Washoe as the classic helicopter parent.
"Washoe definitely helped Loulis resolve disputes. That was something he should have learned to do," Jensvold said. "He never learned how to end an argument." Washoe was the undisputed leader of the family. Jensvold said none of the chimpanzees have claimed that role.
"No one has stepped forward to take over Washoe's spot," Jensvold said.
Students and staff at CHCI have been studying the group's dynamic since Washoe's death. Studies posted on the institute's website detail situations where one chimpanzee takes the lead and others where leadership is shared.
Jensvold pointed out that three is a small group for chimpanzees.
"This is probably the way it's going to be," Jensvold said of the social structure.
Future of CHCI
In the future other chimpanzees will be brought to live at CHCI, but many questions and concerns surround how and when that would happen.
The first variable is the health of the three residents. Tatu and Dar are both 34, and Loulis is 32.
"We have an aging population," Fouts said.
Jensvold said the chimpanzees are nearing "retirement age." She said life expectancy is generally in the 40s.
Three is the minimum number the institute will reach.
"If one of them were to pass away we would have to move into high gear," Fouts said.
But it's not as simple as renting a room to a new tenant. Fouts said at least two chimpanzees would need to be introduced to the group.
Jensvold said the new chimpanzees would be introduced slowly and the facility would need to be modified for two living groups. If, for some reason, the new arrivals did not assimilate well, the facility would need to be remodeled to house two groups.
All this would involve money. CHCI is buffered from drastic state cutbacks because it receives funding from sources other than the state, but it is not immune to the economic downturn.
Fouts said endowment sources are down across the board and the recession also has hit visits to the institute's chimposiums - prearranged public tours of the facility.
Fouts said a lot of planning and study would go into the decision of which chimpanzees to bring in. She pointed out animals that have been exposed to diseases as part of biomedical research would be excluded because Central students work with the chimpanzees.
Role of the institute
Much has changed since Fouts and her husband, Roger, entered the field of primate research. Deborah Fouts said there are now four chimpanzee sanctuaries in the United States and Canada, including one near Cle Elum.
But even with these options, there is a particular need for CWU's program.
"We're the only educational facility," Fouts said. "We have maybe 200 graduates, some working in sanctuaries, research and zoos."
Central offers a bachelor of science degree in primate behavior and ecology, a master's degree in primate behavior and a master's degree with experimental psychology with a concentration available in primate behavior.
Jensvold's time is split evenly between her duties as associate director of CHCI and as a professor in the anthropology department.
Jensvold said new chimpanzees brought to the institute would not arrive conversant in sign language so one obvious project would be to study if the new chimpanzees learn sign language from the other chimpanzees.
Needs of chimpanzees
Jensvold said there is an unofficial list of chimpanzees that need homes in sanctuaries.
"There are still thousands of chimpanzees in biomedical facilities," Jensvold said. "There are still thousands of chimpanzees that need homes."
Fouts said there are also "backyard" chimpanzees, being raised by people in their homes. Jensvold said there is no uniform law governing the ownership of chimpanzees and it can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. For example, King County's exotic animal ownership regulations prohibits private ownership of chimpanzees, but there's no such prohibition in Kittitas County.
When CHCI is ready to bring in new chimpanzees it will communicate with others in the field, Jensvold said.
"There is a community of people aware of which chimps need homes most," Jensvold said
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