Roots & Shoots Clubs - Chimpanzoo

The ChimpanZoo program, initiated by the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), aims at studying chimpanzees in captivity and has recently been started in South Africa. The first South African ChimpanZoo research project is currently underway. Under the mandate of JGI, and through collaboration between the Johannesburg Zoo, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the JGI, the purpose of this project is to study the behaviour of the chimpanzees housed at the Johannesburg Zoo, and two other institutions, the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria and the JGI Chimpanzee Eden, a chimpanzee sanctuary in Nelspruit.

The project is focused primarily on the behaviour of chimpanzees in captivity. It is well known that animals in captivity often exhibit self-injurious or undesirable behaviours. This, in addition to excessive eating, boredom, inactivity and inadequate use of the provided space all compromise the welfare of the animals. These can often be ameliorated through the use of environmental enrichment.

Environmental enrichment is the use of novel objects, scents, sounds, textures, foods, feeding devices and regimes to modify behaviour and ameliorate those behaviours that are undesirable. It can take on many different forms, ranging from building large structures for animals to climb on to the simple scattering of cinnamon on the floor of an enclosure. Enrichment is not always effective at changing the behaviour of an animal as many animals will have certain behaviours set in their behavioural repertoire but in most cases, it is.

The current ChimpanZoo research project is focused on using environmental enrichment to modify the behaviour and space use of chimpanzees housed in the South African captive settings mentioned earlier. The project will use a modified feeding tube design to encourage space use and occupy the chimps for longer periods of time.

Another aspect of the ChimpanZoo research in South Africa is the use of volunteers in behaviour data collection. Volunteers are often used in projects such as this. However, the consistency of the data collected by the volunteers isn’t always examined. The volunteers involved thus far are from two Johannesburg high schools. More volunteers will be used in Nelspruit.

Email Us | Write: Roots & Shoots Program, Jane Goodall Institute South Africa,
P.O. Box 166, Morningside, 2057, Republic of South Africa

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