Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for March 2023

Scenes from the Vault

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Today was a busy day at the sanctuary. Days like today mean it’s time to reach into our “vaults” of unseen photos and share a few of these moments.

Kelsi took this photo of Mave and Dora working to get the peanuts out of their boomer balls. Mave was simultaneously receiving some grooming care from Honey B.

Last week I found Honey B holding Rayne’s foot. These half sisters make a really sweet pair sometimes.

Speaking of Rayne, Kelsi caught her draping this lavender sheet over her shoulders during a meal a few days ago. She carried it around for quite some time.

 

Popular

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I captured two moments of popularity at the sanctuary today that you can check out below, but first we have a fun event coming up that I wanted to highlight! We have our next virtual visit scheduled for April 15th. This visit will be focused on the chimpanzees’ medical care at the sanctuary and will feature a Q & A session with our veterinary team coming to you live from the chimp house! Please click on this link for more details on how to sign up.

The first “popular” moment was when Jamie and I went for a walk on Young’s Hill. Burrito popped out of the raceway and shadowed Jamie closely for the majority of her patrol:

Jamie stayed out a little bit longer for a peaceful moment alone:

The second moment was this grooming circle where Honey B was the center of Terry and Rayne’s attention:

 

 

Neggie’s Great Adventure

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It may not quite look like Spring yet, but it’s definitely starting to feel like it! Something extraordinary happened today that needs to be shared!

When Jamie’s group went out onto Young’s Hill, Foxie and Burrito burst out chasing each other, Annie and Missy not far behind them, and Jody popped out for a second but walked back into the greenhouse shortly after. I was curious where she went, but when Jody came back out she had brought Negra and Jamie with her. Negra didn’t stop at her usual spots (like her cabin), she just kept following Jody up the hill.  Jody was always looking back to make sure Negra wasn’t far behind. I assumed that Negra would stop at one of the mounds in the middle of the Hill where she likes to forage for foliage and then usually turns back to go inside for a nap in the greenhouse, but to all of our surprise, Negra had other plans today! About 30 minutes after letting the chimps onto Young’s Hill, JB was going around the hill with Burrito for a walk. When they got to the top of the hill JB found Neggie sitting on Carlene’s tower eating pine needles like it was no big deal, like she always goes up to the top of the Hill and hangs out on structures. JB radioed to tell us Negra was on the tower, I dropped my scrub brush and came running up the Hill with the camera to capture the moment. If this story sounds familiar, it’s because Negra has only done this one other time 3 years ago! On top of Negra being on Carlene’s Tower, since our new expansion Negra has not ventured up to this new tree space. This rare sighting of Negra exploring is one of the best feelings of sanctuary. The feeling of comfort, safety, choice, and freedom.

JB took video, so maybe he will share that with us all soon, but for now, let us enjoy photos of Negra on Carlene’s Tower, where she has always belonged.

This morning Jody (left) making sure Negra (right) was going to join her on an adventure:

Negra making her way up:

I couldn’t pick just one photo of Negra!

The highly anticipated Negra on Carlene’s Tower:

Negra was also enjoying a pine needle snack:

Negra stayed out for more than an hour out on Young’s Hill. When she decided to go inside Jody was waiting for her :).

Bonus!

Burrito:

Missy Reassuring Jamie on Young’s Hill:

Little Foxie:

Curiosity and the Chimp

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Chimpanzees are very curious by nature. They love to investigate and understand things, both in captivity and the wild. You can see that in action in Sunday’s blog where Honey B was able to figure out how to get the hose as well as yesterday’s blog of Cy’s group watching J.B. put together a new scale and Missy inspecting the tree roots. Curiosity is one of the many things I love about chimpanzees and my job because I get to see it in action. It is also one of the many reasons why chimpanzees (and all primates) should not be pets or used for entertainment. (I have been preparing a blog to tackle that subject, so more on that later.)

When I look into the eyes of someone like Jamie or Honey B, I always throw myself into the rabbit hole of trying to figure out what wheels are turning behind those eyes.

For instance, there was this from today.

What was going on through Jamie’s mind when she was trying to shove a plastic tube through the barrier that separates both groups? Was she trying to attack them with it? Was she trying to sneak them some contraband enrichment? Did she just want to groom them?

