Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Anna

Deep Breaths!

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Lately, George’s side of the building has been awash with busy energy as we work to get him acquainted with his new surroundings and make plans for his next steps at the sanctuary. Shifting the chimpanzee groups around to make our plans happen for George requires a sharp mind and extreme attention to detail. It’s a lot of rewarding work to configure that complicated shifting puzzle but it can also be a bit of a relief to take a break and work on the other side of the building with the generally consistent Jamie’s group.

Today, like all my lead caregiver days, I worked with Jamie’s group. It was really nice to take a deep breath and stop for a minute to watch their peaceful lunch forage.

Negra:

Foxie:

Burrito:

 

The Basics of Chimpanzee Behavior

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It’s been a little while since we’ve talked in depth about chimpanzee behavior and with the arrival of George we have a lot of new followers that seem eager to learn more about chimpanzees.  Today I thought I’d share some archival behavior footage of our original group of chimpanzees.

Watch each video for examples and explanations of some of the behaviors you will continue to see pop up on our future blogs.

Getting to Know George

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Yesterday, Diana announced the big news about our newest sanctuary resident George. We are absolutely thrilled to get to know this young guy and we’re just starting to scratch the surface of his personality and find out some of his likes and dislikes as he hangs out in his current quarantine space.

 

Here’s what we know so far…

  • George is an inquisitive chimp. He’s interested in the sounds and sights of his new chimpanzee neighbors and spends a lot of time looking out the window and door.
  • He likes most fruit, especially grapes and cherries!
  • He enjoys endive, bell peppers, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. We’re trying lots of different vegetables to see what his preferences are.
  • He likes a good protein smoothie with breakfast and juice served from a squeeze bottle.
  • He hasn’t yet shown interest in nesting with the blankets or paper that we have provided him.
  • He seems to prefer that food is hand served to him, rather than scattered as a forage.
  • We’re slowly introducing enrichment items to him so we can carefully monitor him. So far he has shown a little interest in a durable dog toy shaped like a giant peanut.
  • He plays chase and grooms with caregivers
  • He gives sweet kisses to our wrists with his tongue poking out just a little.

There are some people out there that probably know George much better than we do and we are very interested in learning more about our new friend.  If you are someone that has worked with George, we’d really like to hear from you so we can provide George with familiar items as he settles in.

Please also consider donating toward George’s care and thank you so much to all the support that everyone has provided George so far!

 

The best place to be

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We’re currently experiencing another blustery day in Central Washington. Fortunately, the chimps have just the solution for escaping the wind but still enjoying the sunshine…  The greenhouses of course!

Speaking of Central Washington, there are a couple of upcoming exciting chimp related events happening in our county this weekend!

Tomorrow, Central Washington University will be hosting several events honoring the legacy of Washoe Chimpanzee. Check out this link for more details!

For Saturday, CWU’s Primate Awareness Network has also organized the following opportunities (details below)!