Heart health training with the chimps

When working with chimps you quickly learn they require a lot of innovation. Whether it’s feeding a large group, asking stubborn girls (like Inky) to come inside, or training to participate in their own medical care, chimpanzees ask their caregivers to problem solve daily. It’s one of the best parts of the job.

Currently, the team is working to implement several solutions for monitoring heart health in the chimps. Like in humans, cardiac issues are common in chimpanzees, and Chimp Haven is committed to providing our residents with exceptional medical care. This includes monitoring their health through our Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) program. PRT gives our team a lot of opportunities to practice creative problem solving. With roughly 300 chimps in our care, we’re lucky that our team is well versed in the art of chimpanzee creativity.

The chimps are occasionally sedated for routine medical exams. During these procedures, we can collect extensive information about their cardiac health and compare this information to the data collected during awake PRT sessions.

Animal care facilities across the globe are using a variety of strategies to collect cardiac data. In late 2024, several co-workers and I attended a workshop to learn more about these methods and how we can share our data with other facilities. Since there is still a lot about chimpanzee heart health that is unknown, we value these opportunities to collaborate with other professionals. Some of the procedures discussed at the workshop included awake blood draws, blood pressure readings, EKGs, and echocardiograms. While we are still figuring out how to implement some of these methods at Chimp Haven, many of our residents have become pros at Kardia Mobile, a method for awake EKG readings. Nine of our chimps have completely mastered this behavior while 64 others are still practicing with their trainers. Others are working on presenting their body parts, which is the first step towards interacting with the Kardia Mobile equipment. We are so proud of all of them and will continue to work with all of them at whatever pace works for their chimp schedules. Although we offer delicious snacks for participation, we can’t blame them for occasionally spending time with friends over training with us.

Speaking of friends, we don’t separate chimpanzees from their group mates to train with them. We believe this is best for the chimps, but it can be another obstacle that requires our problem-solving abilities. You may know by now that chimpanzees are master mischief-makers. Sometimes we need several staff members to train with a group to prevent other chimps from interfering with, breaking, or stealing the training tools we’re using.

Because our chimps can be rowdy with our equipment, our maintenance department has worked to chimp-proof our Kardia Mobile stands. They’re also fabricating a “mesh sleeve” that the chimps can put their arm through to participate in blood pressure readings and blood draws. Their inventiveness never ceases to amaze us.

As you can see, there’s still much work to be done. But we’re excited to be on this journey with our residents. We’ll keep you updated on their progress. In the meantime, if anyone figures out how we can get a blood pressure reading on Inky while she’s lounging in the forest, we’re all ears. 

Taryn Hohenbary

Animal Care Specialist