Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Anna

Terry and Willy B

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Today we did a re-intro involving Terry, Rayne, Honey B and Willy B and it went really well! It’s always been a question of how the chimpanzee males will react to each other in a group setting and where they will fall within the dominance hierarchy. Today, Terry exhibited a lot of submissive behaviors (pant-grunts and bobbing) to Willy B who seemed to appreciate the amenable gestures.  While we don’t know what that means for future introductions, it was certainly a step in the right direction.

Willy B and Terry spent the afternoon playing and grooming with each other and took nice breaks to play with Rayne and Honey B.

Terry and Willy B:

First Look

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One of my favorite parts of every morning is the “first look” the chimpanzees take before they journey into the wide expanse of Young’s Hill. It’s that special quiet moment where they determine which direction they want to head out and which quadrant of their outdoor space they want to explore first.

Foxie in the doorway that leads out to Young’s Hill.
Jody, finishing up her breakfast.
Missy
Negra (chow in mouth) heads down the raceway.

Bonus! Willy B empties his giant Kong.

A different combination

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Lately we have made efforts to refocus our energy on our introduction program in hopes that the chimpanzees can continue to work towards a cohesive unit. Part of this process is trying different combinations of chimps than we have done in the past, particularly ones that we might be more concerned about fitting together. Today we went for Dora and one of her BFFs Gordo with Honey B and Willy B. There intro wasn’t exactly flawless, but it was such a joy to watch them work through their tension to finally relax enough to play together.

Meetings galore!

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We’ve still got a busy day ahead of us- full of multiple staff meetings, so that means a quick blog before lunchtime! Here are a couple moments I captured from this morning’s events.

Old friends, Negra and Jody eating breakfast together in the portrait studio:

Cy and his reading material:

 

Day Bags

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Recently, due to a presumed supply chain issue, we ran out of primate chow and have been unable to order more (for the time being).  Primate chow is a fortified biscuit that the chimps enjoy at the end of their breakfast and lunch meal services. It is a treasured final course for most of the chimpanzees so we needed to come up with a few temporary substitutions that would satisfy some expectant people that are HIGHLY familiar with our meal routine. Enter “Day Bags.” Day bags are similar to night bags (popcorn, peanuts and seeds -minus the dried fruit) and seem to please even the most avid chow enthusiast.

*Bonus footage at the end of this video of a beautiful sun filled adventure around Young’s Hill!