Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Diana

Ageless Beauty

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I have always looked somewhat young for my age, which was annoying when I was a kid, especially as a teenager when I was in a hurry to be an adult.

I’m sure this has played a part in my not really dwelling about my appearance as I aged. Until 50 came along. That’s when I found myself noticing wrinkles that I swear had appeared overnight.

and hairs on my face that were going grey and seemed to be reproducing.

I pondered what my eyebrows were doing. They seemed to have concocted a mission of their own.

The ever-darkening bags under my eyes became a not-very-pleasant surprise every morning.

old scars that I had forgotten about made themselves known again.

 

None of the faces above are mine, of course.

The faces of Missy, Annie, Lucky, and Burrito, and those of all chimpanzees, are so full of character. Each one unique; different and special.

Their appearance too has changed in the time I’ve known them. They have more gray hair, deeper wrinkles, more scars, sometimes lumps and bumps that were not always there.

I could examine their faces all day – the delicate folds under their eyes, the wrinkles around their mouths that are even more noticeable when they purse their lips for a kiss or to make a raspberry sound. The tiny hairs on their lips and in their noses. They are all beautiful.

I’m glad that the chimpanzees don’t have our human vanities and insecurities. They are who they are today. They are who they are tomorrow. They don’t need calendars. They don’t count and compare the length of time they’ve been alive. They don’t need to spend time contemplating the passage of time and how that shows up on their faces and bodies.

They focus on the important aspects of their lives, like the sound a jolly ball makes when you bounce on it and the fresh pineapple on the menu at lunch.

In the Zone

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Chad recently shared an article that I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks. You can read the whole article here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0382

The bit that caught my imagination was this:

‘Positive animal welfare is defined as the animal flourishing through the experience of predominantly positive mental states and the development of competence and resilience’.

In humans, flourishing is a composite concept that typically includes positive emotions, life satisfaction or happiness, engagement, meaning and purpose or a sense of achievement, fulfilling and supportive social relationships and resilience [20,21]. Flourishing links to mental and physical wellbeing [22,23]. Other authors refer to the achievement of one’s full potential [24]. Animals may experience attributes linked to flourishing such as affective happiness, defined as a long-term state reflective of how an animal feels most of the time [25], flow as a state of complete absorption in an intrinsically rewarding activity [26], and supportive and fulfilling social relationships [27]. Thus, flourishing is an aspirational goal for scientists and animal caretakers to work towards understanding and enabling in animals. Research is needed to identify (likely species-specific) features, scientific methods and valid indicators of flourishing in animals.

The part I bolded in the quote above is what I’ve been pondering. It lead me to put together today’s video that shows what may be chimpanzees in a flow state.

What do you think? What flow states did I miss? What was your favorite to watch?

Remembering Nutmeg

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Nutmeg will always be remembered for his (usually) gentle and innocent nature. I hope you enjoy today’s remembrance video in advance of his birthday.

If you’ve been with us for some time, you may recall (or allow me to remind you) of the blog post Boyish Charm I wrote about the endearing qualities that Nutmeg seemed to share with Burrito as well as our  big-headed-and-hearted dog Wilson, who has also since passed away.

I still don’t know what precisely it is about their “enchanting youthful demeanor” that fills me with such love, but I am eternally grateful for having experienced Nutmeg’s presence and big doughy personality, and to have been able to be with him on his last day last spring.

I hope you will eat an apple for Nutmeg tomorrow.

Fun with Sheets

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The ghost game never gets old for Missy! I had to do a double-take when I was watching the security cameras on Lucky’s side. It’s usually Rayne who plays under and with blankets and sheets, but there Lucky was having a great time as her groupmates continued to sleep. I hope you enjoy the video!

These little moments of the chimpanzees doing spontaneous joyful things are what keeps me going. You can see some of these moments LIVE via zoom on Valentine’s Day. Learn more and register here.

 

Honey B and Terry Back Together

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The video pretty much says it all.

No, that’s not true.

I’m sure J.B. will have more to share about the Terry and Gordo switch tomorrow!

I know some people are having trouble accessing our videos when clicking on the embedded videos on the blog. For some reason, YouTube has decided to ask people to sign in to their accounts to access videos. I guess it’s a known issue. If you are having trouble, here’s a link to watch the video directly on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGZ3ozNReQY

I’m also curious what happens if I include the video here instead of through our top posting system, so here it is:

Chimpanzee Locomotion (in Snow)

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Yesterday, Krissy posted a video of Rayne getting snow snacks following our first snowfall here at the sanctuary on November 17th.

You can tell in that video that the sky was a bit overcast. With a few notable exceptions, that’s how the sky has looked for most of this winter so far. The appearance of the sun receives a great deal of excitement from the humans these days.

And today, it was visible!

Perhaps Missy and Annie were equally excited for the sight of the sun because Ellen spotted them on one of the climbing structures on Young’s Hill.

I was able to climb up to the top of the observation deck and snap some photos of Missy walking back inside.

There was a path shoveled from a couple of weeks ago for the chimps to follow, but, still, they had to get their hands and feet in the snow some.

When I was looking at the photos I took, what came to mind is the way chimpanzees move.

Most often, when on the ground or a flat surface, chimpanzees are quadrupedal. That means they walk on both their hands and their feet. Their particular quadrupedal walking utilizes the flat part their feet, like humans, and the knuckles of their hands.

Chimpanzees can also walk bipedally like humans, just utilizing the bottom of their feet and allowing their arms to hang by their sides (or hold a bunch of foraged food like the photo of Missy below).

Their heads sit differently on their spine than humans and their hips are different, so bipedal walking is not as easy for them.

Missy, however, often does a “jump through” movement, especially when traversing the outdoors. In scientific circles this is known as “crutch-walking.”

You can see it in the photos below. Her arms are parallel and she pulls both of her feet through her arms at the same time.

After doing that once or twice, she moved on to the more common quadrupedal locomotion:

Three Short Stories

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To understand the impact of the first story in today’s video requires the background of yesterday’s blog post by Jenna. So go read that first if you haven’t yet.

Can we talk about celebrating another year of Burrito??!! Tomorrow’s bash is going to be a celebration focused on the things he likes most in life, and we hope you’ll join us here on the blog tomorrow evening to see how charming Mr. B celebrated his 42nd birthday.