Independence is a trait we celebrate in the chimpanzee sanctuary community. If a chimpanzee exhibits independence, it means they take advantage of the sanctuary environment they are provided with, and choose to do what they want, when they want it. You may recall that Jamie shows a deep independent streak when it comes to letting staff close off Young’s Hill for the night (especially on warm evenings).
Negra (like Jamie) is an independent character. But unlike Jamie, she is not known for choosing Young’s Hill as the place to spend her time. She mostly prefers to nap indoors in a cozy blanket pile or sit at a window and survey the valley below the sanctuary. Lately, Negra has harnessed her courage to travel to almost the top of Young’s Hill and pick mouthfuls of wild prickly lettuce that grows especially thick on several mounds of earth.
It was on one of these mounds that I found Negra last week. As the rest of the staff set about doing a positive reinforcement training session with their chimpanzee partners, my partner (Negra) opted out of the training session and chose instead to munch happily away on the hill. The fact that Negra got to make a choice is what life in a sanctuary is all about.
I am not sure I have ever seen a photo of Negra up so far on Young’s Hill. Wouldn’t you just know it took something like prickly “lettuce” to stoke her courage — now that’s what I call positive reinforcement!! But seriously, I am bursting with joy seeing her in these photos. Thank you Anna and CSNW for allowing Negra, and each chimpanzee in your care, the chance to enjoy independence and embrace their individuality.
Good for Negra – Way to go girl. I am happy for her to be able to make that choice. Thank you guys for all that you do to make sure that they do have choices.
It’s wonderful to the lovely Queen Negra so far on Young’s Hill!
And out there by herself, too. Yay Negra! All hail the Queen!
Love seeing this! Hope she was happy picking her lettuce. 🙂
Okay, so why do you make me cry every morning? It’s the loveliness and deep admiration I have for the 7 finally being able to do whatever they want. It’s for the amazing people that have given her the environment, security and compassion needed to do that. And it’s for the supporters, many of whom probably tear up as much as I do. Happy chomping, Negra!
So they don’t get the option to sleep under the stars if they so choose?
Hi Jillian,
Staff members do try and close the hill off at the end of the day before we go home (as part of our safety protocol). The chimps (especially Jamie) can decide if they would like us to close the door or not at this time. If Jamie isn’t on board with our plan, she sits in the doorway leading to Young’s Hill and we know she needs more outside time. Usually she will get us to go on many walks around the hill with her until it gets dark. She seems to be nervous being outside in the dark, so as night falls she comes inside for bed and we can close up. If she chose instead to make her nest outside for the night, she absolutely could make that decision and staff would be on duty for as long as she needed -it just hasn’t happened yet!
Thank you so much for the response. You are all so wonderful for what you do for the chimps!