Check out today’s blog video for some silly antics with Willy B and Honey B!
Archives for May 2025
The Bray Breeze
Today’s blog videos consists of many things: play, dancing, smoothies, sunshine, and the beautiful breeze.
While recording Cy out on The Bray, I was enjoying watching him look up to the sky, watching the birds, and I believe he even caught an airplane. It was so beautiful out and I loved watching him experience the day with me.
Check out today’s blog video here!
The Basics of Chimpanzee Behavior
It’s been a little while since we’ve talked in depth about chimpanzee behavior and with the arrival of George we have a lot of new followers that seem eager to learn more about chimpanzees. Today I thought I’d share some archival behavior footage of our original group of chimpanzees.
Watch each video for examples and explanations of some of the behaviors you will continue to see pop up on our future blogs.
A Day Full of Laughs and Little Moments
Today was a pretty busy day for humans and non-humans! As you will see in the video, there is not better way to pass the time than playing and spending quality time with an old friend. Foxie and Burrito spent quite a bit of time laughing and playing with each other while we cleaned their Playroom. Their friendship always warms my heart. Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, George had an exciting moment, received access to the chute again! Click here to watch the video of George using the chute for the first time! It was a big spectacle, especially for Cy’s group, who had the best view and were very curious observers.
I’ll be honest, it was a bit noisy throughout the chimp house today (but hey, that’s life with chimps!). Eventually, things settled down, and George got to enjoy some peaceful solo exploration of the chute. Every day brings something new, and today was full of connection, curiosity, and a little bit of chaos—the best kind.
Click here for today’s video!
For Central Washington University’s Museum of Culture and Environment
Many thanks to Lori Sheeran, Professor of Primate Behavior and Anthropology (and Board member and sanctuary volunteer!) for sponsoring this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees and cows in honor of the following:
“Thank you to everyone at Central Washington University’s Museum of Culture and Environment for the beautiful exhibit honoring Washoe, Dar, Moja, Tatu, and Loulis! Thank you to museum director Karisa Terry; preservation and museum specialist Lynn Bethke; graduate students Caity Bailey and Candice Mendez; and museum staff and interns Cormac Arenson, Zoe Hammer, Clarel Ruvalcaba, Winnie Killingsworth, and Rebecca Gutshall.”
Many of us had the joy of attending the exhibit’s opening during a recent day of events at Central Washington University, A Legacy in Every Gesture: Celebrating CWU’s Primate Program, honoring Washoe and her family, their profound legacy, and the continuing Primate Program. Diana wrote about this wonderful event here if you’d like to read more.
It was very special to see the primatology and local communities of the past many decades come together, putting so much heartfelt effort and care into honoring these amazing chimpanzee people and so many of the humans who are not only connected to the program, but have gone on to make a difference for chimpanzees, both in captivity and the wild.
Washoe (photo credit – Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute):
You may recall that Rayne is half-siblings with Tatu. Tatu and Loulis, the remaining members of Washoe’s family, reside at the Fauna Foundation in Quebec.
Jamie, enjoying her television:
Burrito and Foxie on Young’s Hill:
Cy enjoying his reading:
Amazing Honey B:
A Rose for George
We’re still on a journey to discover what George loves—whether it’s snacks or ways to keep him entertained—so we’re always trying out new ideas. I happen to have several big rose bushes at home and caregiver Ellen, recalled that some chimps she’s cared for in the past went wild for roses. So I let her snip a few for George, and that little treat turned into the blog video we’re sharing today.
George Starts to Explore
This morning, George got to see a little bit more of the sanctuary.
As an accompaniment today’s video, I thought it might be helpful to detail the process of accepting a new chimpanzee, particularly for those of you who are just now tuning in to our blog because of George. We’re so heartened to see the concern that you all have for George’s well being and we know that you have questions about what lies ahead.
There are three main things that we’ll be focusing on in the coming weeks and months: Ensuring George’s health and that of the chimpanzees already at the sanctuary, allowing him to become familiar with his new home, and eventually integrating him into a social group.
George received a preliminary medical exam on the day he was transferred to the sanctuary and he will receive a second, more thorough exam this week. These exams will help us ensure that he is in good health and will give us a baseline for future comparisons as he ages. The sanctuary’s veterinarian, Dr. Erin, will lead the exam but she will be joined by other veterinarians and specialists so that we can do the most thorough evaluation possible, including an echocardiogram to screen for heart disease. George is currently in quarantine, which is designed to limit the possibility that he could pass along an infectious illness to the sanctuary’s other residents. The length of the quarantine period is based on both the incubation periods for the illnesses we are concerned about and the results of the two exams, but at a minimum it will last several weeks.
As the quarantine process allows, we’ll also be gradually giving George time to explore to the different enclosures and habitats here at the sanctuary. The sanctuary consists of two main wings, one that houses the very first group to arrive at the sanctuary in 2008 and a new wing that currently houses two different groups that were rescued in 2019 and 2021. Each wing has smaller rooms for medical recovery, quarantine, and social introductions, one or two larger, two-story indoor playrooms, one or two two-story greenhouse enclosures, and a multi-acre outdoor habitat. We’ve found that chimpanzees who have lived on concrete floors for much of their lives can have difficulty adjusting to natural substrates, such as the bark mulch in the greenhouse enclosures and the grass and dirt in the outdoor habitats. This adjustment period can take anywhere from several weeks to several years; a few of the chimpanzees we took in in 2019 still prefer to avoid natural surfaces whenever possible. It’s possible that George will need time to adjust as well. Chimpanzees can become institutionalized in other ways, too—notably, chimps who have lived in smaller enclosures can be somewhat apprehensive about open spaces. The two-acre habitat that George will have access to is an open-top enclosure with expansive views of the surrounding mountains so it may require some time before he becomes comfortable. We’re hopeful that George will adapt quickly but he will be in charge.
And finally, a word on integration. It’s a difficult process and there’s never a guarantee that it will work out. Because we know little about George other than the fact that he has lived alone or in pairs for his adult life, we will move forward cautiously. When it’s time, we’ll have him meet some other chimps one-on-one at the mesh. This will be our first chance to assess whether or not he exhibits appropriate chimpanzee behaviors, to gauge his confidence (surprisingly, underconfidence can be worse than overconfidence during introductions), and to determine how his potential new group mates react to him. This process moves along in baby steps, with successful meetings at the mesh (“howdies”, as the are called in zoo and sanctuary parlance) followed by brief one-on-ones together in the same enclosure. Once he has had multiple successful meetings with each member of his potential new group, the process can gradually build until he is integrated in the group as a whole. This can take months. I want to be very upfront here and share that some amount of fighting is to be expected. The responsibility of our staff is to try to foresee and limit the worst aggression while allowing the chimps to work out their social order as chimps do. If George isn’t compatible with the first group we try him with, we will have other options and will ensure that he finds a group of his own. Because he really deserves to be with other chimpanzees.
I’ll leave you with a few photos of today’s lunch forage on Young’s Hill.
Foxie, Annie, Missy, and Burrito:
Burrito:
Annie:
Missy:
Foxie:
