Gossau 24 April 2015
Elisha, Cess, Digit, Chicca, Pembeele, Tzippi, Madschabu, Malik, Fanny, Petiri, Oseye
Fanny has an injured ear, which Angela investigates
Petiri
Digit takes the brush, but hands it back
Petiri dips the brush into the paint
Pembeele joins
Petiri eats the paint and leaves
Pembeele leaves
Petiri eats the paint, then hands the brush back
Malik shows no interest
We hold the board directly to the enclosure grid, but still he shows no interest
Pembeele dips the brush into the paint and stipples through the grid while also holding the brush in his mouth
Elisha dips the brush, but shows no interest
Tzippi dips the brush and wants to take the board, but shows no interest
Oseye does not dip the brush into the paint, but stipples through the grid
Angela dips the brush for her
She drops the brush and leaves
Chicca dips the brush, eats the paint and leaves
Oseye shows no interest
Mojo takes the brush, dips into all the paint pots, then leaves, but joins again
Tzippi joins
Mojo leaves
Tzippi takes the brush, but shows no interest
Pili shows no interest
Pili
We slide the board underneath the grid
Chicca strokes a little and leaves
Pili eats the paint, strokes on the grid, then eats the paint again
Today the mood was calm and relaxed. The interest in participation has actually decreased to nearly zero. As there are a lot changes going on in the zoo, including the two new members of the group, we decided to stop with the sessions after the next time if there is no active participation. We also decided to stop rather than to start giving them food rewards for their participation as this would be a completely different approach. WeÕve been thinking of stopping the sessions for quite some time as the focused participation of the chimpanzees has turned out to be very rare. In comparison to the sessions six months ago, the chimpanzees often just pass us by. It seems that they know what this is all about and donÕt want to participate any longer. They often just pass us and donÕt even want to interact with the painting implements.
