As we were standing there baby-sitting Juliet, a man in clean khakis and a bushman's hat came by with a young chimpanzee that was clinging to him as if the man was its mother. The chimp had a rope around its waist, and the man put it down on the deck. It scampered about on its feet and hands, oofing and woofing. Juliet's mother swept her up in a single motion. People scattered in all directions.
Chimps are strong, and they can bite.
Cynthia, who had once worked on a film with Jane Goodall and knew something about chimps, knelt in front of the animal. She held out her left palm and touched it with the bunched fingers of her right hand. A grooming gesture. The chimp took her left hand for a moment, then turned its back to her. Cynthia parted the hairs on the back of its head, grooming it, and the chimp seemed content.