Archives for September 2018

What’s for Lunch?

September 23, 2018 by Kelsi

Today we had a very fall colored lunch! The chimps enjoyed carrots, tomatoes, and some sweet potatoes. There were lots of food grunts and squeaks all through the chimp house.

Jamie stood on higher ground to get a good view of what was served:

Missy also climbed up to get a view (mostly for the tomatoes):

Burrito holding on to some sweet potato:

Negra was really enjoying the sweet potato (Neggie was not as interested in the cut up tomato, she only really likes them whole):

Jamie on her firehose perch:

Volunteer Lizz serving Annie some tomatoes:

Did we mention Missy’s favorite food is tomatoes?:

Jamie loading up on the veggies:

Negra patiently waiting for her carrot while the wind causally blows through her hair:

Just like humans, chimpanzees use a wide variety of facial expressions to display their emotions. Since we often think of chimps as so similar to humans, you can see how easy it might be for newcomers to chimpanzee behavior to misinterpret some of the photos they might see out there of chimps seemingly grinning happily for the photographer. Here’s a little tour of some chimpanzee facial expressions we see on a daily basis and the meanings behind them.

A typical relaxed face, as demonstrated by Negra:

Jody has the best relaxed face, drooped lip expressions:

Here’s Burrito’s sneer face. In this case he seems to be uncomfortable with the long grass poking him in the face or the prickly vegetation underfoot:

Negra’s pout face. She often pouts when she is uneasy in a situation or she is trying to assert her dominance and take something from another chimpanzee. One way or another, she usually receives a lot of reassurance from her friends when she is pouting and whimpering:

Here are two happy chimpanzees (Missy and Annie) displaying giant play faces. Notice how their top lips cover their top teeth and their bottom teeth are exposed. This is how you smile like a chimpanzee!

Now compare those happy smiles to these full open grin fear grimaces that Annie and Jamie are showing here. I can almost hear them screaming at each other (maybe over a food disagreement?).:

Needless to say, they aren’t happy in this photo. We’ve probably all seen photos of young chimps dressed up in costumes and posing on the cover of greeting cards or in commercials with similar fearful expressions as Annie and Jamie. To learn more about how you can advocate on the behalf of these chimpanzees, follow this link and thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with others.

A Welcome Change

September 21, 2018 by J.B.

The sanctuary is located on the site of an old homestead. While the original house is long gone, many of the barns and outbuildings remain, as does the orchard. These trees produce Rainier, Bing, and pie cherries, as well as apples, Italian plums, and enough pears to feed a hundred chimpanzees. At one time there was actually a railroad stop here in the canyon, and the extra fruit from this orchard would likely have been sold in a bustling farmer’s market. There was even a saloon and dance hall in what is now our lower pasture, shown on an early 20th century map as being nestled between a barn and a chicken shed.

These days the orchard is the domain of our dogs, Wilson and Abbey, but they are kind enough to let the staff and volunteers go in and pick fruit for the chimps from time to time.

Yesterday we picked pears and plums from the old trees, and the chimps had them for breakfast this morning. They were a huge hit. Luckily there are a few hundred more pounds where that came from.

The onset of fall is a welcome change around here. In addition to the orchard’s harvest, it also brings relief from the intense heat and relentless sun of Central Washington summers. The chimps choose where to spend their time, and during the summer much of their time is spent indoors. Now we are more likely to find them relaxing on the play structures, walking through the tall grass, and otherwise enjoying the space and relative freedom of Young’s Hill, their two-acre enclosure.

You could argue that Jamie gets the most out of Young’s Hill, the way she patrols its boundaries throughout the day. But no one exploits every swing, structure, and tight rope like Missy. Now that fall is upon us, I expect to see a lot more of her outdoor antics. If only we could resurrect that old dance hall for her; I think she’d fit right in.

In memory of Ron and Betty Kreushcher

September 21, 2018 by Katelyn

A day of sanctuary was sponsored by Ronalyn Huenergard who shared this note about her gift:

“This donation is in memory of my parents, Ron and Betty Kreuscher on their wedding anniversary, They were very proud of their 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.”

Ronalyn, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to share in your special memories of your parents and for making a difference in the chimpanzees’ lives as you honor Ron and Betty. We so appreciate you thinking of the chimps in this way. We’re wishing you and your family a day filled with joyful and comforting memories.

A Burrito and Jody classic:

How’s your chimp ID?

September 20, 2018 by Elizabeth

One of the first things new chimp house volunteers start learning is how to identify each of the chimpanzees. When you’re meeting a group of chimps for the first time (or the first ten times), they can often look frustratingly similar to one another. Eventually, of course, they start to look like individuals and you wonder how you could ever have mixed them up. But there’s a definite learning curve.

It helps to be able to spend some time just staring at each chimpanzee, so I just made these videos for our volunteers, in which you can see each of the seven chimpanzees from every angle, just being themselves. I thought some of our blog followers might appreciate them also. And if you’re not interested in working on your chimp ID, the videos make seven good excuses just to look at each of these beautiful chimps for several minutes.

(For extra credit, click on each name below to learn some identifying physical characteristics for each individual).

Giving Day for Apes teaser video

September 19, 2018 by Diana

We are really excited to be participating in Giving Day for Apes on Tuesday, September 25th! This is a day of online giving to promote awareness of apes and the sanctuaries who are caring for them across the world. Check out our page here.

To spice things up, there are some prizes available to participating sanctuaries, so you can plan your giving for the “Power Hours” of 11am-12pm and 4pm-5pm PT. I’ll be announcing some exciting challenge donations during those times, so stay tuned!

Above is a video to highlight how important this day is and how much of a difference you can make.

And because we love you all, here are a couple of bonus photos I took several weeks ago that we I haven’t had a chance to share before.

Pretty much always serious Jamie: