Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for April 2018

Breakfast patrol

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The past couple of mornings the chimpanzees have acted as if it’s the first time in the history of history that they’ve had breakfast. The second we arrive they constantly monitor our progress in the kitchen and while greeting them or playing they stop to listen to every sound as if to say, “Sshhh! Was that a food grunt?? Is it time?!” which would be indicative of us coming down the human hallway with their breakfast. (As a sidenote for those of you who may be new to the blog, although the chimpanzees understand most of what we say, we caregivers are trained to use chimp vocalizations and gestures with them as much as possible. So one example of this is when we are getting ready to serve meals, we food grunt along with them to let them know it’s time).

So a popular spot this morning was the front room bench which faces the kitchen and has a view of the driveway (aka, “the portrait studio”). Negra was there when I arrived, I’m pretty sure willing us to arrive and get a move on:

Foxie and her orange-haired friend diligently watched the kitchen doorway:

It’s also a popular spot to return to when breakfast is served in the greenhouse as they can step out to get their servings and bring them back inside if they feel like having a little privacy to eat, want to be a little warmer, or (especially if you’re the boss) feel the need to supervise continued happenings in the chimp house:

Day to Day

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It’s really nice when the day to day routine can be broken up. Here at the sanctuary we have a fairly regular schedule, but there is often something going on to shake things up. Today, for example, J.B. had some work to do with the gator and the tractor. Jamie, naturally, took great interest in this. We took numerous walks to watch J.B. and make sure his work was up to par (no worries, it was). We also have several different volunteers onsite on any given day! Lizz, who is a level 3 volunteer, was here this weekend. Burrito was loving it!

Burrito:

Lizz and Burrito playing tug-of-war:

However, sometimes shaking up a “normal” day can be exhausting. The chimps were all in spots relaxing where the camera couldn’t reach (& Jamie also didn’t want anyone getting their photo taken), but I did get one of Neggie snacking on some spruce tree, wrapped up in a blanket:

And a bonus photo of Burrito:

Burrito later watched Lizz leave from Front Room 4:

 

 

 

 

 

A Special Visit and Some Special Ordinary Moments

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There are so many little moments in any given day that we caregivers find endearing or funny or amazing or otherwise noteworthy.

Early this morning, for example, I saw Burrito sampling the grass for the first time this spring. I was overjoyed because I know what’s to come in the next couple of months – the chimpanzees sitting outside and stuffing their mouths with handfuls of grass. It’s one of my favorite times of year. I didn’t get a photo this morning, but you can bet there will be many to come.

At lunch, the chimpanzees had a very exciting visitor: Dr. Birute Galdikas, the famous anthropologist who is for orangutans what Dian Fossy was for gorillas and Jane Goodall is for chimpanzees. These three remarkable women were initially supported in their observational research of great apes by Louis Leakey and they each changed the collective view of our closest living relatives. Dr. Galdikas, nearly fifty years after starting her field research in Borneo, still spends more than half of each year in Indonesia running the field site and directly working to protect orangutans in their native habitat. Much of the rest of her time is spent raising awareness about the perilous situation facing orangutans in the wild and raising funds for Orangutan Foundation International.

Dr. Galdikas spoke last night to students and community members at nearby Central Washington University, thanks to one of the most unique primatology programs in the world. We were so honored that she chose to visit the sanctuary during her brief stay. I think she made a connection with Burrito, which was very sweet.

I neglected to get my own photos of her visit, maybe because I was flustered to be in her presence, but luckily others had their phones at the ready. So, below is a photo from Katelyn of Jake Funkhouser, Dr. Galdikas, and Ruth Linsky. Ruth and Jake are the students who arranged for Dr. Galdikas’ visit to CWU through the Primate Awareness Network.

Later in the afternoon, Anna and I donned some new favorite boots of Jamie’s and took off on a walk around the hill. Missy and Annie came out too and proceeded to twirl and slap and wrestle their way across the hill. Guess what? I didn’t have a camera in hand for those moments either. But, please do take a second to picture it – they were having a great time.

You may be wondering at this point whether I visually captured any part of the day at all to share with you. I did!

Jody was on a mission all day to snack on some of the spruce trees on the hill. I saw her at least three times going back and forth to the “Christmas tree lot” with pieces of tree in her mouth. She looked very satisfied by her foraging

Sooo sleepy

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The chimpanzees usually start gathering up blankets and heading for their night nests as soon as dinner and the evening enrichment are over. With one exception, that is. Jamie. Even if Jamie doesn’t choose to stay out for walking, she has indoor projects lined up for the evening by the time we leave for the day. But on the nights she does choose to stay out and walk, the chimp house often grows dark as everyone else is curled up in their nests starting to drift off to sleep. But with staff quietly going in and out to walk with Jamie while we wait for her to decide to come in, it’s not always the most conducive to sleeping. And sometimes the chimps just don’t fully settle into slumber until everyone is in for the night.

So when Jamie chose to stay out the other night, every time I walked down the human hallway past the frontrooms where Burrito had made a nest, he’d look at me sleepily and throw his arm out toward me, barely keeping his eyes open, trying to be patient for the boss lady to come in so he could go to sleep.

Shortly before Jamie finally decided to come inside for the night, I found Burrito sitting on one of the benches, sleepily holding onto his blanket and yawning, as if to say, “Please tell her to come in now, I’m sooo tired.”

Happy Birthday, Ramona!

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Happiest of birthdays to Ramona Isbell, who graciously chose to celebrate her special day by sponsoring a day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and sharing her birthday money with them!

Ramona, thank you so much for including the chimps in your happiness and heart! Your gift of sanctuary means the world to the chimps and all of us who love them. Have a beautiful day!

Missy:

Foxie: