I must admit that I got quite sentimental in my latest blog post. I even tried to be insightful.
Today’s entry will contain nothing of the sort.
Instead, here is a dry update on everyone’s progress accompanied by images from my phone camera.
Burrito continues to heal and appears more active by the day, but he is still nursing some ugly wounds. We continue to monitor him for potential complications (including but not limited to bacterial infection). Getting him to take meds is a full-time job, so caregiver Katelyn had the tedious task of preparing various foods and trying to sell him on each. As J.B. recently explained, this has been the most challenging aspect of Burrito’s treatment plan. He did get a few bursts of energy today and spent quite a bit of time interacting with the female chimps through the mesh windows separating him from the Playroom. He even climbed up onto his favorite bench, although his movement was a bit shaky and he appears to only have a fraction of his normal strength. Still, it was good to see Bubba being Bubba.
The girls (Annie, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra) have been back to business as usual. They seem to appreciate a return to routine, although they spend a lot of time monitoring Burrito and watching the windows and doors for signs of their chimpanzee neighbors on the other side. Whenever Willy B makes an appearance, they shower him with submissive pant-grunts and excited gestures. The weather was chilly and windy today, minimizing the appeal of Young’s Hill, but Jamie recruited volunteer Chad to walk the boundary with her anyway. When not patrolling and policing, Jamie has been enviously watching us give all sorts of foods to Burrito and has been asking for similar treatment. Jody has been obsessively helping Burrito to groom his wounds and he seems glad to have such an attentive nurse.
Honey B has been an absolute star when asked to present her wounds for inspection and treatment. Her toe and backside are healing well and she is behaving like her normal self. She’s been more interested in grooming my freckles than she has been in her own injuries, so our concern for her recovery is minimal even though we continue to treat her lacerations with topical and oral medication. Honey B is an ideal patient because she is comfortable with our presence close to the steel caging and she is generally accepting of any flavor of yogurt, even if it tastes like antibiotics or Ibuprofen. As long as she gets to hold the spoon and hang out with caregivers, she’s happy.
Willy B and Mave have been dealing with the unfortunate loss of their new social partners now that the groups have been split up and integration efforts have been halted. Instead, they’ve been focusing on reinforcing their bonds with each other (and with Honey B, to a lesser extent). We’ve also been showering them with enrichment and allowing them to sunbathe in the outdoor chute during the afternoons.
Overall, everyone is trending upward. However, we continue to place an emphasis on helping Burrito to recover while keeping the other chimps busy and comfortable as the fall weather gradually fades into winter.
I appreciated your last “sentimental” post. That is a part of the whole picture…. this one was awesome too… Thank you as always to you and the rest of the cast and crew for keeping us informed.
And furthermore… GREAT PHOTOS! 🙂
He caught Willie B mid stomp, didn’t he!?
Willy was in a stompy mood.
Fantastic post and pictures! Thanks so much for the update. I’m glad everyone is doing well and am sending Burrito extra healing wishes.
Your posts are all wonderful and appreciated. Just as the rest of us have different moods and reflections, so do all of you! My heart goes to Mr. B and I’m sending healing energies to him and to all of them and you guys too! Love and hugs to you all…
I’m still disappointed for Wllie B and Mave….it almost seems as though, in different ways, Burrito and Honey B’s inability to read social cues (or simply not caring about them) dooms either group to stay the way they are. Which, of they were a group of 3 at WW, means they’re still better off here, since they have a home…the quarantine space seems so small.
Given that we will soon break ground on the next phase of expansion and still hope to bring in more chimps who need sanctuary homes, we will most likely have opportunities to introduce Willy, Honey and Mave to new chimp arrivals in the future. They will still have some degree of contact with the Seven, although the nature and pattern of that contact will depend on a lot of different variables.
Also, I wouldn’t be too harsh on their social skills. Each of the five chimpanzees who were in the Playroom during the most recent fight had previously, at one point or another, had heartwarming moments of acceptance towards unfamiliar chimps. Even Burrito has survived for decades with his six female companions, which is no small feat considering how abrasive and strong-willed they can be sometimes. Living in a social group is hard, but they’re all doing it with some degree of success.
As we’ve written before, social integrations are stressful and confusing for even the most savvy chimpanzees. It’s not a process they would ever go through in the wild, much less in the confines of a captive facility. Chimps can be trouble-makers and frequently push each others’ boundaries, and sometimes that escalates to more severe aggression when they perceive their options to be limited.
I enjoy all your writings Anthony and todays post did not disappoint. Thanks for the progress report. In the second photo of Burrito (sitting next to the red wagon) he looks so frail and small and it’s the first image of him where I can see how torn up it is. I hope he’ll be alright, I worry as I know he has long way to go. Happy to know Honey B is a star patient and doing well. After worrying about Mr. B, the photos of ham bone Willy B were a welcome relief. The image where he is fixing his hair is fabulous! Here’s to trending upward….
