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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Aug 20

Meet the newest addition to the Nimba Chimpanzee Project team: Indri ❤️🐕

Small but mighty!!! 🌟

@ApeBehaviour&EcologyGroup

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jul 24

Enjoying the 30th International Primatological Society (IPS) conference in Antananarivo!! 🥳 The Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group united in Madagascar!! 🤩

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jul 15

💕💕💕

Reposted by Kathelijne Koops

Laura van Holstein @lolvanhol.bsky.social · Jul 9

I'd apply in a heartbeat if I could. Most creative (!) project proposal I've ever read, brilliant fieldwork opportunities, and the BEST supervising team you could wish for! Apply, apply, apply!

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jul 3

Join us!!! 2 (!) PhD positions on wild chimpanzees and bonobos in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group and Wildminds Lab!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · Jul 2

📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

@snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪

two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos.
The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives.

Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods.

Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications

A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jun 6

The APE Group has a typical bonobo/chimpanzee-like fission-fusion social structure 😄 This foraging sub-group (or ‘party’) is saying goodbye to our emigrating female Anaïs! We so enjoyed your stay with us!!

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jun 6

It’s a Nimba baby boom!!! 🥰 Check out all these cute additions to (one of) our study groups in the Nimba Mountains of Guinea 🇬🇳 @NimbaChimpanzeeProject

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · May 11

Tune into this awesome new chimp drumming study!!! 🧵 🥁 Featuring the fabulous Nimba chimps!

Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · May 9

TLDR: new paper headed up by @vestaeleuteri.bsky.social
& with an awesome team, incl @andrearavignani.bsky.social , showing chimps have rhythm in their drumming & differences b/w east & west drum rhythms!

www.cell.com/current-biol...

But didn’t we know this already you ask? Well… 🧵1/16

Chimpanzee drumming shows rhythmicity and subspecies variation

Chimpanzees drum on the buttress roots of trees for communication. Eleuteri et al. investigate the presence of key elements of musical rhythm and of regional variation in chimpanzee buttress drumming....

www.cell.com

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Mar 31

Magical last day in Nimba 💚 I got to spend the afternoon with Kaija (named after my daughter of similar age!). 😍

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Mar 30

My 💚 Nimba

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Mar 23

Back with my Nimba family ❤️💛💚

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Mar 23

The two-day drive from
Conakry to Nimba 💪

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Mar 16

Adventure calls!!! ❤️💛💚 Off to Guinea for the next month to catch up with everyone at the Nimba Chimpanzee Project! Can’t wait!!! Fingers crossed for my >80 kg of luggage to arrive!!! 🤞😅

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Feb 11

Great work 👌@taichimpproject.bsky.social

www.science.org/content/arti...

Male chimps ask for sex in different ‘dialects’

Gestures are in danger because of poaching and other human pressures

www.science.org

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jan 21

✨Chimpanzee play and the evolutionary roots of cooperation✨ Dispatch @currentbiology.bsky.social commenting on the fabulous paper by @lirsamuni.bsky.social @taichimpproject.bsky.social

link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Animal behavior: Chimpanzee play and the evolutionary roots of cooperation

Social play in adults is considered rare in non-human species. A new study has found that play among adult chimpanzees is common and linked to cooperation and social bond maintenance. The societal fun...

www.cell.com

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Dec 30

Hoots & drums!!!! 💫

Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · Dec 29

New paper🚨 So time for one last 🧪 🧵 of 2024! TLDR: Wild chimpanzees love big butt-resses (we can not lie), and are fussy about which ones they choose, but not quite in the way we predicted 😂
tinyurl.com/DrumTrees
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Hoots to Wytse W; @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social; Vesta Eleuteri & #teamDrum

Selectivity in Buttress Drumming Tree Properties Among Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) of the Waibira Community in Budongo Forest, Uganda

Wild chimpanzees drum on tree buttresses during dominance displays and travel, generating low-frequency sounds that are audible over distances of more than 1 km. Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ...

tinyurl.com

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Dec 21

Congratulations!!! Hoots!!! ❣️

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 27

And that’s a wrap! 🤩 How I love teaching our Great Ape Behaviour course! 😍 It was an absolute pleasure working with this fabulous group of students. 🦍 Huge thanks to Zurich Zoo for hosting us! 🦧 We much enjoyed the talks by the ape head keeper and the curator 🙏

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 22

Such a great study!!! And amazing chimp field data - possible thanks to all the efforts involved in running a long term field site!!! 💪💪💪 Big kudos to the whole @TaiChimpProject 🙌

Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 21

Fabulous new paper!!! 🤩

Taï Chimpanzee Project @taichimpproject.bsky.social · Nov 21

NEW RESEARCH: Social Play fosters cooperation in wild adult chimpanzees out in Current Biology. More great work from @lirsamuni.bsky.social, @alexmielke.bsky.social on our Tai Chimpanzees
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

https://kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fauthors.elsevier.com%2Fa%2F1k8Me3QW8S6Gp4/1/010201934f7431fc-c7e1a0ee-9970-41da-99b1-aff8cd2f4557-000000/YNR2gzgI86DS4ZEVe0nLLbewngE=401

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 14

It’s the Great Ape Behaviour Course time of year! 🤩 Excited to see all the fantastic student projects come to life! ❤️ Topics range from 🦧 orangutan mother-offspring relationships to 🦍 gorilla rearing history📊🤓💪

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Jan 21

The honour of a lifetime to present on 20 years of chimpanzee research in the Nimba Mountains to the one and only Dr Jane Goodall ❤️ My daughter’s chimp also made an appearance! Huge thanks to the Jane Goodall Institut Schweiz for organising this amazing event 🤩

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 9

Love my job!!! ❤️ Teaching our great ape behaviour course with a little help from our ape friends!!! 🦍🦧 Thanks for hosting us again Zoo Zurich!!! 🙏 Can’t wait to see all the wonderful student projects coming to life in the coming weeks 😃

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Kathelijne Koops @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social · Nov 9

I have arrived in the other place!!! Where’s everybody?!? 😃😃😃

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