The Fourth of July holiday is a time when Americans celebrate their independence from Great Britain. For us here, we celebrate the freedom our residents have from the terrors of biomedical testing and harm from humans. For decades, many of the residents have spent their time in small cages and stripped of their freedom of choice. Today though, they have the freedom to make their own decisions, their own choices, and live the life they want to live.
I am fully aware it’s a bit ironic that I talk about their freedom, yet they are destined to live a life in captivity. It really breaks my heart and the rest of the staff here that we will never see Missy sprint in an un-fenced area, or see Rayne exploring new and exciting places. This is the life they have been dealt. The very least we can do is to provide them whatever freedoms and autonomy we can. When I arrive to the sanctuary every morning, I am no longer in my own world. I am in theirs.
To celebrate, the chimpanzees were treated to a forage of fan favorite: Watermelon Bowls! Each watermelon bowl contained: lettuce, a baked potato, baby back corn ribs, green onions, and blueberries! We even put some on the Bray! While everyone was foraging for the bulk of the watermelons inside, Rayne took the opportunity to collect nearly all the watermelon bowls placed on The Bray, as you can see in the video! It didn’t take the boys plus Lucky much longer to realize there was more food outside!
We wish you all a fun and safe Independence Day!
Here are some photos taken throughout the day!
Rayne
Don’t worry! Gordo came by to grab what Rayne chose to leave behind
Willy B
Terry
Missy trying to sneak pass Negra with her haul
Negra in her Cabin
Burrito
Foxie
Jamie enjoying a pre-celebration browse of currant branches
Viola! The prized watermelon bowls
Linda C says
Terry’s bunny hops through the mezzanine were amazing!
I love that everyone knows they have to sneak by Neggie so she won’t beg for anything :laughing:
Hope they don’t tire if the bowls! Foxie’s birthday is on the way!
Thanks, Chad
Karen says
I wonder how many serves are catered for per chimp. 3 bowls, 4, 5…?
Honey B had at least 3 bowls to herself.
Chad de Bree says
Hi Karen! We put out two bowls per chimp during these types of forage. Usually they grab what the want from the bowls first and move on to the next. What they leave behind is someone else’s preferred food most of the time. It’s like watching a game of musical chairs in a way. Though they all love watermelon, some of the items in the bowls were higher up on some of their priority lists, but for Honey B the watermelon was at the top of hers. Hopefully that makes sense.
Linda C says
That helps a bunch, Chad, I’ve often wondered.
So, if Neggie were the type to go far for a forage, she’d go to each picking out the corn and lettuce, Annie would run around after the green onions, Foxie the avocado, etc (except we know that Neggie probably just plopped down with the first bowl she found:smile:)
Karen says
Thanks Chad, yes that does make sense.
Its great they have so much choice, and can co-operate over food!
Marie says
I Never get tired of Watermelon Bowls….. appears All were pleased.:hugging: Happy July 4th to All:fireworks::fireworks::tada::tada::fireworks::fireworks:
tomaustin says
They really like the fresh fruit bowls……I know I would…!!!..:smiley:
Gaynell says
Happy 4th to all. Happy Chimp Freedom to run, to climb, to rest, and why not a little watermelon stealing among friends.
Kathleen says
Let freedom ring. And may there always be watermelon bowls aplenty! Great job, Chad, on capturing the excitement of todays celebration. Willy B was so excited gathering all his bowls that he just about spilled all the contents! And Terry’s bunny hops are priceless. Too bad the train scared the gang on the Bray. Thank goodness everyone braved the great outdoors afterwards. Whew! I never thought about the possibility that the train might scare them, I would have assumed they were acclimated to it since they hear and see it in their enclosed greenhouses. I forgot to factor in the vastness of the open air space, how vulnerable they must actually feel with every new change. Well, everyone but Rayne must feel exposed. Rayne is fearless! So proud of her.
Gaynell says
kathleen, it looked like Cy may also have had a quiet moment inside contemplating the lusciousness of those overflowing watermelon bowls.
Paulette says
What she said!
Kathleen said everything I was about to! What a fun and funny video. Looks like everyone had an awesome day. Thank you Chad!
Julie Medrano says
Having seen and interacted with the chimps when they were first ” rescued”, It’s a real pleasure seeing the chimps enjoying each other, new foods, and the enrichment they now experience. You have enriched and “bettered” their lives…..thank you!!!
Susan Kathleen Feeley says
Beautiful words, Chad, especially when you said that each day at the sanctuary you are in the chimps world. You sure celebrated ” freedom” with the chimps in fine style. Thanks for sharing those amazing photos/ video with us all.
Deanna says
OMG!!! The bunny hopping!!! :joy: I love it too much!!! What a great celebration! Happy 4 th everyone!
Francoise says
Great photos Chad. I’m sure you meant to say “And of course we put some on the Bray!” ;o)
Keep up being amazing, all of you.
Robin says
Watching them in the video makes me smile! Happy 4th to all.
Arlene and Michael says
What a great celebration and a wonderful post. Thank you for the pictures and video Chad. I love how excited the Chimps get when the food comes around. How wonderful that the Chimps have their freedom to celebrate everyday at CSNW! Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day:) Thanks for all you do.
Jane McDowall says
Hello, i’ve asked this before and unfortunatly not had a reply, which is fully and completely understandable and expected as you have so much to do especially when Queen Negra and Boss Lady Jamie to fullfill their orders. But, I was wondering, as with chimp familys, and their family dynamics and hierarchy, do all the chimps have the same amount of food or like in some places who have a lot of chimps, they sometimes have to bring in the lower ranked chimps to give them some extra as they may not get enough due to the higher rankers taking the most? But, like others have said, can i please come to your parties and have a fruit bowl?? Thank you, its not much, but thank you everyone for all that you do, for what we see and what we don’t see.
Gaynell says
Jane, i am right there with you about the fruit bowls. Not only are they nutritionally important, but the presentation is restaurant quality, until someone comes running through, grabbing abd spilling all the contents. Oh, what fun for all.
Linda C says
I’ve asked before, Jane. They do feeding through the mesh when they need to ensure that the smaller ones get enough. Plus, Foxie and Burrito’s chow bags are marked, bc they get more in their bags, but to Jamie and other swipers, it looks like “hey, everyone got 2 bags!”
Forages are done so that everyone gets what they like, plus the stimulus and energy expenditure involved with the hunt (some search harder than others, lol).
Tbh, I’ve seen the chimps reject foods they don’t prefer, or skip a course for chow or night bags (I’m looking at you, Neggie). If they were truly hungry, they wouldn’t reject foods.
The only time I wonder about it is when they have a holiday forage, and everyone is rushing for the rolls, bc I know Neggie is slower and loves the rolls. After this year’s jubilee, watching her climb up the hose to the catwalk to beat Missy to the cup of cider, I don’t worry as much! :laughing: