Ida, the grand dame of our chimpanzee troop, cuts a striking figure with her silvery coat. Since her arrival in 1976 from Germany, she has mothered 8 babies. Her youngest daughters, Asha and Rah, remain with the troop. Ida is also a loving aunt, often helping to piggyback and comfort the babies of the other females. She’d often play the role of peacekeeper or disciplinarian during conflicts among the other chimps, sometimes knocking them on their heads with her knuckles!

Our chimp exhibit models a hillside forest clearing and comes equipped with a jungle ‘gymnasium’ in the form of a multi-tiered timber platform structure. Fallen tree trunks and overhanging forest vines are purposefully placed around the area to enhance this primate ‘playground’. Given the high intelligence of chimpanzees (they possess over 98% of the genetic blueprint of humans), we strive to provide ample opportunities for our chimps to exercise and enjoy themselves.

Puzzle boxes and ‘termite mounds’ in the exhibit are filled with condensed milk or honey. To get at the sweet treat, our chimps search for sticks that fit or shape unsuitable ones to do the job.

Chimps in the wild gather insect ‘kebabs’ or spear grubs in logs in a similar manner. They also use stones to crack nuts and leaves as napkins, or as sponges to dip for water. Tool use varies between communities - ‘culture’ may play a key part in knowledge transmission among chimps.

Young chimps usually stay with their mothers till they are seven, in order to learn survival skills. One of these skills may be knowledge of medicinal plants - chimps that appear ill have been noted to seek out herbs with healing properties. Mothers and their young develop a close bond that may last a lifetime.

Chimps communicate through body language, facial expressions, hand-clapping, grooming and kissing. Some chimps have even learnt how to use human sign language!

All known chimp groups hunt large vertebrates, though their strategies may differ considerably. Some merely collect passing prey, others hunt fast-moving prey in coordinated fashion. Some hunting roles require elaborate coordination with other hunters and precise anticipation of the prey’s movements. Chimps that perform such roles get the lion’s share of the kill. Young chimps may learn to hunt from the age of 10 but need another 20 years or so of practice to do so reliably.