Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for November 2022

Today is for Lydia!

by

Many thanks to our long-time chimpanzee and bovine friend, Tobin, for sponsoring today in honor of her friend, Lydia!

“On this Thanksgiving Day, I am sponsoring this day of sanctuary in honor of Lydia. On behalf of her friends Mary and Matt, Karen, Sadie, Susie, Mike and Kevin, those of us who know her are thankful that we do. Lydia has wisely used her intellect, work ethic, and compassion for others throughout her life.

A few years ago when I was showing her photographs of the chimpanzees and cattle who reside at the sanctuary, she asked me what their personalities were like. In my explanation, I stated that they were all enthusiastic foodies! ‘They were so excited on Thanksgiving Day’, I said, ‘My friend Jody groaned in ecstasy as she savored her feast. It was said that she made a sound that Sue the Tyrannosaurus at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry would’ve emitted upon biting into her favorite tree’.”

Happy day to you and yours, Lydia! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from all of us here at the sanctuary!

Jody, in her glorious, happy, reigning Great Pumpkin Thief mode:

Terry during last year’s feast:

Mave enjoying cider cranberries:

Missy:

Nutmeg:

Negra:

Cy:

Jamie:

Burrito’s Sense of Humor

by

Burrito is a funny guy! He is always making us laugh, but from time to time his group doesn’t always think he is so funny. For example, in this video Burrito may or may not have gotten a little too wild for Foxie’s taste!

As you can see, Burrito is having so much fun playing with the giant stuffed bear. Make sure to check out the Comfort & Joy auction! There are a lot of great Squishmallows I know Burrito would love!

Please enjoy this silly video and some bonus photos!

The rare close up of Missy:

Beautiful Negra:

Jamie eating snow:

A series of Foxie photos:

 

Emotional Beings and Where to Find Them

by

Before we get into the thick of it, let’s play a game!

This is an identification game: super hard expert level! All nine in Cy’s group were caught napping on the second floor of the Marmot Mountain Playroom! Even some of the staff couldn’t get the correct answer. I admit, I would probably be wrong too had I not been cleaning in the adjacent Lupine Playroom to see who is who at the time. I would be pretty astound if somebody can get them all identified correctly!

Good Luck!

There has been video circling around on the internet recently that has been gaining popularity. The video is of Mahale, a female chimpanzee from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, being reunited with her new born son, Kucheza. It is such a sweet and endearing video. I personally have probably watched it maybe 100 times, and that’s the low estimate. I was taken aback when I read some of the comments, however.

Perusing through the comments, I was astonished that it seemed a lot of people were just now seeing a species outside of Homo sapiens can experience emotions such as compassion or motherly love. I know I’m in a unique position where I have studied chimpanzees for several years and worked with them for a few, so the concept of them having emotions is not a foreign concept to me. I am excited, however, that video has generated the discussion and awareness of animal emotions.

Let’s face it, it is a very emotional video. Mahale was giving birth when there were complications. The veterinarian staff decided and emergency c-section had to be performed to save Kucheza. After two days in intensive, Kucheza was finally given back to his mother. And the rest is history, as they say. I am really happy for Mahale and Kucheza, and applaud the care and veterinarian staff of the Sedgwick County Zoo. But where there is a bright side, there is a dark.

After a few more watches, hit it me thinking about this type of situation with our residents and how they were never afforded the opportunity to be reunited with their child and raise their children. What kind of mother would Jody really have been? Would Foxie still be famous if she had the opportunity to raise her children instead of bonding with a Troll doll? Would Negra have a less grumpy attitude if she was able to raise her children? Would Annie be as sweet and caring as she is with her friends? Would the first rounds of integrations a few years ago be different if Missy was able to recognize Honey B as the daughter she gave birth too? There are a lot of what ifs that can play out, but I find it best to just focus in the present time.

In any case, they are here, now, living the best life they possibly can with such a horrid pasts behind them. I think we are all just thankful and relieved Mahale and Kucheza are able to spend all the time they can together and not suffer the same fate.

