The Kendall Project

July 6, 2009

Hello all!  Hope thisfinds everyone well.  It has been a busyfew months for Kendall!  Keepers have been working hard getting Kendall’s group on and off exhibit.  For a long time, coming off exhibit caused Kendall quite a bit of anxiety, as his troop mates would often run inside firstand call loudly to the chimps inside.  It was intimidating to the little guy to enter a building with 12 other screaming chimps!  In fact, many days Kendall would hide up at the top of the exhibit when it was time to come inside, as far away from the keepers and other chimps as possible. 

Keepers wanted to make shifting on and off exhibit a comfortable experience for Kendall, so after many hours of training (and many treats), Kendall began coming down to the holding access door several times throughout the day.  Keepers started letting him inside a little earlier than the others, so that he could enter the building when it was quiet and the inside group was occupied with lots of good food and enrichment.  As a result, Kendall nowcomes in to chimp holding reliably when he is called.

Also, on June 15, 2009, 15 year old Maki (Tammy’s daughter) was introduced to Kendall’s group.  Maki and Kendall lived together for many months shortly after he arrived at NCZP’s chimpbuilding, and were frequent playmates. Keepers believed Kendall’s group was stable enough to add another chimpanzee, and since Maki gets along well with all of the chimps in his group, she was the obvious choice.  Maki seems to have settled into the new group nicely, and she and Kendall are observed playing together often.

Thanks for all of your support of The Kendall Project!  The Kendall Project team is working on many new and exciting projects for the coming months.  Stay tuned!