Chimpanzee are very expressive, showing all kinds of emotions—joy, anger, sadness, and happiness—directly. This is because their facial muscles are well-developed. It's also said that they have less facial hair so their eyes and mouths are clearly visible, which is important for communication. This time, we'll talk about "joy."

Chimpanzee sometimes laugh while playing in groups. This is called "play face" or "play punt." Young chimpanzees laugh especially often, but adults can laugh too. At what times can you see this at Tama Zoo?

Decky (male, estimated age 46)

We animal keeper greet Chimpanzee one by one with a "Good morning" first thing in the morning. It's an important time for checking their health and communicating with them. One morning, as I went to the front of Decky's enclosure... I saw Decky with a look on his face that I had never seen before.


Decky's hopeful gaze
The first thing I do in the morning is get the bedding (the burlap sacks he uses as blankets at night) back. Up until then, whenever I asked Decky to "please return the bedding," he would deliberately leave it far away, refusing to follow my instructions, and I was constantly reminded that we hadn't built much trust in each other.

However, that day, Decky came running with a smile on his face, picked up the bedding, and was the first to return it. I said "thank you," and we played for a while. From then on, whenever I greeted him, he would be the first to return the bedding. It was an episode that made me want to work harder to build an even stronger relationship of trust with him.


Upside-down Decky when he's having fun

Peach (female, mother, 33 years old), Plum (female, foal, 4 years old)

On another day, I heard a loud laugh coming from Chimpanzee room. When I peeked in, I saw that it was Plum's laughter coming from the room of Peach and her baby. Peach, the mother, was playing with Plum, tickling her and burying her face in hers. Baby Chimpanzee learn how to control their strength and other things when interacting with other Chimpanzee through play.


Peach and Plum's Playtime

Mikan (female, mother, 18 years old), Dill (male, offspring, 1 year old), Fubuki (male, mother's younger brother, 10 years old)

On another day, Fubuki was playing with Dill, lifting him up and shaking and pulling him so much that it was worrying to watch. However, since Dill's mother, Mikan, who was standing next to him, didn't seem to mind, Fubuki assumed everything was alright and continued to observe, only to hear Dill laughing loudly.

Fubuki is Mikan's younger brother, but he doesn't seem to be very trusted. Until recently, whenever Fubuki tried to play with Dill, Mikan would quickly take Dill away, so he didn't get to play much. This might be because Fubuki wasn't good at interacting with Dill and often ended up making him cry. However, lately, we've seen them playing together a lot, and it's reassuring to see that Dill seems to be enjoying himself as well.


Ibuki and Dill's smiles
This time we focused on laughter and smiles, but we'll introduce other facial expressions if we have the opportunity. Next time you see Chimpanzee, be sure to pay attention to their expressions.

[Tama Zoo Tama Zoological Park]

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