No Monkeying Around

So I am plugging along on the thesis and have come to some interesting conclusions. Yes, I actually wrote the end the other day, without actually meaning to do so, which is interesting. I have never done that before but in some ways, it is making my job at the moment a little easier. Since I know where I am going, I simply have to backup and get there. But there is also a part of me that is saying, "Whew...glad that's over with..."

Anyway, one of the conclusions that I have come to has to do with our bifurcated allegiance to animals: the co-dependency situation that we find ourselves in that ties nicely into the wild/tame, domesticated/free quandry we often find ourselves in. Should horses be allowed to roam free or should we tame them so we can sit on their backs? And once we domesticate them, how much is too much?

It seems that chimpanzees are a species that has actually been exposed to too much over-domestication, to the point where the government, yes, you heard that right, has built retirement homes for chimps! No joke. I heard the story on NPR the other day.

It seems that chimpanzees are the only animal species that we are not permitted to euthanize. I think it has to do with the fact that they are so closely related to humans, but it also brings up the obvious question of what to do with all those chimps that have been "retired" from service to us, as lab animals or as actors or circus acts?

Enter the government, which has built a place called Chimp Haven, outside of Shreeveport, LA, that, from all reports, is actually what its name suggests. It sounds like a halfway home between the wild and the tame. Part of the idea is to co-mingle the chimps that have been raised in the wild with those that have not, so that the domesticated chimps learn what it is to be a "real" chimp, which from all accounts seems to happen. And yet, since these chimps have all spent most of their lives living in close contact with humans, the other idea is to let them spend part of their time, enjoying the "good" life to which they have been accustomed.

So they may do a little faux hunting and gathering in the morning (the keepers "hide" food) and then come in for some afternoon television sessions or naps. They all report for the three square meals they have been accustomed to all their captive lives and since most of them have spent a lot of time in the presence of white-coated medical personnel, their favorite television show is General Hospital!

The combo wild/tame existence is a perfect example of exactly where we, as humans, are (at least in my opinion) in our relationship to animals in general. There is part of us that wants them to roam free; and then there is a part of us that wants them to be our companions.

The good news is that Chimp Haven seems to have gotten the mix exactly right so the chimps who are retired there live long and happy lives. And the very fact that the government feels obligated to build retirement homes for chimps in the first place, tells you how we feel about animals these days...