ABSTRACT
Allow me to begin with an anecdote. Flirt was one of the chimpanzees who I observed during my study of chimpanzees at Gombe National Park. During this time, Flirt had the habit of sneaking up behind me and another researcher, and very quietly trying to grab our hands. She was successful only once; completely surprising me, she managed to grab my hand. I knew this was wrong and let her hand go. As part of the protocol at Gombe, humans must always maintain a distance of at least 10 meters from the chimps and never physically interact with them, for health and safety reasons. However, I really enjoyed that stolen moment of holding Flirt’s hand.
