Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for August 2021

Clack of the Titans

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As we continue to develop our plan to move forward with the introductions between Cy’s Group and Willy B’s Group with two-on-twos, we are continuing with the one-on-one introductions between group members in the meantime on a varied schedule. Today, both titans met for the second time today. When the doors opened between them, Cy tried to initiate a game of chase with Willy B, though he was a little hesitant at first. But once Willy B’s courage built up, they engaged in chase. Afterward, they had a very long grooming session with each other.

As you may hear in the video, both were breathy panting and teeth clacking. Teeth clacking is one of the noises chimpanzees produce when they are engaged in grooming. There are a few theories as to why chimpanzees make these noises when they groom. One of those theories is that it is a way for one chimpanzee to indicate to the other that their intention is to groom them. These noises become more prevalent when the chimpanzees find something particularly interesting to groom on their partner. Grooming also plays a big role in chimpanzee social life. Besides the hygienic aspect of removing any dead skin, scabs, or parasites, the act of grooming itself is a way to initiate, maintain, and enhance the social bond between individuals. There’s a certain level of trust that goes into letting somebody groom you, and in the case of chimpanzees, the area in which they groom.

These are all positive signs between the two big gentlemen.

Cy
Willy B

Other Bonus Photos From Today:

Jamie patrolling Young’s Hill this morning with Foxie and Missy behind her.
Lucky relaxing in the nice breeze rolling through her Greenhouse.
Mave doing the same in her Greenhouse.

Can’t Help Falling In Love (With Fall)

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For those of you who aren’t acquainted with this slang term, a “basic” person has uninteresting interests.

To be fair, being labeled as basic isn’t necessarily bad. Basic things are, by definition, quite popular.

In a way, basic people are anti-hipsters. Rather than having eclectic or unique tastes, they enjoy activities that are universally-liked by everyone else. The cliché basic person is a 20-something educated female who listens to Taylor Swift, uses TikTok, watches The Office, and drinks pumpkin spice lattes in August. Oddly, a common stereotype is that these people all LOVE autumn and anything even loosely associated with the season. (Of course, fall is also the perfect time to show off a diverse collection of flannel shirts and take artsy photos of fallen leaves.)

While the term has only been applied to humans, I’d like to argue that even chimps can be basic.

For example, Negra’s hobbies include eating spring grass, eating peanuts and chow, watching the caregivers work, and napping peacefully on high platforms. None of these interests are avant-garde, and Negra seems totally fine with that. She doesn’t want to be surprised, shocked, or inconvenienced; she just wants to enjoy the simple, familiar pleasures. She’s basic to the core and seems to be proud of it.

Perhaps the world would be a better place if we were all, like Negra, comfortable with our own basicness.

I’m sure that if Negra had her own Instagram, she’d be posting selfies of herself enjoying the cool autumn breeze under a pile of fleece blankets today. Since she doesn’t have her own social media, I decided to post on her behalf today.

 

#PumpkinSpice #FallMeMaybe #FallmostHere #AutumnVibes #FleeceBlankets #Basic

Happy Birthday, Mason!

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Many thanks to Dottie Rogers who sponsored today in honor of her son, Mason Rogers, on his birthday!

“This is the day Mason my youngest son was born. He is kind, thoughtful, intelligent, and moves through life with awareness of the Earth and it’s inhabitants.”

Dottie, we so appreciate you thinking of the chimpanzees and choosing to make a difference in their lives as you celebrate Mason today.

Happy Birthday, Mason! We hope it’s the best one yet. Thanks for sharing it with the chimpanzees!

Terry and his chewing gum:

Dora:

Cy:

Foxie:

Willy B:

Photos from the day

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I don’t have a theme, but I have photos! Today was one of those days where I got some photos, but didn’t have a theme to tie them all together.

The seven enjoyed a cool morning on Young’s Hill, especially Burrito!

Burrito:

Jody:

Missy:

Cy, Rayne, and Lucky enjoying an after breakfast rest.

Here is how some of the chimps spent their afternoons.

Mave was enjoying the Greenhouse.

Jamie was keeping a close eye on Katelyn.

Terry was waiting for a game of chase!

 

On to the Next Challenge

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This post is both about the great staff at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and about the chimpanzees who they care for; the chimpanzees who lead the way towards embracing challenges and demonstrating resiliency.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with our staff during the last few of years of challenges and uncertainty. We’ve done some hard things and been faced with difficult decisions, and the staff have embraced it all and moved forward with hope.

The most recent challenge has been starting introductions between the two groups of chimpanzees from Wildlife Waystation.

There are risks involved in introducing chimps to one another, risks we have experienced firsthand. It would be easy to decide to just not try, to keep things as they are. But the staff realize that the benefits to the chimpanzees’ welfare far outweigh the risks.

