Römkens did a volunteering internship at the Apenheul specialised zoo in Apeldoorn. She observed a colony of bonobos: do they show stereotypical behaviour, and if so, for how long? Manon took us to the place where she sat on a chair for days on end. ‘That’s Jill, so that will be her daughter Monyami. And those are Makasi and Ayebi playing over there.’
Manon has a passion for endangered apes. ‘They keep surprising you with their behaviour.’ That made it difficult to stay objective at times. ‘You get a tendency to link their behaviour to emotions, but that is something you really have to avoid. You simply don’t know. I now realise how difficult it is to draw hard conclusions on animal welfare.’