I wasn’t able to get any good photos today since it is now snowing and the chimpanzees spent nearly the whole day in those out of reach spots. Luckily enough though, I had some I almost forgot about!

The ever adorable Honey B
Mave working through her night bag
Terry enjoying an evening ice egg
Cy and his afternoon reading material

Have you guessed who is who in Marmot Mountain Playroom?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Here is the answer!

Where There’s a Hill, There’s a Way

by

The chimpanzees in Jamie’s group often begin their mornings by patrolling their outdoor enclosure, Young’s Hill.

Downpours, blizzards, and extreme cold are just about the only events that can deter them from engaging in this ritual activity. The temperature was well below freezing this morning when I opened the door to Young’s Hill after breakfast. I was quite cold despite the morning sun and a couple extra layers over my scrubs, so I doubted any of them would want to be outside either. I had equipped my shorter camera lens thinking that I might photograph a brave chimp or two as they curiously peeked their heads across the threshold.

I was quite wrong (as we humans so often are when we attempt to predict chimpanzee behavior).

The chimpanzees darted out into the wide open habitat in a single file line, diverging further up the slope and dispersing among the structures and bamboo. Some individuals seemed more interested in watching Aaron, Gary, Jose, and J.B. work on The Bray, while others trekked uphill to the grove of pine trees. I managed to get only unflattering shots of their backsides as they disappeared beyond my view.

Missy and Annie:

Missy, Annie and Burrito:

Foxie, Burrito and Annie:

Jamie, Foxie, Burrito, Annie and Jody:

Foxie and Burrito:

Missy (if you can spot her):

Only Negra chose to remain inside. As comedian Jim Gaffigan would probably describe her, Negra is “what you would call indoorsy.” With the exception of special events, Neggie generally prefers to nest in the greenhouse after breakfast and leaves the outdoor exploration to her companions. I stopped to visit her on my way back to the Chimp House and saw she was snoozing peacefully under a mountain of fleece blankets in the warm greenhouse.

The care staff had been busy cleaning the playrooms for a short while when J.B. shared an unexpected photo in our team’s group chat. Negra was now sitting atop a platform outside on Young’s Hill! The Queen, for some reason, decided that this chilly morning was the perfect moment to go on a hike.

I detoured into the foyer to switch lenses and dashed outside in a desperate attempt to document the moment (hoping to share it on the blog this afternoon). I made it around the corner just in time to get a single blurry photo of Negra plodding her way back into the greenhouse. Some of the other chimps remained outside for a bit longer, but Neggie’s interest in the outdoors appeared to have subsided for the day.

However brief, these unexpected winter adventures have been reason enough to keep the outdoor enclosures accessible even when the conditions are less than ideal. We never know what interests and motives the chimpanzees might have, so we give them the freedom to choose their own path whenever it is safe to do so.

Burrito sunbathing this morning:

P.S. It’s 3:00 p.m. and I just stepped outside for a quick breath of fresh air before publishing this post. The sun is now behind a wall of incoming clouds and the temperature is about to start plummeting. I started to think about how the chimpanzees were probably snuggling in the heated playroom when a dark, incongruous silhouette atop Young’s Hill caught my eye. I could just make out Missy’s stout frame as she galloped alone along the far edge of the enclosure. It was yet another surprise that shouldn’t have surprised me.

Terry’s Bronx Cheers

by

Terry is one of our most vocal chimps! Daily, he spends a large amount of time Bronx cheering, also known as blowing raspberries. I saw a few comments about Terry’s Bronx cheers on our recent videos, so I thought it’d be a great topic to dive into today.

Terry doing what he does best, Bronx cheering:

For those unfamiliar with Terry’s Bronx cheers, you can hear him do so here (1:31), here (0:43), and here (1:38). I have also included a link to a video that J.B. created a few years ago that covers Bronx cheers (located at the top of this page), however Terry had not arrived at CSNW then so he wasn’t featured in that specific video.

Let’s dive into how humans created the term Bronx cheer as well as blowing raspberries.

