Chimpanzee
Play
As children and
even adults, we humans love to play. Chimpanzees, being our closest
relatives, are no different! Chimps use play to develop skills that
will be required when they are older. The skills chimps obtain are
not just social necessities, which aid in their interactions between
other members of their group, they also develop life skills which
help young chimpanzees to feed and defend themselves as adults. The
similarity between ourselves and chimps in how we play is truly
quite amazing!

Although adult
chimps love to play, the majority of play behavior occurs in younger
chimpanzees. When adults do play it is often with younger members of
their group. We do the same thing, especially with younger siblings
who need our attention! Young chimpanzees love to rough house and
wrestle with one another. Much like children love to play tag,
young chimps also chase each other often resulting in some playful
wrestling and rolling around on the ground. Chimps are excellent
climbers and will chase each other up into the trees. This climbing
is good practice for when they need to climb quickly into a tree to
avoid a predator or another chimpanzee.

So when we play, what is something that we all usually
do? We usually laugh if we are having a good time,
right? Well, chimpanzees are no different! While chimps
of all ages play, wrestle, and tickle each other, they
make a sound called a “play-pant.” It is amusing to hear
chimps play-panting because even if you had never heard
it before, you would immediately recognize the sound as
laughing. Even the expression on the face of the
chimpanzee looks as though they are laughing and having
a good time! Occasionally play can become too
rough. This usually happens when young chimps are
playing with older juveniles. If the youngster has had enough they call out as if they are screaming. Most likely mom won’t be too far away and comes running to the aid
of her baby. She will then scoop up her baby and carry them away
from the rough housing juvenile. We also see this in humans. Have
you ever cried while playing with someone else because they were
being unfair or they stole your toy? Most likely your mom came to
settle the dispute.
Becoming an
adult human or chimpanzee usually takes practice. Play as babies and
adolescents (or teenagers) helps both of us develop skills that we
will need to use when we reach adulthood. So really, play is like
practice for when we are older! Chimps play for practice all the
time. Often times they will play with tools and practice using them,
trying to act just like mom. An example of this would be how they
practice their termite fishing behavior. Even very young babies have
been seen trying to poke into a termite mound with a stick,
imitating what they see mom doing. With enough practice they will
get it right eventually! Babies also like to practice building
nests up in trees. They have been witnessed bending branches back
like mom, just not in quite the same organized fashion as her
because that takes a little bit of practice too.
Although
wrestling and playing chase looks like just a fun game, it is
actually good practice for when chimps become older. Due to their
structured social organization of dominance and submissive adults,
it is a good idea to be able to fight or run when they get
older. These skills also help them when hunting because of the
intense running and climbing they do in order to catch their prey.
If they do not become the dominant adult in the group when they are
older they also need these climbing and running skills to avoid more
dominant individuals of the group that may not be nice to them. It’s
all part of being a chimp!
A more recent
development in the research of chimps has categorized them as even
more similar to us! A study of wild
chimpanzees has shown them to play with objects like a human child
plays with toys. This is especially similar to little girls playing
with dolls. Young female chimps have seen playing with objects much
like we play with dolls, pretending like they are our babies. They
carry these objects on their backs much like an adult female carries
her baby on her back. These “toys” range from rocks to pieces of
pottery that young females find. Much like little girls play with
dolls, playing with objects in this way helps young females develop
mothering skills for when they have offspring of their own. Of
course it doesn’t always have to be objects that they play-mother
with, they can also practice with their own younger siblings. Young
female chimps have been seen “borrowing” their baby brother or
sister to hold and carry. Again, this is great practice for when
they have babies of their own.
Just as little
boys and girls play differently, so too do young male and female
chimps. While young females practice being a mother, young males
practice being big and tough! This is similar to us in that little
boys tend to play with toy guns, spears and various other sorts of
weapons. Young male chimpanzees also play with objects much like
they are weapons. They have been seen throwing rocks, ripping up
plants and throwing sticks like spears. Older male chimpanzees also
do this but in a much more aggressive and intimidating way. Young
males practicing this early have a good chance of creating a really
great dominance display when they get older. Having an impressive
dominance display could potentially help a male gain a higher rank
in society so it is important for them to practice!
Becoming an
adult, whether you are a chimpanzee or a human, takes
practice. These skills are often improved over many years through
the act of playing. Being social creatures, play helps both of us
learn how to interact with other individuals in our groups or
society. Play not only develops social skills, but also skills
necessary for survival as an adult. These skills include termite
fishing, climbing, mothering and even fighting. All of these things
cannot be done without first practicing them and play helps to
improve these skills while having fun, something that appeals to
both chimp and human. Play builds confidence in young chimps as well
as humans which help us to become self-assured mature adults. Don’t
become too mature though, you still need to play with a younger
generation!
Message from CAC'ers
In fact, we got to see this exact behavior in Gombe when a young female walked in front of us with a piece
broken clay pot on her back (top of page). Even though we were only in
Africa for a short time it was great to see the young chimps
growing up and practicing to be adults.
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