On safari: In search of the vetpanzee
I know you all want to hear about the chimpanzees. I want to tell you about the chimpanzees. I am just overwrought with shuffling through 8,000 raw digital images, that are sitting on the bloated home computer and stressing it like a girdle about to pop. Between that and trying to coordinate the images with the videos I took but whose audio is highly suspect, attempting to put the two together into something cohesive is a huge time suck.
In addition, I’m going to Minneapolis for a day to give a talk on social media in veterinary medicine, which is going to be fantastic but also involves no small amount of planning and is yet another thing that takes me away from chimp movie-making. I actually worked chimp pictures into the presentation, which impressed me, if no one else. It will be a good talk. We have a lot to learn from them, but I always knew that.
In the meantime, let us turn to the afternoon after we were given the “How to Not Get Eaten” talk at Greystoke for a special real life edition of On Safari: In search of the vetpanzee.
On a quiet afternoon on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, the vetpanzee colony takes a siesta, safely hidden from hungry leopards in their thatch caves.
All, that is, but one. A female, alone, restlessly paging through a vetpanzee favorite, In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall.
Note the concentration she devotes to her task. Vetpanzees are single minded in their pursuit of knowledge, at least sometimes. If they are not distracted by chocolate or puppies.
Unfortunately the click of the shutter annoys the vetpanzee, and with a hoot and a grunt she takes off down the beach. Vetpanzees are solitary creatures and do not like to be disturbed in their repose.
The photographer gives her a moment, then gives chase down a vetpanzee trail. Where did the she run off to?
The watering hole? Empty, at least until the evening congregation hour.
Gone for a swim? Unlikely. Vetpanzees are terrified of crocodiles.
Napping in an old nest? No, vetpanzees prefer new nests every night.
Ah. There, in the distance. A vetpanzee feeding ground. Perhaps she is there.
The other vetpanzees have awoken and are actively searching out food. Our photographer must be careful as he skirts the edges of the feeding ground not to disturb them as it appears the alpha male has made an appearance.
Our photographer spots fresh size 8 flip flop prints leading up into the cave. Upstairs, an alcove has been carved away and filled with the young vetpanzee’s favorite treat: words.
There is also pen and paper. This is promising. Has he found the fleeing vetpanzee?
He has. She is exhibiting classic happy vetpanzee behavior as she cradles another book.
Cornered, the vetpanzee stiffens. What are you reading, vetpanzee? Just let us look.
With a dangerous baring of teeth, the vetpanzee complies:
“Best Practices Guidelines for the Prevention and Mitigation of Conflict Between Humans and Great Apes.” (Vetpanzees are often nerdy.)
One tenet of such conflict prevention, by the way, is do not stalk and photograph the vetpanzee when she is trying to relax.