“Bronx Cheer”:

Definition

  • a sound people make by vibrating their lips in order to express disapproval or contempt
  • a sound created when ridiculing somebody

“Raspberry”:

Definition

  • a sound of contempt made by protruding the tongue between the lips and expelling air forcibly to produce a vibration

As you can see, Bronx Cheer and Raspberry are basically synonymous.

Origin of “Bronx Cheer”:

  • Originated from The Bronx, a borough in New York City
  • The phrase is believed to have originated after or during the 1920s when it first appeared in the Bridgeport Telegram, a Connecticut newspaper. The term was used in reference to a soccer match.
    • Written as “…if Chicago lose the east will grin and give western football the jolly old Bronx cheer.”
  • Originated as a slang term in the USA in the early 20th century and began appearing in newspapers around 1920 on topics such as sports.
  • ‘Bronx cheer’ was included in an English-American Dictionary column that was printed in the English newspaper The Daily Mail in 1924, which was part of the Mail’s regular attempts to keep their readers up to date with Americanisms.

Origin of “blowing a raspberry”:

  • Essentially the same action as making a Bronx cheer
  • Some believe the expression is a shortened version of the Cockney rhyming slang ‘raspberry tart’ and the sound is an imitation of flatulence
  • Other explanations are that a raspberry comes from the shape of the lips when making the sound

Now you must be wondering, how did this end up relating to chimpanzees?

As J.B. wrote on his Bronx cheer blog in 2020, captive chimpanzees have discovered that the Bronx cheer, or blowing raspberries, is a great attention-getting sound to capture the attention of humans, especially when used repetitively and loudly. It can mean “hurry up”, “gimme that”, “look at me”, etc.

While I did not cross-check across multiple sources, I did find an article that said Bronx cheering or blowing raspberries has not been reported in any wild chimpanzee group. However, it has been reported in some (not all) groups of wild orangutans. I will link this article here to read more.

Some non-vocal common ways that captive chimpanzees use as a means to capture the attention of caregivers include cage banging and hand clapping.

Back to Terry:

While many of the chimps at CSNW use a Bronx cheer sometimes, especially when food is being served, Terry takes it to a whole different level. It’s almost part of who he is, which may be weird to say. Terry will Bronx cheer during meals while waiting for his turn, he will Bronx cheer to greet a human and interact with them throughout his day, and also will often Bronx cheer while grooming (although he lip-smacks while grooming too).

Ghost Spotted (Totally not Burrito!)

by

While I thought spooky season was behind us, I was in for a true shock today when I was cleaning the front rooms and saw a ghost.

Let me tell you exactly what happened.

I looked up briefly from sweeping and that’s when I saw it. I saw a fast moving figure pushing a giant barrel across the room. The barrels are quite heavy so whatever force was pushing it, was strong and determined. The figure was just a blur of yellow. Which is weird, because usually figures are dark, aren’t they?

I quickly ran out of the front rooms and approached the Playroom door, to get a better look at the “ghost” I had spotted. I began to question myself and wondered if this was all in my head. My heart was racing.

I rounded the corner and saw the “ghost” staring out the window, blankly. Again, the figure I was looking at was highlighter yellow in color – which is still so strange to me. Then, out of nowhere, the ghost looks at me. We make eye contact for what feels like eternity. Then, suddenly, the “ghost” starts drinking water. I also found this puzzling.

I am still frozen in fright at this point. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know who to call on the radio. My feet feel like they’ve been nailed to the ground.

Unexpectedly, the ghost turns and starts running straight at me. In that moment, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. I was completely frozen.

The “ghost” clutches the caging that separates us. They bop up and down. They hit the caging. They open their mouth and reveal their teeth to me. I will never forget those teeth.

Then, what happens next will surprise you… The “ghost” starts LAUGHING. While looking straight into my eyes, they start laughing. Can they sense my fear? Do they find my fear amusing? Are they taunting me?

Okay, I’m done with this thriller novel.

If you have watched the video already, you will see that this “yellow ghost” was indeed our friend, Burrito. He had a neon yellow blanket draped over him all morning and was being extremely silly!

If you haven’t watched the video yet, go watch it and this will all make sense!

I hope you get a chuckle out of it 😉