Much as they want to make a natural life for the chimps here, which is part of the justification for all the breeding, there is nothing at all natural about it.
The above pictures are from feeding time when the chimps go nuts. It’s an unsettling sight. Also unsettling – some of the chimps are escape artists, or always fighting, and are housed in very restrictive accommodation away from the others.
I would understand so much better if in fact they were taking care of animals that would not survive otherwise, but because all the born-in-captivity chimps have stretched them beyond their ability to take care of new animals that could use their help, that part is a problem.
They say they are using birth control on the females but have not been able to catch them all in time, which would be every few months. I don’t know…there were SO many (aDORable) babies.