Today I get to continue the love blogs by talking about my good friend and sanctuary Matriarch, Negra Chimpanzee. It’s nothin’ but all hail the queen on today’s blog!
Negra is best known for her love of giant cozy nests and her ability to stay in those nests for many hours of the day. There are about 3 different nesting spots you can find Negra in, depending on the time of the day…
Her greenhouse nest:
Or her catwalk nest:
A throwback photo of her loft nest:
She is highly motivated by lettuce, peanut butter, baked sweet potatoes and that elusive special party dinner roll.
Negra vacillates between sweet old lady chimp and impatient moody senior citizen on a daily and even hourly basis. You don’t always know what kind of Negra you are gonna meet in the morning but we love and accept her two sides just the same.
One of my favorite memories of Negra is working with her during our Positive Reinforcement Training sessions. Negra is particularly spicy when it comes to participating in the training and it was a pleasure making progress with her.
A memory of our younger selves. Here Negra receives a spray treatment for an injury:
Also, watching Negra progress in confidence going outside has been AMAZING.
One of her most recent outdoor victories, climbing aboard Carlene’s Tower:
Like so many older chimpanzees, Negra was born in the forests of Africa, where she was captured as an infant. She spent most of her life in biomedical research laboratories, though with each passing year that chapter grows more distant. In the labs, she was involved in hepatitis vaccine research and was also used as a breeder. She gave birth to three children, all of whom are now, thankfully, living in sanctuaries. Her daughter Angel resides at Save the Chimps in Florida, along with her son Noah, who is also one of Burrito’s many half-siblings. Her daughter Heidi was the last to reach sanctuary and now lives at Chimp Haven in Louisiana.
Negra on her first day at CSNW. She truly seems to age backwards:
Negra currently has 10 loyal chimpanzee pals who generously donate towards her care and could certainly use more to help keep up her supply of peanut butter Kongs and fleece blankets. Follow this link if you are interested in becoming Negra’s Pal. We can’t thank you enough.
All hail the queen!