1. Burrito is small for an adult male chimpanzee, but he’s recuperating well and has begun to climb again. We’re hoping that he won’t be frail for long.
2. Thank you for the kind wishes and support!
3. I’m going to tell Willy B that you called him a “ham bone.”
Who started the fight? Is it jealousy that Burrito had an eye for Maeve when she first arrived? New chimp against old chimp Burrito?
Thank you for ALL posts and pictures! I can’t express to you how much I look forward to them everyday!
Hi, Anthony,
So was there anything wrong with becoming a little sentimental? Nope, not one bit. You’re a human primate. Your job is to take care of 10 non-human primates who act like human five-year-olds most of their days. And with that proximity all the time, it means you’re going to get ATTACHED to said five-year-olds. And there ain’t a thang wrong with that. It’s great to be technical, but don’t ever shut down that sentimental part of yourself that cares. It’s what makes everyone great caregivers, and that’s what those five-year-olds NEED.
BTW, was Burrito-toes’s ear part of that scuffle? I don’t remember anyone mentioning it. It looks awful, but doesn’t look recent.
Cheers.
Thanks, Carla! It wasn’t so much an apology for tapping into my emotions while writing the previous post as it was a warning that I lacked that sort of inspiration while writing this one.
I ain’t runnin’ from no feelins’.
As for Bubba’s ears, he was already missing the tips from some previous incident long ago. (It gives him some sort of floppy-eared puppy look.) They were bitten further during the recent fight, so they are a little cut up and scabbed over at the moment. Once they’re healed, we’ll have to compare photos to determine how much tissue he lost, if any.
Love your updates. Where did I miss that burritos hand was injured. I thought it was his private area that was injured. So burrito has multiple Injuries. So sad. Burrito seems to get the brunt from the fights. That makes me very sad. Burrito has always been full of fun and never seemed to get truly angry with fellow chimps I pray he will be ok. I love that guy
I don’t remember how many details we gave in our initial reports of Burrito’s condition. He received wounds on his hands, feet, backside, ears, nose, forehead, and his aforementioned genitals. The pattern of his wounds is consistent with our observations that he was ganged up on by multiple chimps who were very angry at him.
From a certain perspective, Burrito is a jolly little man who loves to eat and play. We have seen him do some pretty terrible things to the other chimps, though, which is how chimp relationships often work out. Such a society can be brutal sometimes, so the best we caregivers can do is to give them enough choices so that they don’t feel pressured to escalate things. It’s a never-ending challenge.
I must have missed something while I’ve not been able to follow your posts. What happened to Burrito? I love these chimps and so happy they have such loving caretakers.
It’s a long story, so I recommend checking our blog posts from the last couple of weeks to catch up. Thanks for loving the chimps!
Excellent report, Anthony! I don’t recall that Honey B’s “backside” injury had been mentioned before. Interesting to see the “ongoing” treatments list, too. I know Missy and Foxie had hysterectomies just before coming to CSNW so don’t need birth control; I’m curious why Honey B isn’t on the bc list?
All the pictures are terrific and your update was reassuring. Thank you!
I’ll have to double-check Honey B’s records to remember why, but we don’t believe she is ovulating and our veterinary and caregiving teams agreed it wasn’t necessary to have her on contraceptives during social integrations.
Thanks for the Wonderful update. You guys and gals are so Awesome!
Any update on Ellie aka ‘buttons’ the elk now living in an ‘exhibit’ at woodland park zoo? Is she being used as breeding stock?
I would recommend reaching out to the WPZ for an update from them. We don’t have any official news, but I believe she has been integrated with other elk and is coexisting peacefully with them in an enclosed (but suitable) habitat. It’s a shame she has to live in captivity but we’re happy that she has companions of her own species.
I am surprised to read that Annie, Jody, Jamie and Mave are recipients of contraceptives. I had assumed that the residents of the CSNW are unable to procreate at this stage in their lives. Sigh…how I wish that the Biosphere had more great ape species being fruitful and multiplying their numbers, and how I wish that the Anthroposphere could make allowances for the natural habitats wherein the great apes could, once again, thrive in great numbers.
As far as we know, they appear to still be ovulating. We use the occurrence of sexual swellings as a signal because the peak of that cycle usually indicates the highest probability of ovulation.
In 2010, a 56-year-old chimp at a zoo in Kansas gave birth, surprising all her keepers. News reports say that everyone thought she was too old to conceive. We really don’t know much about chimp menopause, so it’s better to be cautious. :/
It was very good of you to circle back around and answer so many questions, Anthony! Well done! 😀
I try my best, Sherry!