The chimpanzees themselves have already given us glimpses of these benefits – male friends for WillyB! So many new grooming partners for Mave! Half-sisters to play with Honey B! Lucky, Cy, Terry, Gordo, Rayne, and Dora could also benefit from living in a larger group with more choices for social partners.

I’ve been incredibly impressed with how the chimpanzees have reacted to the initial one-on-one introductions. Each of them have been able to overcome any anxiety in meeting those in the other group. In fact, they have embraced the opportunity, sometimes making it difficult to get the pairs we want because there are chimps who stay in the room, attempting to be the one who is next in line for an introduction.

Chimpanzees are amazing that way.

While we humans live in our heads much of the time, worrying and wondering, chimpanzees most often assess the situation and pretty quickly dive in. It’s not that they can’t think ahead – they certainly can. And it’s not that they never experience worry – for sure they do. But when something goes awry or they encounter something unexpected, they are usually able to quickly reassess and adjust, or just turn to the next good thing they know is coming, like pears for dinner.

While it’s true that Burrito is a very special being in so many ways, his ability to bounce back is a trait he shares with many of his species. Chimpanzees are tough, both physically and mentally. Sadly, that is one reason they were used so readily in biomedical research.

I’ve been particularly impressed with Rayne’s group and how they have so quickly adjusted to their new home. They marched in and claimed their space, quickly finding favorite spots and embracing the sanctuary’s routine.

J.B. shared yesterday that the new group was given access to the Chute for the first time this week. And he let you in on a secret: many (perhaps even the majority of) chimpanzees LOVE cage tunnels, choosing to spend time in them over larger areas that humans might describe as more “natural” looking.

This might be a good time to remind everyone of this blog post which is subtitled Caging is OK.

It’s not up to us to decide for chimpanzees in captivity what areas are their favorites; it’s up to us to provide them with variety and give them the choice to decide for themselves. For now, Lucky’s group has clearly decided that the Chute is awesome, even when they have access to the new beautiful greenhouses with grass and bamboo.

Today when we were cleaning, I snapped a couple of photos of all six chimpanzees in the Chute. I couldn’t even tell where one chimpanzee began and another ended. Gordo was the only one not in the chimpanzee puddle at the top of the Chute, instead laying claim to the spot closest to the end.

At another point during the day, I found brother and sister Cy and Lucky lying next to each other, facing opposite directions at the top of the Chute:

While Dora was trying out a small perch for a bed:

Thank you to all of the wonderful chimpanzees at CSNW who embrace change, find their thing, and power through the challenges towards the good times that may be just out of sight, but are surely there. Thank you to the staff who do the same. And thank you to all of you for reminding us, with your comments and support, what a special mission we have.

Up Close and Personal

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It will be a little while still before we are able to construct the two larger outdoor areas for Lucky’s group and Honey B’s group (we’re planning to begin this fall). In the meantime, Lucky, Cy, Gordo, Dora, Rayne, and Terry got their chance to explore “the chute”, which is a short tunnel that will connect their playroom, greenhouse, and other enclosures to the open-top enclosure to be known as The Bray. The chute may not seem like the most exciting thing in the world but any new space is fun to explore. And we’ll let you in on a secret – while people love to see chimps in large outdoor habitats, many captive-reared chimps seem to prefer overhead tunnels to almost anything else! That’s why we should always strive to provide them with variety and the ability to choose.

The two groups from the Wildlife Waystation are used to living near other groups of chimps – and lions and wolves, for that matter. So living within sight of a new group of chimpanzees is no big deal. But the chimps in Jamie’s group went without seeing other chimps for decades and as a result they react a bit differently at first. As in, they go a bit crazy. This is not the first they’ve seen of Lucky’s group, but it’s closer than what they’re used to and it was cause for some alarm and a lot of excitement. The group’s anxiety was short-lived and soon Burrito was angling for the attention of some new playmates-at-a-distance and Jody was flirting with the new boys in town.

The first order of business this morning was to patrol Young’s Hill. Negra, as always, stayed behind, as did Annie on this occasion. But the others set out as a group around the perimeter of their 2-acre habitat. Meanwhile, Lucky’s group took their breakfast to the top of the chute and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Pumpkin Spice (without the spice)

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Pumpkin seeds are a regular part of the chimps’ diets. Earlier this summer we noticed that several seeds had gone unnoticed and sprouted into full pumpkin plants on the grassy floor of Greenhouse 2. We’ve been admiring the vines’ growth as they’ve spread out and blossomed remarkably well.  Also to our amazement, the chimpanzees have been ignoring the foliage (if Jody’s group lived there we are certain the plants would never have made it this far).

However, as Sam reminded me the other day, pumpkin spice season has already begun. Almost on cue with the yearly debut of the autumn flavored latte, we caught Gordo and Dora snacking on pumpkin leaves in Greenhouse 2 this morning. Perhaps this is a trendy new way to enjoy an old seasonal favorite?

Dora (in a box):

Gordo: