Big thanks to Jim, Audrey, Brian, a super hardworking group from Seattle’s Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN), and all of Saturday’s volunteers, we finished setting the poles for the primary fence yesterday!
J.B.’s secret hope is to get all of the poles in for the secondary fence next weekend, so now is the time to contact him to volunteer.
Take a look at some photos of the work yesterday:
Here’s one of my favorite new features of the hill – we’re calling this Missy’s tunnel:
Below is a photo of Karl, one of the NARN volunteers, testing out a firehouse swing. The chimps are going to have so much fun on the hill!
Great photos. The chimps are going to have so much fun out there.Thank you for the photos.
I’m so impressed by the volunteers, and you J.B., for all the hard work you’re doing so our friends can get out on that hill. I love how these seven little beings have brought so many people together. I can’t believe how many poles were put up this weekend. Add some greenery to the new poles and they’d look like trees.
I can’t help but chuckle because I see all the construction that will keep Jamie investigating for hours and hours and hours.
Burrito will have so much more room to display, so maybe no more etiquette lessons from the girls. He’ll be able to outrun them, hopefully.
Now there’s going to be electric fences that will be installed, right? Are the chimps going to have to learn, the hard way, to not touch the fence? I remember watching Chimp Eden and how the chimps reacted to their first-time touch of the “hot” fence.
Thanks Candy. Yes, some of the chimps will have to learn by touching the fence. We are going to install a short, temporary section of fence near the current outdoor enclosure. At some point, we will make it possible for the chimps to reach out and touch this section. This way, they learn about the fence but are able to quickly retreat to the safety of their home. We don’t want the experience of their first touch of the fence to be strongly associated with their first experience outdoors. Chimps don’t always need to experience the shock themselves to learn about the fence. In some cases, they will learn by watching others.
fantastic progress well done everyone ! its so exciting 🙂
Looks great! The chimps are going to love running around and playing. When they are tired, they can lay on the platform and gaze at the beautiful view! It’s so heartwarming to see so many people coming together to give these wonderful chimps a place to be outside. I can’t wait to see Jamie inspecting all the work, Missy and Annie chasing each other through the tunnel and Negra lazing in the sun. It’s going to be magical!
This is awesome