Archives for November 2021

Let’s taco about Tuesday

November 23, 2021 by Sofia Castro-Loza

Tuesday has been a normal day consisting of cleaning, preparing meals and enrichment, a one-on-one introduction, and also about getting ready for Thanksgiving day. As usual the chimps will get an entire feast just for them with their favorite food items and Fall themed enrichment. On the other hand, the humans will be getting together for an early thanksgiving pot luck tomorrow night. This will consist of homemade traditional Thanksgiving meals, or what we each consider to be traditional. In my case, I’ll bring a vegan sweet potato and marshmallow casserole and although it is not a dish commonly made back home in Puerto Rico on this occasion, I like it so much that I would always require my family to make it just for me. I’ve been told that caregiver Chad makes a mean Nasi Goreng fried rice that is very famous in the chimp house so there is a lot to look forward to.

Enough about food, let’s taco about today’s introductions. I know we have said it before, but even though we plan ahead for possible introduction pairings, the chimps get the final say and that is exactly what happened today. Honey B and Willy B conspired together to not allow us to access the Mezzanine for cleaning, which directly dictated the fate of today’s pairing options for introductions. During lunch time, Willy B shifted out and Honey B remained up there meaning she was the one that was going to hang out with one of the California Six. On the six’s group, Cy was the one that wanted to stay in the front rooms so that made the decision easy for us. This introduction ended up being very low-key, with an on edge Honey B and only a few direct interactions but all in all positive.

Cy reading a magazine. Not pictured here are Cy’s happy sounds while reading.

Dora hanging out in the green house.

Lucky in her favorite spot of the front rooms with a slinky.

BONUS: A beautiful rainbow over Young’s Hill taken by caregiver Chad.

Honey B’s “Blue Steel”

November 22, 2021 by Anthony

“Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?” — Derek Zoolander

Here’s a serious portrait of Honey B sitting in one of the front rooms. I hope it brightens all of your respective Mondays!

A variety of play

November 21, 2021 by Sam Jones

Enjoy this video of a variety of short play clips from around the sanctuary over the past couple weeks. Also, here are some photos from the chimp house today!

Dora enjoying the Greenhouse.

Willy B relaxing after breakfast.

Mave and Honey B in the afternoon.

Jamie watching Lisa and Burrito play chase.

Second Spring

November 20, 2021 by Diana

We humans talk about weather a lot, often marveling at even the predictable and banal. Like me today remarking at the wind gusts, “that’s some wind out there!”

The weather ties everyone to nature, even those who live in jungles made of concrete. It reminds us that we are not, in fact, in control of everything.

After a long and dry summer here at the sanctuary, the fall rains and cloud-filled days felt abrupt and at times a little oppressive. But the plants almost immediately showed their gratitude, making parts of the landscape look like a second spring. The grass sprung from the ground and the grazing animals filled their bellies with this earthly gift.

Today, the skies were clear and the sun bathed the landscape, quickly urging yesterday’s snow to feed the plants some more.

Even the chimps seemed to be operating under the rules of spring, with Jamie insisting I go on two walks with her in a row. One where five other chimpanzees joined, and one that was just the two of us.

On this second walk, with the warm rays of the sun tempering the wind, Jamie was in no hurry. She stopped to inspect a new log placed to brace one of the structures, and then sat on an outpost of that structure, gazing over her kingdom.

As I waited for her signal to continue, I marveled at the signs of plant life emerging amid summer’s leftover debris.

Jamie had me bring one of her new favorite boots on the walk with her. Luckily, she allowed me to wear my own boots and, instead, carry her star-spangled treasure.

As we continued on our walk, I kept looking at the ground and was surprised to see a brazen dandelion in bloom, another reminder of all the plant life under the surface, at the ready for the right conditions to show itself.

When I returned to the chimp house, I looked at the raspberry bushes and noticed new growth, taking one last giant photosynthetic gulp of the season.

Going around to see the six chimpanzees who arrived just shy of five months ago, I found them too soaking in the sun in the shelter of their newly paneled greenhouse.

It’s a little funny that we refer to these areas as greenhouses, a term usually reserved for shelters that allow plants to thrive even when the outside conditions wouldn’t allow the same, and not generally used to refer to shelters for nature’s more mobile kingdom. Today, however, the term seemed more than apt.

While not photosynthesizing, the chimpanzees were certainly soaking in the sun and perhaps storing some energy for future use.

Greenhouse Days

November 19, 2021 by J.B.

Running a chimpanzee sanctuary in snow country does have its downsides but you can’t beat the cost- and calorie-free enrichment that snow provides. This was the first snowfall for Lucky’s group and they certainly enjoyed their tub of the white stuff in the recently buttoned up greenhouse. It was great to see them peacefully enjoying their warm, sunny space.