Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Diana

Silent Communication

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Today, I spent some time with Honey B in silence.

When I’m one-on-one with a chimpanzee in a quiet moment, I find myself trying to communicate to them through my gaze or just my presence.

I want them to know that I’m so sorry for every bad thing that’s happened to them.

I’m sorry that humans took so much away from them.

I’m sorry that they will never know what it’s like to live free.

I want them to know that this place is all about giving them the best life we can.

And that I love them unconditionally for the unique person they are.

Honey B’s 33rd Birthday Movie

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How lucky are we that we have so many celebrations in June!

Also, how lucky are we to have such amazing supporters?! Your comments about caregivers for Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day will be read over and over again. We are all so grateful to have you all behind us all, providing so much encouragement and sharing your kind words.

Speaking of supporters, Paulette sponsored Honey B’s birthday today. It seemed like an extra special celebration in my view because she had more friends to share in her fun. I hope you enjoy the video, and I hope you enjoy this photo of Honey B looking into your eyes the way she looks into the eyes of her caregivers each day ;).

 

Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day – Share Your Thoughts!

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Tomorrow, June 10th, is the 5th annual Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day.

It’s nice that there’s a day set aside to consider this very niche profession. Many caregivers spend their days in somewhat obscurity doing the very emotionally and physically difficult work of caring for captive non-human animals.

Here at CSNW, the caregivers are somewhat more public-facing because all of the caregivers on staff contribute to this very blog, which, to be fair, is an additional duty on top of everything else they do at the sanctuary, but it is also a way that they can share their work and their unique perspectives.

We try to recognize volunteer caregivers here on the blog too, because they are also very important in providing a good life for the chimpanzees and bovines at the sanctuary; plus they improve the lives of the humans too!

For this year’s Animal Sanctuary Caregiver’s Day, I invite you, our dedicated supporters, to submit in the comments of this post what the caregivers at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest mean to you. I know that your words carry a lot of weight for everyone here, and I would love to be able to give all of the caregivers a morale boost after a challenging (though rewarding!) several months.

I personally will be forever grateful for our staff who give their hearts, their time, their expertise, their careful consideration, and their passion to provide the sixteen chimpanzees and four cattle at the sanctuary the individualized care that they so deserve. I continue to be impressed by everyone who works and volunteers here.

Now you go 😉

 

Blanket Gathering as seen from the security cameras

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There’s something so sweet about chimpanzees making nests.

In the wild, chimpanzees use branches and leaves to create their beds. In captivity, blankets are a favorite of everyone who nests.

Watching the cameras over these last several weeks, I’ve learned that some chimpanzees are more creatures of habit than others. Gordo, for example, definitely has “his spot” on the catwalk in the Lupine Playroom. He’s not much of a nest-maker, so he usually has just a couple of blankets and some paper, but he also pulls up a fire hose hanging down near his spot and sometimes incorporates that into his nest. Some of the other chimps, on the other hand, stake out different nest sites on different nights. Rayne made a big nest in the Oakwood Greenhouse last night and stayed out there for quite a while before coming in and nesting on one of the “leaves” of the “tree” in Marmot Mountain Playroom.

Mave, Honey B and Willy B, from day one of the integration, claimed the Front Rooms as their bedroom. Just in the last couple of weeks, though, Mave has, once in a while, opted to sleep in the Lupine Playroom in the mix with her new group-mates. And sometimes Honey B will begin her nesting in the Mezzanine and later move down into the Front Rooms, like you see Mave doing in this video.

It will be so interesting to see how their chosen nesting sites evolve as time goes on!

I know you all likely want an update on Jamie, given J.B.’s blog post yesterday. Right now she is nesting in the front rooms on her side of the building. She’ll probably be isolated for another day or so as we monitor her surgical site, but she’s doing great! She rested a lot today, but clearly was interested in getting back with her group soon.

 

The Nightbag Ritual & Your Questions About Integration, Again

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Before I get to the brief content of this blog post, I have a question for you, or, rather I have a request for your questions.

Several months ago, I recorded a conversation with Jen Feuerstein about integrating groups of chimpanzees with one another. Before that conversation, I invited blog readers to submit your questions for Jen. Then I made that recording available for a small donation.

I am going to be talking with Jen again in just a few days so that I can follow up with her now that she helped us make the final leap in putting the two groups of chimpanzees together. The group of nine has been together for just over a month, so the timing seems right.