Or even the confidence level someone like Jamie has. To me, there is a lot of mental calculation to be had to just leave your breakfast on the windowsill to go find some more food someone left behind possibly, and be confident that nobody will try to steal it.

Or Burrito’s new favorite reality show, “The Neighbors” starring Cy and friends. Burrito spends a lot of time at the window trying to get a glimpse of his neighbors, even using a mirror to get a better angle on those hard to see areas of the chute.

He also will almost systematically go to the window at the same time in the afternoon everyday and nothing can pry him from his seat. This is usually around the time either Willy B or Gordo begin their afternoon displays and rouse things up in their group, which more often than not now will make it’s way into the chute.

The minds of chimpanzees are fascinating, which help make them such an fascinating species overall to me.

Just some random thoughts I had about today as I was doing some Chimp House chore and finding these hints of goings on they were getting themselves into earlier on in the day.

I will end it with Rayne laying on the firehose reaching for her breakfast being served.

An Afternoon Assortment

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It’s a typical afternoon here at CSNW. Gordo was just yelling at Willy B, which led Willy B to intimidate Terry, which caused Terry to yell at Willy B, which led Honey B to yell at Gordo. And now they are all grooming together with Cy. I can hear the breathy panting and teeth clacking from the foyer. All’s well that ends well, I guess.

Gordo:

Things have been fairly quiet on the other side of the building, save for a few minor spats. I just took a walk with some of the gang to the top of Young’s Hill. Missy seems to think something is amiss with this giant tree root that we left behind as enrichment.

But she’s not willing to get close enough to find out what that might be. It’s too early for snakes, but better safe than sorry.

This afternoon I was putting together a new scale, which we can use to weigh chimps while they are on the cot as they are entering the clinic for an exam or procedure. A chorus of raspberries from the other side of the door suggested that it was a bit rude to keep this new piece of equipment a secret.

When I opened the door, all nine of Cy’s family were sitting in the medical room and the room adjacent to it, waiting to see what all the commotion was about. This group is often alarmed by new, large pieces of equipment but the scale appeared to be more of a curiosity that anything. After a quick look, they all went about their business.

Our old feral friend Barn Kitty recently returned from his travels throughout the canyon with a new and improved attitude. He’s mellower and generally less intent on hurting us, which is nice. In the past, his MO was to follow us around and use his tiny kitten voice to ask for food, only to hiss and swat at us when we tried to give it to him. I’m not sure what prompted such a change but it is most welcome, for however long it lasts.

I’ll leave you with this photo of our farm hand, Benny, assisting Kelsi with her cattle care chores. To be perfectly honest, he’s really not that helpful. I think he’s in it just for the Gator rides.

The Great Hose Heist

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What a day!

One of the enrichment items we pass out for the chimps in the evening before caregivers leave are treat buckets. For treat buckets, we fill buckets with a variety of soft enrichment items (socks, scarves, etc.) and put seeds, nuts, or fruit slices in the bottom. We place these on the outside of the caging and give the chimps bamboo sticks so they can get the goodies out of the buckets. Straight forward concept, right? Pretty fool proof, right? That’s what we thought, too.

We were wrong.

We came in this morning and discovered that there was some sneaky heist action last night after the caregivers went home! Check out the blog video to see who was involved and what happened.

Teaser Photo:

The one with the giant pine cones!

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We have the BEST supporters ever! We get donations from all over the United States, and sometimes even from other countries, but this donation came from close by. A week ago I was visiting my friends’ parents in the Yakima area and noticed the massive pine cones they had on their backyard. My first thought was “how weird would they think I am if I ask for permission to take some of those with me?”. After explaining what enrichment is and how much it benefits the life of chimpanzees in captivity, I grabbed as many as I could and brought them in. They are now gathering more for us! On the video it is a bit hard to visualize the size of these pine cones, but once Dora grabs one it is evident that it is almost the size of her cute small head. All the chimps in Cy’s group were super excited about these and spent quite some time getting every last bit of peanut butter from them. This was such a popular item that I can’t wait to pick up some more for the rest of the chimps!

Rayne