Luke

Pan troglodytes troglodytes
Estimated Birth – February 2002

Eleven-month-old Luke was transferred to Sanaga-Yong from our friends and collaborators at Ape Action Africa in November 2002, along with babies Future, Manni, Moon and Mowgli. Luke and his friends joined three other babies who arrived around the same time, and they all grew older together exploring the forest under the supervision of caregivers. Luke was the smallest male among them, and when the group of eight juveniles joined Jacky’s group of adults and older juveniles in 2005, caregivers took special care to make sure Luke got enough food. Today, he is a muscular, mid-ranking adult in the social group of 19. He involves himself in conflicts and would like to climb the social ladder to become more dominant. Toward that end, Luke occasionally bullies lower-ranking chimpanzees and picks fights with those of equal rank or
higher, but it hasn’t been a winning strategy. So far none of the other chimpanzees have been supportive of his ambitions. Luke sleeps in a night chamber alone because the other chimpanzees are wise enough to avoid being isolated with him. Everyone knows his penchant for starting fights, especially when no other chimpanzees are there to intervene. Other than these very unpleasant tendencies, Luke can be endearing. As the only chimpanzee in his sleeping chamber, he builds himself a big nest each night and looks like a contented king lying in it. He is the king of his chamber, at least! He loves to eat and has a special talent for sticking lots of food, like whole tomatoes or guavas, into his mouth all at once. He likes caregivers and occasionally solicits interaction, but he’s usually too busy strategizing to gain status in his social group.