Once again, I am inviting you to submit your questions about the integration process and now also post-integration considerations, worries, and expectations.

Your questions can be general to captive chimpanzees or specific to the integration that we just did. My thought is to add the follow-up conversation to the original video and make the whole thing more widely available for anyone who is interested in watching it (perhaps with a donation suggestion but available for free).

Let me know what you think, and write your questions in the comments to this blog post or send them to me by email at [email protected] Thank you!!

 

On to today’s musings:

We’ve written about nightbags before. They are the post-dinner packaged treat that we give the chimpanzees. I’ve never met a chimp who didn’t like them.

It’s more than just the food at this point, though.

It’s the ritual.

The crinkling of the paper as your caregiver twists the bag to hand it to you though the mesh.

The cracking open of the bag (however you might choose to get into the contents of your bag – some break the twisted bag in half, others carefully unroll it, open the bag, and reach in).

The immediate gratification of staying right where you are to partake or taking your bag and going to your favorite spot, away from everyone else.

The spreading out on a surface, then sorting with your fingers or lips, or just shaking the contents and pouring the seeds, peanuts, popcorn, and dried fruit right into your mouth (your individual method has been honed to your personal preference over the years).

The finding someone else’s nightbag spot and picking through the leftovers to see if there are any surprise shells with seeds still contained.

All of it is so satisfying.

Just ask Annie:

Or Foxie:

Dora and Honey B Reunited

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I think we’ve mentioned before that we know from Wildlife Waystation caregivers that Terry, Willy B, Dora and Honey B used to live together years ago. We also know that Mave and Gordo were roomies a while back too.

Today, when I was taking this video of Dora and Honey B, Willy B was grooming with Terry and Mave was grooming with Gordo. It’s nice to see these chimpanzee friends back together. ❤️

Mave’s Feminist Uprising

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Mave is currently living her best life. She seems to thrive in a larger group with more chimpanzees to interact with and look after. These last few days, she’s virtually never alone.

The video above is of a very fun play session between Mave and Rayne, but the blog post title is more about these two stories…

You may remember from a blog written by J.B. entitled “It’s Only Natural” that Terry and Dora are the only two chimpanzees who express a certain natural behavior. We know from their former caregivers at Wildlife Waystation that they haven’t always done this – they did it for a while, stopped for a very long time, then started again in recent years. Terry only requests that Dora mate when food is brought out for meals. Yep, food is VERY exciting for chimpanzees. From our observations so far, Dora is not always in the mood for Terry’s advances, but she eventually gives in to his requests.

Enter Dora’s new friend Mave.

Mave, apparently, is not willing to tolerate Terry’s behavior and will not only yell at Terry if she catches him requesting Dora to copulate, but will physically “protect” Dora. Chad wrote up the first instance of this the other day. To quote Chad, “Mave began screaming at Terry, and blocked Dora from him via hugging her.” She apparently spent the rest of lunch guarding Dora while also trying to reconcile with Terry. At that point, Terry was more interested in lunch. He did reassure Mave that all was okay, and did not make another attempt that day.

We’ll have to see how this plays out in the end, but I can tell you that the female humans at the sanctuary were feeling a certain feminine solidarity with Mave.

 

The second story is from last night when everyone was getting ready for bed. I was watching on the remote security cameras. Every night prior to last night, Mave, Willy B, and Honey B have slept in one of the Front Rooms while the six chimpanzees from the other group spread out among the two playrooms.

Last night, Cy was still up taking some alone time (or so he thought) in the Mezzanine. I watched as Mave gathered some blankets from the Marmot Mountain Playroom. I expected her to take her large pile of blankets through the Mezzanine and down through the door in the floor that connects to the Front Rooms. What she did instead was make a nest right in the “cubby” of the Mezzanine, blocking the door that connects it to Marmot Mountain. She made a beautiful nest and lied down.

A few minutes later, Cy approached where she was lying down. It was clear to me that he wanted to vacate the Mezzanine. Mave, however, remained lying down, not moving a muscle. He got a little closer and patiently waited again. Still no movement from Mave. After about ten minutes, he climbed over her to get out the door. She still didn’t move.

Mave is a female figure that we all can admire. She’s a friend to everyone but is strong and confident in her position.

If you haven’t already, I suggest you celebrate Mave by getting a Mave hoodie. I will wear mine with even more pride and admiration now.