When you spend enough time around the chimpanzees at Chimp Eden - The Jane Goodall Institute, you quickly realise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to their care. Every chimpanzee has their own personality, habits, quirks, and preferences. The team pays close attention to those details when planning their enrichment and daily care, and so do our amazing volunteers!
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Recently, Volunteer Coordinator Jade and volunteer Holly discussed chimpanzee intelligence and its similarities to toddlers, and the conversation turned to sensory boards. Holly knew that Claude particularly enjoys small objects and different textures and wondered whether a board designed around those interests might give him something new to explore. Rather than creating another piece of enrichment, Holly had noticed what Claude already enjoyed and used that knowledge to come up with something specifically for him.
Why is enrichment important for chimpanzees?
Enrichment is an important part of daily chimpanzee care. It gives rescued chimpanzees opportunities to explore, investigate, and problem-solve, while keeping their physical and cognitive skills active.
There is good reason to recognise how capable chimpanzees are, and research supports comparisons between young children and adult chimpanzees. In a comparative study published in PubMed, researchers found that two-and-a-half-year-old human children performed similarly to adult chimpanzees when solving basic problems involving the physical world.
At Chimp Eden, that intelligence is considered alongside the individual personality of each chimpanzee. The team watches what they interact with, how they respond to new experiences, and what seems to hold their attention. This knowledge shapes their enrichment and wider care.
For Claude, who is naturally curious and particularly interested in his surroundings, something as simple as a sensory board can provide a welcome change from his usual enrichment. It also lasts longer than food-based activities, giving him plenty of time to return to it and investigate it on his own.
Claude’s journey to Chimp Eden
Claude’s interest in small objects is particularly meaningful when you know what his early life looked like.
He was a victim of the bushmeat trade before being kept as a pet and later transferred to a zoo in the Central African Republic. He was kept alone in a small enclosure with cement floors and bars, with no trees, grass, or enrichment. Rescuers eventually learned about Claude and worked with the institute to bring him to South Africa, where he arrived at Chimp Eden in late 2010.
Despite his early experiences, Claude has developed strong social skills and a big personality. He is a large male who quickly climbed the social hierarchy and is quite capable of causing a bit of chaos when he feels like it. He can also be remarkably gentle, particularly when he is investigating something that interests him. Everyone loves Claude for his gentle soul and his love of bracelets and counting beads. What makes this behaviour even more heartwarming is that after he’s done, he often hands the bracelet back to staff, or the next day it can be found in his nest among the straw, still perfectly intact.
More recently, Claude was moved from Group 2 after being attacked by members of the troop and was separated while he recovered. Chimpanzee groups are constantly changing, with relationships and hierarchies shifting within their complex fission-fusion societies, so the team continually monitors those dynamics and makes decisions based on the well-being of the individual chimpanzees.
Chimp care that responds to the individual
The sanctuary recently opened the Gray Family Special Care Centre, created from a previously unused space with support from the Gray family, staff, volunteers, and donors. The new enclosure provides a quieter environment for chimpanzees who need additional care, while still giving them outdoor space, companionship, and enrichment.
Claude was moved into this space with João, who is estimated to be around 82 years old and is the oldest chimpanzee ever recorded. For João, this space provides comfort and a calmer environment at an age when that matters more than ever. For Claude, it offers an environment where his individual needs can be considered while he recovers and adjusts to life outside his previous group.
That ability to adapt care around the individual is an important part of sanctuary work. Chimpanzees are not given the same activities and environment regardless of who they are. Their personalities, histories, relationships, and changing needs all matter.
As you can see from the video, the two are doing extremely well in each other’s company, with enrichment chosen with their individual needs in mind.
How volunteers support chimpanzee care
Holly’s sensory board idea came from paying attention to Claude and thinking about what might suit him. As Jade explains:
“It was all Holly’s idea and made a nice change from food-based enrichments. This will last longer too. Claude loves small sensory objects and different textures. He’s very tactile and gentle, although he did pull a few things off when he started to display. His favourites were the bead bracelets, which we included on the board. It was relatively simple, just gathering the objects, and one of the other volunteers, Carol, donated some money so we could buy some cool sensory toys. We then used zip ties to attach them to the wooden board. Claude loves it!”
It is a great example of the role volunteers can play at Chimp Eden. Alongside helping with daily tasks and enrichment, volunteers spend time observing the chimpanzees and getting to know their individual personalities. That means they can spot what interests them, notice how they respond to different activities, and bring ideas to the team.
If you would like to experience sanctuary life for yourself, you can volunteer at Chimp Eden - The Jane Goodall Institute and support the team caring for rescued chimpanzees while learning more about chimpanzee behaviour, enrichment, and conservation!
