A visit to Zambia
Chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, are threatened with extinction. According to estimates, fewer than 300,000 of the apes are currently living in their natural habitat. Ruben Gralki, an animal keeper at Zoo Berlin, paid a visit to his colleagues in Zambia to lead a four-week animal training course. Here, he tells us all about his time at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, a sanctuary for chimpanzees in need.
Interview with keeper Ruben Gralki
What are the main reasons why chimpanzees are endangered?
Ruben Gralki: Although chimpanzees have protected status around the globe, the main threat to their survival is hunting, along with habitat loss. Adult chimps are preyed upon for the bushmeat trade, while the market for the youngsters also extends outside of Africa. A particularly tragic development is videos of “humanised” baby apes circulating on social media, which are fuelling the demand.
What happens to the chimps that are rescued from these illegal activities?
Ruben Gralki: The lucky ones are confiscated by the authorities and placed in a sanctuary. The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), the largest association of wildlife centres in Africa, oversees 23 of these sanctuaries, ensuring standards in the keeping and handling of the animals housed there. One of the largest PASA sanctuaries is Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in northern Zambia, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Chimfunshi currently provides a safe haven for more than 150 rescued chimpanzees.
What exactly happens to the chimpanzees that end up there?
Ruben Gralki: When they arrive, they first undergo a period of quarantine before the process of resocialising and integration begins. This can often be quite difficult because chimpanzees are very territorial and live in groups with complex social structures and a strict hierarchy. Such structures need to establish themselves at Chimfunshi, too, if the apes are to cohabitate harmoniously in the spacious enclosures, which cover many hectares of forest land. What’s special about this location is that there are no chimpanzees native to Zambia itself, as the country actually lies south of the species’ natural range.
So why are they brought to Zambia?
Ruben Gralki: The animals often come from countries where there are no chimp sanctuaries, or they are confiscated at borders and their origins are unclear. Often, the lack of safe habitats doesn’t allow for reintroduction into the wild. The risks of introducing diseases to wild populations and the genetic mixing of subspecies are further reasons why rescued chimpanzees usually spend the rest of their lives in sanctuaries – where they can live to be over 50 years old.
What makes Chimfunshi so special?
Ruben Gralki: Chimfunshi provides rescued chimps with a second chance at life. Developing and maintaining species-typical social relationships is without a doubt the most important basis for a chimpanzee’s wellbeing. Chimfunshi allows for this, with groups comprising more than 50 individuals. The forest enclosures have trees where the chimpanzees can build sleeping nests every evening, as they do in the wild, and also find tasty fruits, leaves, seeds, termites and occasionally honey. The apes still require supplementary feeding, however, and medical care is provided when necessary. Breeding is controlled, partly because of the limited capacity of the enclosures, which are separated by kilometre-long fences. Each enclosure is connected to a supply building, where the chimpanzees are fed. The apes can be temporarily confined in the buildings to ensure that all individuals receive sufficient food, for health checks to be carried out, or to allow any necessary work to be done on the outdoor facilities. The keepers have no direct contact with the chimps. The Chimfunshi landscape is primarily forest, but it also includes open plains and wet savannahs. This provides a variety of safe habitats for many animals. The area is particularly rich in bird species and is a designated Important Bird Area (IBA).
How does the local community benefit?
Ruben Gralki: In addition to rescuing chimpanzees, Chimfunshi offers the local community a regular income and primary health care, as well as education for the children at the project’s own school. This directly benefits 70 permanent employees and their families, as well as 220 schoolchildren. There is a farm on the land that rears cattle and grows fruits and vegetables.
Injured wild chimpanzees are cared for at the Chimfunshi veterinary clinic. The sanctuary also regularly welcomes visitors, who can learn more about chimps and the threats they face.
How did you support the Chimfunshi team in their work?
Ruben Gralki: I led an on-site course in animal training with the sanctuary’s keepers. Chimfunshi cooperates with international research institutes that are interested in understanding chimpanzee behaviour, as the conditions and the large number of chimps there allow for the collection of a wide array of data. One such collaboration is with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. The desire arose from both sides to work together to improve the handling of the chimps in the indoor accommodation, particularly during medical checks and treatments.
Zoos often use positive reinforcement as a means of training their animals. The most common method is clicker training. At Zoo Berlin, we have many years of experience in training wild animals this way, and it is especially effective in the handling of great apes. The animals learn to accept health checks and tolerate minor treatments without stress, and the training sessions enrich their everyday lives. Trained animals are able to respond to a variety of hand signals and are rewarded with small edible treats. Last but not least, this type of interaction strengthens the mutual trust between keepers and animals, which has a positive impact on their daily life.
How does clicker training work?
Ruben Gralki: Beginners should start by familiarising themselves with the theory of classical conditioning, as this forms the basis of the training method. Once a suitable reward has been found, the clicker is established as a “conditioned reinforcer”. Working with a target stick and, above all, perfecting the timing of the clicker are important aspects that require some practice.
To teach an animal to exhibit certain behaviours in response to hand signals, the trainers have to break down a training goal – for example, the presentation of a body part – into small steps. The gradual “moulding” of behaviour in multiple steps is also subject to several rules that must be followed. Furthermore, it is essential to adapt the training to the animal’s feeding schedule and daily routine. I assisted my colleagues in Chimfunshi with all of these aspects.
How was the training received by the workers and the chimpanzees?
Ruben Gralki: My colleagues showed a lot of interest and welcomed me with great openness and hospitality, for which I am incredibly grateful. Many of the chimpanzees were interested and cooperative and have already learned the basics. Others were still somewhat sceptical.
What will be the long-term impact of your visit?
Ruben Gralki: Animal training can have a positive effect on animals’ wellbeing and make keepers’ work easier. My visit laid the foundations for the further development of on-site animal training. Together, we created training plans so that goals can be set and progress can be documented. At the end of my stay, all the keepers involved were presented with a certificate confirming their successful participation in the training course. Whether the project is successful in the long run will depend on the ongoing continuation of the training programme. I’m already looking forward to my next visit and am very curious to see how things are progressing. Last but not least, I was introduced to a remarkable country, I met some great people and many chimpanzees, and I too learned a lot in the process.
Participating in breeding programmes and supporting conservation projects are not the only ways that zoos contribute to species conservation – insights gained from the keeping of zoo animals can also be useful in protecting wild populations and habitats.
People like Ruben Gralki who work at scientifically managed zoos often possess valuable expertise that should be shared in order to help projects on the ground. Cooperation between sanctuaries, research institutes and zoos benefits everyone involved.
