Friday, April 25, 2008
Hanging with the S Family
Longitude: 29.6258 Latitude:-4.6766
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Sifa joined the group briefly, probably in hopes of mating. (Photo: JGI)
We found the S family in Mselasi valley this morning –
Sandi, Sampson, Samwise, Sparrow, Sindbad,
and Sheldon. Also with
the S's was a frequent companion of Sandi and Sparrow, Bahati, with her infant
son Baroza. The small group fed on mselasi fruits, the pith of grasses, and also fished for termites a
little. The female Sifa joined them briefly, probably because she was swollen and interested in mating with
the males.
Baroza was his usual
playful self. At one point he climbed onto Sheldon's lap, then ran to play with the rest of the kids, then climbed again between Sheldon and Sparrow, who were grooming. Baroza seems intrigued by the adults
as well as other kids. Sheldon was
tolerant of Baroza's antics but did not go so far as to play. Later Samwise also gave him a try, but
Sheldon could not be enticed into play today.
The little group made its way to Kakombe, where almost all
of them climbed up the same palm tree to feed on the nuts at the
top. I wondered how they were all going to fit up
there. Clearly Sheldon had the same
concern, because when his nephew Sampson climbed near him to feed, Sheldon raised his arm a few times in a threatening gesture. Sampson
took the hint and climbed around to the other side. Family ties go only so far when food is involved!
After feeding on palm
nuts and vine pith, resting, playing and grooming, the group resumed its trek
north to Kasekela, where they encountered a troop of red colobus
monkeys. The chimps wanted to
hunt. They stared up at the monkeys in the trees and even started to climb up a few times, but I think they realized they did not stand much
chance of catching one when their own numbers were so small.
Later, as we moved along one of the human trails towards Kasekela, the chimps suddenly veered off the path and then curved back. As I wondered what
caused them to diverge from the path, I saw Samwise, only 5 years old, take on a monitor lizard that had been sunning itself on the trail. While the others had wisely given a wide
clearance to this big reptile, Samwise tried to chase it off, standing
bipedally and waving her arms. The lizard hissed at her loudly. But the annoyed creature did move
off into the machaka, and then Samwise ran to catch up with the
others.
They continued northwards through Kasekela and into Eslom
and Hilali valleys, never joining any others and without any calls from other
parties around the valleys. Sandi, true
to her reputation as a "machaka mama," dragged us through some of the worst,
dense, viney undergrowth I've been in yet. As I contorted my body in unimaginable ways to follow Sampson as he
followed his mother, grandmother and uncle, I thought the only thing that could
make it worse would be to have thorns as well – thankfully, we did not. We valiantly kept up for a while,
really with all the credit going to my field assistant, who did a fantastic job
of staying with the chimps while I inched along barely keeping them in sight. But in the end, the machaka won, and we lost the group as they quietly
traveled north for the evening.
Contributor: Emily Wroblewski Permalink
