Animal trainer communicates better with sign language-skilled chimp than with own husband

Animal trainer Joyce Mender has worked with the chimp Zander for three years, and been married to husband Maurice for 28.

Animal trainer communicates better with sign language-skilled chimp than with own husband

San Diego, Calif. -- San Diego Zoo employee Joyce Mender is more successful at exchanging ideas and feelings with Zander, the zoo's sign language-proficient chimpanzee, than with Maurice, her husband of 28 years.

Mender, who has since April of 1999 led animal trainers in teaching non-oral communication to the three-year-old, captivity-born ape, says Zander's willingness to attentively listen and thoughtfully respond to her simple sentences dwarfs that of Mender's emotionally distant spouse, who often goes entire evenings without retorting to even lighthearted conversation upstarts.

"Zander is always anxious to communicate with me," said Mender of her ease in extracting communicative reaction from the primate that dominates her workday attention. "When I sign the words, 'How are you today?' [Zander] gets all excited and starts signing that he'd like to eat and play. We'll often keep a meaningful, focused dialogue going for over an hour. He's such a sweetheart, and he's so smart."

Conversely, Mender, 52, claims that although she and her husband had often engaged in long, emotionally open discussions during their early years as a couple, Maurice now relies mostly on a limited array of head motions, one-word answers and lazy grunts to accommodate Mender's need for daily marital interaction.

"First of all, he's usually more interested in watching the TV than talking to me, even when we haven't seen each other all day," said Mender, describing the couple's typical after-work scenario. "I'll start telling him about my day, hoping he'll do the same or ask me questions, but he usually just nods and says, 'uh huh.' If a commercial is on, sometimes he'll glance at me a few times. Basically, he's just waiting for me to finish, I think."

Mender's husband, who harbors no diagnosed hearing handicap, claims he works hard all day and doesn't have the energy to launch into lengthy conversations with Mender, instead needing the precious at-home time to relax.

"I work hard all day," he said, referring to his employment as a land surveyor for a local architectural firm. "I don't have the energy to launch into some lengthy conversation. I'm home to relax."

Mender's husband (left) stares off blankly as Zander engages a converstaion.

Having worked in the development of chimpanzee communication for nearly two decades, Mender said she's learned how to interpret what people - or in Zander's case, animals - are trying to say, even if the words they're using are not exactly the correct ones.

While this ability aids daily communication with Zander, Mender said similar techniques are rarely applicable to the lifeless sighs, nods and groans she manages to force from her husband - noises which are not typically accompanied by accentual body language.

"'Drink, cup, baby, cup,' means Zander wants a drink of juice or water. That's pretty obvious, especially when the little guy is holding out an empty cup,"said Mender. "That's a lot more information than I get from Maurice; when I ask him, 'How are you today?' he'll just mumble, 'Fine,' without so much as blinking. That's not a whole lot to work with."

Mender said that although Zander's current vocabulary encompasses less than 300 words, she and the chimp are able to openly express feelings and ideas with one another.

Mender wishes her husband could emulate Zander's enthusiasm for verbal interaction.

"Sure, Zander basically repeats a handful of messages over and over again, but at least he's willing to share with me, to put forth an effort and reach out to me. Maurice, he barely even looks at me, let alone talks."

February 2002