It was perfect weather for chimpanzees here at the sanctuary this morning (in Cle Elum, this means warm sun with no wind!) so we decided to put out a breakfast forage on Young’s Hill. All of the chimps seemed more at ease and peaceful on the Hill today than I have ever seen them! No one appeared to feel the need to keep an eye on where everyone else was and just went about peacefully foraging in their own direction. Much to our surprise and delight Negra went further than I have seen her go yet! She immediately headed for the far side of the Hill and promptly sat down to check out the neighbor’s horses. I even saw her glance upward occasionally listening to the birds overhead. And as if that weren’t enough, Negra continued to roam and explore even further, enjoying handfuls of grass along the way. We were astounded and couldn’t stop taking photos! I think even the other chimps were excited to see Negra venturing so far. In the end it seemed to me that Negra had enough of all the paparazzi and promptly turned her back on everyone just to enjoy her adventure on her own.
I think Annie, Jody and Missy were as much in awe of Negra as we were!