It’s been a busy week at the sanctuary! Contractors are finishing the human areas of the Phase 1 expansion now that a back ordered fixture is finally in and Missy, as you can see in the video above, is keeping us busy playing very competitive games of tug-o-war.
We were also fortunate to host two guests from Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda. Ngamba is home to 49 orphaned chimpanzees and through their NGO, the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, they also do incredible work protecting wild chimpanzees through both field conservation and community education. Irene and Joseph have been visiting various primate sanctuaries while in the United States and they were able to spend the past week volunteering with us.
While here, they were also kind enough to share inspiring stories of their work with the students and faculty of the Primate Behavior and Ecology program at Central Washington University.
If you don’t already, I’d encourage you to follow Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary on Facebook and support their efforts to protect chimpanzees. Many thanks, Irene and Joseph, from all of us at CSNW (especially Jody)!
Wow! Those are two beautiful looking people.
Hi, Jeeb,
I’ve watched nearly every video this sanctuary has put out since 2011. I love their babies the most!
What did they think about our American SNOW?! And how did the chimps react to them? Could they tell they were already “chimp people” like cats can do, or do they have this ability?
I keep wondering when Ms. Goodall-Thang will visit y’all! How cool would that be to have her standing there alongside your cages??
Cheers.
OMG! Did they just high-five each other when she won the tug-o-war with YOU??? HA!!!!!!!!!!!!1111 😀
They were enthralled with the snow – seeing their reactions was almost enough to make me appreciate it again. And yes, the chimps do recognize chimp people, usually because people that work with chimps immediately greet them with species-typical gestures and vocalizations.
Thanks for the reply, Jeeb.
And yes, the gestures and vocalisations–hadn’t considered that. I often wonder though if without all that, they might still be able to tell if a human just inherently loves them, even if they’re not versed in “chimp”. Guess we’ll never know.
First, that video of Missy tumbling over at the end of the tug is the best! Also fun seeing her engaging in play with a caregiver because I always think of Missy as hanging with the chimps. Just too funny.
Next, I first learned about Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary through PASA. Wonderful organization and what a special treat to have them visit CSNW and how cool they could speak to the students at Central Washington University too. Would love to ask them about similarities and differences between the lovely chimps in their sanctuary setting and the gang at CSNW. Very different worlds in some ways but both places creating safe homes thanks to incredible caregivers. How exciting to have Irene and Joseph helping you. And I have to ask, did they enjoy wearing cowboy boots and walking with Jamie?! Now that’s something I bet they don’t do with their chimps. ; )
We did talk a lot about the similarities and differences between the chimps we care for. The most striking difference is that all of their 49 chimps live in one group! Like CSNW, the chimps have access to the big outdoor area during the day but theirs is a whopping 95 acres. At night, the chimps come inside and as they do they are split up, largely by rank, so that they can occupy the smaller indoor spaces together safely. One thing that might make large-group living like this possible is that their chimps are almost always rescued as youngsters, so when they reach the sanctuary they are paired with an appropriate adoptive mother and they grow up in a functional chimp culture. That said, it’s not always easy for them to integrate new chimps and it can take months or even years.
I think Irene and Joseph did enjoy modeling for Jamie! They even braved the snow – a first for them – to walk with the chimps.
Do you not have plans of having one social group? I know before you’ve said you have to wait to see how the chimps themselves dictate and inform situations, but is this one of those situations? I guess I’m asking if one group is your ultimate goal. I know you’ll need to form quarantine groups for whatever new chimps you receive, and then there will be the trying times of integration, but once you get through all that, is it your desire to keep them all together, to live as one social family?
It would depend on how many chimps we are able to take in but overall it’s not our goal for every chimp living at the sanctuary to be in one social group. Our chimps don’t want to be outside all day (nor could they be in the winter) so the fission-fusion model where they live together in a large outdoor space during the day and separate into subgroups at night wouldn’t work the same way. Right now we’re shooting for two social groups with facilities that would allow for three groups if needed.
Thank you J.B. for you replies. I am envious of all the fascinating people you meet through CSNW. Now I will have to follow Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary more closely to see if their chimps will be carrying cowboys about. Haa haa ha!