The chimpanzees have been joined by four new bovine sanctuary residents!
Betsy, Honey, Meredith (Honey’s daughter), and Nutmeg (Betsy’s son) arrived last night.
They came from Farm Sanctuary’s Northern California Shelter, which is closing down. Most of the cattle were moved to Farm Sanctuary’s main location in upstate New York, but there were some that they didn’t want to have to travel that distance. With our additional land purchases in the last few years, we happened to be looking to rescue farmed animals to graze the property surrounding the chimpanzee area just at the right time.
Originally, we thought a fifth cow, Whitaker, would be joining them, but he found a different sanctuary home with a good friend of his and didn’t have to make as long of a trip.
The four new residents at CSNW are very close to one another:
Nutmeg, the only steer (boy) of the group, was born at Farm Sanctuary and has grown up with people who love him and give him scratches, so Anna jumped right into that role today:
They are settling in and getting used to their surroundings with all of the new views (Betsy below):
The corral they are in for the weekend is not directly adjacent to the chimpanzees’ space, but the chimps can see the cattle if they climb up on the the structures, which is just what they did this morning first thing.
Missy:
Foxie:
Jamie:
Four adventurers – Missy, Foxie, Jamie and Annie – all climbed the Esher structure for a view and then seemed to confer with one another:
The way the light was hitting the chimpanzees makes it almost look like they are chimpanzee cut-outs, but I assure you, the photos above are actual chimpanzees on the structure.
No doubt there will be many more days of chimpanzees checking out cattle and vice versa, which will be enrichment for everyone!
We humans are thrilled to have the new residents and will be sharing more about them as they get a chance to further explore their surroundings.
