4/15/2023 0 Comments Chimpanzee without hairGreat apes have no tail nor ischial callosities. If Arielle starts to pluck her hair again, Kate and the other caregivers will come up with another solution.The great ape family includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. They tend to use it as a coping mechanism. It is not unlikely that chimpanzees will hair pluck multiple times throughout their lives. Her hair is currently in the process of growing back. This eventually led to Arielle stopping her hair plucking behavior. Now the chimps have a healthy snack! The excitement would die down before everyone was fed. The next step was figuring out how to ease any stress that led to Arielle’s hair plucking.īecause Kate noticed Arielle would mostly pluck during breakfast, the caregivers began to scatter leafy greens around the enclosure before the main course. This suggested that her hair plucking was behavioral and not a skin condition. There were no rashes or skin abnormalities. However, the medication did not seem to affect her hair plucking.Īrielle’s skin had no damage in general. This would rule out any kind of skin problem. She worked with the veterinarian at the sanctuary and gave Arielle an antihistamine. Without looking into everything, an underlying medical condition might be missed. ![]() Although Kate was fairly sure the hair plucking was behavioral, she wanted to address all the possible medical concerns. With any abnormal behavior, it is important to understand the cause. As of June 2021, the behaviorist reports Arielle is currently not plucking and the hair is growing back. This video was taken by the Project Chimp’s behavior coordinator while observing Arielle plucking hair from her leg in February 2021. Kate tried a couple different things until she found a solution! Because all the chimps in Arielle’s group get fed at the same time, all of the excitement seemed to make her pluck hair more than at other times. Caregivers are coming into the sanctuary, and the chimps are excited about their breakfast! A lot is going on at the beginning of the day. There is a lot of excitement in the mornings. What was it about breakfast that seemed to make Arielle pluck her hair? She would rarely do this during dinner, and in the afternoons, she is relaxed. Kate noticed that Arielle would mainly pluck her hair during breakfast. She eventually created a log of when Arielle would hair pluck, which allowed us to work towards solutions. Kate uses a Behavior Observation Tool (BOT) to observe and record various abnormal behaviors. By using their behavior as a guide, we can learn more about how to improve their enrichment and their environment. ![]() Just like humans, chimps come from many different backgrounds. Arielle in the late summer of 2020 when her hair grew back from the earlier plucking…and before it started again in 2021. As a result, behavior coordinator Kate spent many hours observing Arielle and documenting her behavior. As a chimp who had never lived with males before, she would pluck her hair inconsistently as she adjusted to her surroundings. ![]() She is known as a dramatic instigator in her female group. When she first came in 2019, she did appear to hair pluck. Eventually, her group of ten females was introduced to males.Īrielle can be described as high-strung. Previously she had only lived with other female chimps. Thanks to them, Arielle no longer hair plucks! Meet ArielleĪrielle is the youngest female at the sanctuary. The caregivers worked together to come up with a solution. Arielle arrived at the sanctuary with this hair plucking behavior. ![]() Hair plucking can sometimes be a self-soothing technique to help cope with stress. Both humans and chimpanzees do this behavior for many reasons. In humans, this condition is called trichotillomania. This happens for a number of reasons, and many of them are similar to why humans do it! Because the chimps come to the sanctuary from research labs, some arrive with anxious behavior. It is pretty common for chimpanzees to exhibit a hair plucking behavior.
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