Archives for January 2022

Sounds of Sanctuary

January 27, 2022 by Anna

The sanctuary can be silent one moment and thunderous the next, with many interesting sounds woven in between.

It’s that time of year when it’s cold outside and the chimps are hard to find. It was a relatively quiet day, of course as I write this blog I can hear the three groups starting to shout back and forth to one another, but that is to be expected with sixteen chimpanzees. The chimps spent most of their day grooming and nesting in high places, so capturing photos were few and far between. However, we can always find Honey B in the front rooms! Honey B and Mave spent the morning napping close to each other or grooming quietly with one another. Please enjoy these images of Mave and Honey B, I really tried to get more photos!

Cy thought you might want to know we just added some magazine subscriptions to the Amazon wish list!

A yummy group favorite!

January 25, 2022 by Sofia Castro-Loza

Today’s blog is brought to you by a very tasty lunch menu: leeks and sweet potatoes.

Rayne and her leek

Cy enjoying some sweet potatoes

Lucky patiently waiting for her leek from Caregiver Sam

Negra saving the best for last: Leeks

The Perks of Be(friend)ing a Wallflower

January 24, 2022 by Anthony

Not all of the chimps like to be in front of the camera lens equally. Lucky and Willy B, for example, will scooch right up to you and your electronic device with gusto. Others prefer to nonchalantly observe the photographer from an intermediate distance, and a few chimps will even try to sternly poke the camera lens when they’re not in the mood for a portrait session.

Then, there’s Gordo.

Lately, I’ve been making a conscious effort to get portraits of the individuals who spend less time in the spotlight, and Gordo has been the most challenging of that bunch.

Gordo is a wallflower. Despite getting along with chimpanzee companions and human caregivers alike, he exhibits some introverted tendencies. It seems like his ideal afternoon would probably be spent lounging quietly on a lofted platform with an enrichment puzzle in his hands, avoiding drama and staying out of the limelight. This makes him one of the more difficult chimpanzees to photograph.

A couple weeks ago, I saw Gordo laying among his group-mates in the indoor front rooms. Everyone was avidly grooming each other, as they tend to do in the downtime that follows breakfast. Gordo was serenely looking down the hallway, clasping his feet and soaking up the warmth from the heated floors, and we eventually made eye contact. I nodded reassuringly, and he kept staring back. I slowly reached for the camera hanging around my neck and raised it up to eye level as if to ask “can I take your picture?”

Gordo coolly remained where he was and allowed me to approach. I gently knelt in by the caging, brought the viewfinder up to my right eye, and turned the focus ring until Gordo’s auburn eyes and platinum goatee were visible in sharp detail. After I got a couple good shots, I put the camera down and simply sat in Gordo’s proximity for a little bit, enjoying the moment. It wasn’t the fervent grooming or exuberant play that we associate with the sanctuary’s more extroverted residents, but his acceptance made my day nonetheless.

Sunday Energy

January 23, 2022 by Sam Jones

Today felt colder than it was last week, but that didn’t stop Burrito from running out onto Young’s Hill as soon as they had access! During the warmer weather Burrito is usually ready to start running around the hill when his group gets access in the mornings. Today he had that same energy and sprinted out and stuck to the snow path that leads to one of the structures. I didn’t have the camera with me at the time to take any photos, but later in the day Chad was playing chase with Burrito so I followed them. Burrito kept making his way out onto the hill after running around the Greenhouse. Right now the human paths around the Greenhouse are icy in some spots so we are slower (at least I am) on our end of the chase. That doesn’t stop Burrito though! It just means he has to wait a little longer for me to catch up.

Burrito wasn’t the only one in a playful mood today. Mave was all for some playful stomps and mini games of chase. I wasn’t able to get a photo of her from today, but this one is from a couple weeks ago.

It can sometimes be hard to get a photo of Burrito in this spot because he usually wants to play chase. This morning I was able to get a couple quick photos before he was running through the front rooms!