Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for September 2017

Late September

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There’s nothing quite like a Fall forage on Young’s Hill!

Annie:

After eating his forage bounty, Burrito quietly went back out on Young’s Hill to watch the girls finish up.

Foxie:

Jamie scanning the grass for more food.

Jody was serious about carrots and kale!

Missy kept herself busy!

Negra actually stayed out for quite some time in the cool Fall breeze. Only after we felt a couple raindrops, did she hustle back inside.

Dessert for chimps

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The chimpanzees have a very healthy diet consisting of primarily raw, fresh produce. In the morning they enjoy a fruit smoothie (with protein powder), two servings of fresh fruit, a handful of unsalted peanuts and their chewable vitamins. Lunch is a little bit simpler, with three servings of fresh or sometimes cooked vegetables. We end both breakfast and lunch with two small carefully portioned bags of primate chow per chimp (they enjoy small bags filled with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit for dinner). The chimps grew up eating primarily this chow, and while they love eating the fresh items we provide for them, they still really like their old standby food. This chow comes to us in the form of small dry biscuits, and is perfect for wadging mouthfuls at the end of a good meal.

Annie finishes off her lunch:

Grooming with Missy

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Missy is a “chimp’s chimp.” That means she likes to spend most of her time with her fellow chimpanzees rather than engage in a lot of human interaction. This is actually a great thing, and we encourage the chimps to spend more time with their group mates, rather than always looking for human attention. Ideally, we want them to form strong bonds and rely on each other for their primary social connections. For Missy, caregivers do come in handy occasionally for some grooming time (when all other primate partners are napping). Missy likes to grab a little piece of stick to groom herself with, while also receiving additional back grooming via caregiver. Of course, it’s also special to us humans when we get to spend a little quality time with Missy. She has a very busy schedule after all.

Seasons

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The sanctuary is a special place. But then I probably don’t need to tell you that. We are so fortunate to watch the beauty of so many seasons come and go not only around the sanctuary grounds, but for all of us here to be able to pass through our own seasons in life in this sanctuary home.

There has been a wedding here, celebrations of all shapes and sizes, people have honored loved ones here who have passed away, and most of us spend all of our birthdays and holidays here. I was in the chimp house when I was offered my job here, I was here when I learned my heart could hold more love than I ever thought possible, and it seems that somehow I am always in the chimp house when I’ve learned of the passing of family and loved ones. And every single day we are honored and privileged to watch the winters, springs, summers and falls of the chimps’ lives unfold with never-ending surprise, adventure, joy, healing and love. We’re all so lucky, chimps and humans alike, to have this place to live out the seasons of our lives. And please know that we consider you part of it all. This special place wouldn’t exist without you.

As autumn settles in around us none of us could be happier (and I am pretty sure the chimps are as excited as the humans). We’ve been enjoying countless walks with the chimps around Young’s Hill in the cool, fresh air, harvesting pears from the orchard, climbing the apple trees and dangling precariously over the pond to reach the last of the fruit on the furthest branches, and today we harvested the very first little pumpkins from the chimps’ garden!

A Foxie-size pumpkin:

And a bonus photo of Jamie, plotting and planning, because, obviously…

So we’re celebrating seasons and all they bring to our lives tonight with an impromptu “Welcome, Autumn!” dinner party and the chimps’ are enjoying roasted onions, peppers, pears and pumpkins still warm from the oven with some extra tiny lemons and tangerines. And one of the chimps’ favorite evening enrichments, “grab bags,” filled with nuts, seeds, dried fruit and all manner of odds and ends. A favorite of Jamie’s as you will see below.

Queen Negra enjoying the first serving of the season of pumpkin:

Jody enjoying roasted onion:

Jamie with (practically) ALL the grab bags (she went through the chimp house grabbing them and tossing them over her shoulder into a pile until she was ready to go through them.):

Happy autumn, all!

All Play Today

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It may come off that Jamie is all work and no play (which can be true), but she knows how to take a load off when she needs to. And who better to help her relax than Foxie? The hard part is capturing the moments when they are happening! As you can see in the video a hand slyly comes up to suggest I leave. We never want to intrude in any chimp to chimp social time so I left shortly after. Jamie and Foxie proceeded to play for another 15 minutes before Missy suggested everyone enjoy some tomatoes from the garden!