National Geographic: Among the Wild Chimpanzees Page #4

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her observations would be

far more consistent than

chance encounters in the forest

Bananas were the answer

The scheme was not without its flaws

as the local baboons quickly proved

David Greybeard repeatedly

ran to his friend

the more powerful Goliath

for protection

Goliath came to David's defense

but the baboon knew

which chimp was afraid

and it was David

he went for every time

Because of the trust

established in camp

tracking the chimps in the forest

was now much easier for Jane

She was able to follow and document

in detail the development of

Flo's infant son, Flint

At six months

Flint is learning to ride

on his mother's back

But sometimes he doesn't

get it quite right

At around the same age

he takes his first tottering steps

When he stumbles and whimpers

Flo quickly rescues him

Flo is a particularly affectionate

tolerant and playful mother

and because much maternal

behavior is learned

she is the role model

for her daughter Fifi

As Flint grows older

Flo permits Fifi to take him

for brief periods of time

Such experiences provide important

training for the future when young

females mature and

have offspring of their own

About the time Flo

begins to carry Flint on her back

Fifi tries to imitate Flo

Though unsuccessful

the attempt marks an important

milestone in her learning experience

Mandy is a young female who has

just had her first baby

Fifi has never seen the baby

before and is intrigued

For the moment at least

this is something more

interesting than Flint

As Mandy settles down

Fifi comes for a closer look at

this newest member of the community

All youngsters at Gombe

are interested in new babies

but Jane had never seen one

who showed more fascination than Fifi

A study in concentration

Mandy is not worried

by Fifi's presence

but when adolescent male Figan

approaches she nervously moves off

Both Fifi and Figan are fascinated

by the smell of the new baby

Fifi has followed Mandy up a tree

and now attempts to touch the baby

Mandy gently fends her off

Meanwhile, even Flint is curious

about another infant younger than he

But Flo is ready to move on

in search of food

and she lets Flint know

it is time to go

Fifi, still engrossed

with Mandy's baby

does not notice that they leave

When she finally

looks for her mother

Flo is out of sight

At six, Fifi is still quite dependent

on her mother and cries in distress

She has no idea in

what direction Flo has gone

Normally Flo would come

at Fifi's cries

but apparently can't hear her

above the growing storm

Although chimps seem miserable

in the rain

surprisingly they make little effort

to find shelter

Even in a torrential downpour

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