Leadership

There are many more people in leadership roles than should be leaders. There are those who envy the power, those that need to break people down in order to build themselves up (we have two inspectors here doing that very thing), those that need others to find value in them because they cannot do it themselves and a million other types 

But there are also those who should never do anything else, those that would be taking something from the world if they chose to do something else with their lives. I have had the privilege to learn under some of the most uplifting leaders, those without trying, or training can build you up and make you think that there are no barriers to what you can accomplish. Ainare, the director here, is one of those people.  She, two of my (human) roommates and I went on a drive yesterday after the last surgery at the sanctuary and just stared at the place the field site will be at, or one of the options anyway. It was a distant mountain in the haze of the hot day, but in her presence we could all see it. I took pictures of the drawing she made in the sand, of the truck with the mountain in the backround, of Ainare and the Jens pointing and planning, because I wanted to remember the beginning. In that moment, we could see it all, we could see the mona monkeys, drills, chimps and assorted other monkeys roaming the forest floor, climbing the trees and foraging for themselves.  We could see past the field site (more of a sanctuary in the forest than anything else) and onto years later when some will be able to be released into the wild. We could do that because she believed so fully that her vision blanketed all of us and we could see it too. 

There are few people who can manage that, who can take you in and in a positive way, challenge you to make things better with them. Leadership is not an easy thing, some people were born to do it, others learn, and then there are people like me who are crap at it.  Animals don’t have the issue of bad leadership. 

If someone in the chimp group tries to overtake the alpha male, he better not only be strong, but have the support of the group. He won’t be able to worm his way up some political ladder, he can’t inherit power from his father or pay someone for the position, earning it is the only option. TKC is the alpha male in the island chimpanzee group (leader of 37 of our 50 chimpanzees), and there are no contenders to his position. That being said, there is also Suzie. She is the matriarch of the group, she is one of the few left from when this was a zoo. Her coat is a blondish color from years of malnutrition and pulling her hair out or rubbing it off in her tiny cage. She also walks very slowly and stiffly due to a broken leg that was not treated and healed poorly giving her limited range of motion, and thus mobility. She looks much older than her 26 years, as do most things, people included, which have had a hard life. But woe be to the chimp that crosses her and makes her stamp her foot. The entire group will fly about the island alarm calling and raging, beating the offender until she is satisfied. But she is also largely gentle and calm. She took in Neo when his mother died, she grooms all of us, and usually just hangs out on the ground or one of the lower portions of the climbing structure. Suzie spent the day inside the other day, which is strange for her, but it happens, and I had my first opportunity to get to know her. We groomed each other, she untied my shoes, I poked her belly and tickled her. We had quite the moment.  I’ve read her file, so I know some of the particulars of the life she had, and with my soft spot for anyone on the B-team, I can’t help but want to be friends. She’s not pretty, she’s awkward when she moves but she has a great personality, she’s fun to watch and I was happy to make friends. I wouldn’t trust her to not bit my face off if it came to it, but in as much as we interact with them, especially those that will never be able to be fully released, it was a special moment for me, being accepted by the matriarch.