Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for July 2015

The Watchdog

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As the alpha, Jamie has a lot of responsibility. It’s her job to make sure all the chimps and humans at the sanctuary are following her rules. Anyone who’s ever worked in management knows that this isn’t always the most enviable position. But Jamie is diligent and dedicated to the task. She is a great overseer. One of her self-assigned job duties is to know everything that’s going on at the sanctuary at any given time. She keeps track of when people arrive and when they leave. She knows who’s authorized to be on site and who isn’t.

She spends a lot of time spying on the driveway from various vantage points within the chimp house or outside on Young’s Hill. The other day I caught her in one of the front rooms keeping an eye on a UPS delivery.

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A New Friend for Burrito

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This morning, new staff caregiver Anna showed up at the chimp house with a giant stuffed gorilla for the chimpanzees. Stuffed animals have a sad history at the sanctuary; the chimps tend to either ignore them or tear them limb from limb. Stuffed animals that resemble apes or monkeys, in particular, don’t often live long after the chimps get their hands on them.

So we were surprised and delighted by what transpired this morning…

Lazy Days

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After lunch is the laziest time of the day here at the sanctuary. The chimpanzees have a few hours between lunch and dinner, and they usually spend it in quiet pursuits like grooming, nesting, and napping. This afternoon we set up a lunch forage on Young’s Hill, and after all that activity and excitement, Jody was ready for a little solitary grooming.

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After awhile, even grooming took too much energy and she settled in for a nap.

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Foraging Strategies

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There was quite a bit of excitement around today’s forage on Young’s Hill. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about raw kale, tomatoes, lemon wedges, carrots and primate chow? Once they saw what was on the menu, all seven chimpanzees headed out to the Greenhouse and anxiously awaited for us to open the door to give them access to the hill. As soon as I opened the door, Jamie lead the way. But, it was Foxie who stayed out the longest.

There seems to be a variety of strategies these chimps use to forage, as you will see in the photos below. Some of the chimps will eat the food items as they find them, while others seem to prefer to gather as much as they can before heading back to the Greenhouse to feast. Take Jody, for instance. Today she gathered so much food in her mouth and both of her hands that she has to walk upright (bipedally) in order to hold onto everything as she made her way back to the Greenhouse. And Missy went for the food items that were up high (on top of the various structures). And then there is Foxie, who took her time eating each piece of food as she found it.

Annie
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Burrito
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Foxie
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Jamie’s strategy was to put all her lemon wedges in her mouth in order to keep her hands free.
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Jody
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Look at her cheeks; they are completely full!
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Missy
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Negra
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The inevitable march of time

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The summers at the sanctuary begin with the grass and plants an almost unnatural neon green. The plant life boastfully emerges from the earth looking impossibly fresh. The photos we take during this period are beautiful with the chimpanzees’ dark hair contrasted against the bright green of the grass on Young’s Hill.

Foxie:

Foxie in the green grass

 

Jody with some wild plant she’s harvested:

Jody in the green grass

 

This period of lush green that comes on so strong, holding the promise of electrified life, sometimes feels like a fleeting moment. As soon as summer begins, the precipitation seems to come to a halt. The grasses release their seeds and begin to fade, but they remain tall and the chimpanzees can hide and explore in this more wild landscape.

Jody:

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Missy:

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Annie:

Annie walking in the tall grass

Annie profile walking in tall grass

 

Jamie in the foreground, Missy in the background:

Jamie and Missy walking in the tall grass

 

Jamie:

Jamie in the tall grass

 

With the threat of wildfire that arrives each summer, and to allow the chimpanzees to navigate the hill a bit easier, we (meaning J.B.) mows pathways that turn to amber streaks across the fading but stubborn green grass.

 

Annie (taken today):

Annie standing tall grass

 

Negra collecting her lunch from a forage set out on the hill (taken today):

Negra forage

Negra mouth full of food

 

While the rich and deep green of early summer imparts a contagious sense of renewed life, there’s definitely a beauty with the changing landscape of each season. Just as the grass turns gold, the established bamboo plants along the irrigation lines have produced ambitious shoots that leaf out and offer greenery for many more months, which Jody clearly appreciates:

Burrito and Jody with bamboo

 

There’s something for every season, and I think that the chimpanzees appreciate what this sanctuary environment has to offer year-round. Yes, even as the seasons inevitable progress into winter:

Jody eating snow

 

Today is for Derek Johnson!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Andrea Ogg in honor of Derek Johnson! Andrea surprised Derek with this special gift last Christmas and shared the following message about today: “Derek has spent a significant portion of his adult life studying, caring for and about chimpanzees. We will be coming to the sanctuary on July 11, 2015. We can’t wait to “meet” your chimps!”

Andrea, what a wonderful gift to give for both Derek and the chimpanzees! That it is complimented with your attendance of our summer visit program makes it even more meaningful and we are so touched that you would think of the chimpanzees in honoring Derek today. Thank you so much for caring about the chimps and making a difference for them.

We look forward to your visit and hope you both have a wonderful day!

Our guy, Burrito:

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Night owl

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Chimpanzees spend a lot of time in their nests. In the wild, they tend to bed down at dusk and remain there for about 12 hours until the sun rises again. On average, they sleep for 9 to 10 hours, waking now and again throughout the night and even calling to group members in other trees but rarely leaving their nests.

Here at the sanctuary, most of the chimps follow a similar 12-hour nesting pattern, even though the length of each day here in Central Washington changes drastically with the seasons. On a typical day, the chimps eat dinner at 4:30 and get their evening food puzzles at 5:00. When they are done eating, they begin to make their nests indoors, and almost everyone is in bed by the time we’re wrapping up our workday at 5:30. This is true even in the summer when it stays light outside until 10:00!

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Once the chimps are inside for the night, we close off Young’s Hill for security reasons. But if any of the chimps choose to stay outside, two staff members stay at the chimp house until the chimps choose to come back in.

Jamie, as you may have heard, is not like the other chimps. She needs very little sleep, and she has no interest in lying awake in her nest for hours counting sheep. So, being the clever chimp that she is, she figured out that all she has to do is stay outside after dinner or even sit in the doorway to Young’s Hill and, just like that, she has two companions for the rest of the evening.

When she keeps her caregivers here late, she usually does three of four purposeful walks around Young’s Hill, much like her daytime patrols. But eventually, even she grows tired of the walks and it becomes obvious that she’s just killing time to keep her human friends around a bit longer.

On our last walk last night at 8pm, she made a point of climbing every structure on the hill.

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She crossed every fire hose bridge.

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Finally, she sat quietly at the highest point on the hill and took in the view.

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When she decided that she’d had enough, she climbed down and returned to the chimp house.

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Even Jamie needs to sleep eventually. Which is good, because her caregivers do too.

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