He arrived late last week. When we first put them together everyone watched in anticipation to see how well they would take to each other. We are delighted to announce that all has gone extremely well and the two are very happy with each other’s company.

Here’s a little video clip of Michelle grooming Miguel. Grooming doesn’t mean that one or the other has bugs or anything dirty on them. Grooming is a major social activity in primates. They do it as a means of reinforcing social structure, family links and building relationships and trust. Of course, it also maintains good hygiene and health. All in all, grooming is a wonderful thing!

In larger groups of primates, social grooming plays an important role in establishing and maintaining alliances and dominance hierarchies, for building coalitions, for reconciliation after conflicts, and is a resource that is exchanged for other resources, like food and sex. The act has been shown to reduce tension and stress, sort of like how a good massage affects humans. It is often associated with observed periods of relaxed behavior, and primates have been known to fall asleep while receiving grooming.