Shifting occurs when caregivers are moving the chimps out of one space and into another, in order to clean the enclosures. We shift the chimps every morning, two to three different times so that we can clean every space. Our cleaning routines typically stay the same so that the chimps know what to expect. However, one of the many beauties of sanctuary is the fact that we don’t have a true schedule of where the chimps have to be at certain times (such as a zoo, where they may need to be on exhibit by a certain hour). While we have an ideal daily cleaning schedule in mind (typically from 9:30am-1pm), the chimps can say yes/no to our plans at any time.
After our first round of cleaning, we always put out a forage with greens (cabbage, lettuce, sometimes radicchio). While the chimps love greens, sometimes the forage alone isn’t motivation enough to shift. As we have discussed in many blogs before, Honey B is probably our #1 hold out (meaning she is less likely to shift with her group than anyone else), Negra is probably in the number 2 position, with the occasional Foxie, Dora, and Mave as runners up. While the cleaning day certainly goes by faster if all the chimps shift on-time, we don’t force anything. If Honey B doesn’t want to shift with her group, for example, she isn’t required to, and we will work around her while she hangs out alone or with team Mora when they occasionally don’t shift. Negra, on the other side of the chimp house, also has days where she prefers to stay in her warm, cozy Greenhouse nest and won’t shift back into the Playroom so we can clean the Greenhouse. Again, that’s okay and we will try at another time or the following day. Surprisingly, despite all of these ladies who always seem to question, “To Shift or Not To Shift?”, we manage to clean every space the majority of days!
The only times that we would absolutely need them to shift is in emergency situations, such as a rattlesnake or unusual bad weather. In emergency situations, caregivers would bring out high value foods (e.g. grapes or berries) to get the chimps attention and ask them to move to x enclosure or to vacate x enclosure (depending on the situation). We practice recalls regularly, so the chimps are familiar with the recall process and it should run fairly smoothly.
Today was a rough day for myself + the camera. I present to you the one photo that turned out…
Negra and the hair on her brow ridge:
