Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
You never know what you are going to find when you greet the chimps in the morning. For example, you might find Jamie upside down, acting as if its totally normal to begin the day upside down.
Today was a beautiful day for early February so we served lunch outside. Afterwards, Foxie climbed to the top of the enclosure to where she could throw her trolls down to us.
Missy loves to play chase outside. It’s not fair for us humans, though. The outdoor enclosure is built into a hillside, so while Missy just runs from one side to the other on flat ground, we humans have to run up a hill, around the back side, and back down again. Meanwhile, we can hear Missy laughing in anticipation of our arrival. When we finally get there, Missy has already taken off again.
As fun as it is for us to play chase with the chimps, we much prefer when they play together.
You’ll be glad to know that everyone is doing well, and although the chimpanzees are still trying to figure out where things stand after the fight, for the most part its business as usual around here.
This morning, Jamie kept herself occupied by playing with towels and water bottles (the loud noise you hear in the video is from Foxie hitting one of her trolls with a spoon!). She’s somehow always busy, and you can see how serious she is when she’s engaged in one of her many tasks, like pouring water from one bottle to another:
In the afternoon, Jamie, Foxie and Missy played outdoors. Foxie, of course, brought her trolls:
You’ve probably noticed in the photos we post that some members of the Cle Elum Seven are missing fingers, toes, and parts of their ears. Injuries like this are usually the result of fights with other chimps, and they are not uncommon in chimps who have spent years in captivity (or in the wild, for that matter).
Yesterday, there was an intense fight in our group. Everyone is going to be OK, but a few folks are pretty bruised and battered. It was hard to tell what started things off, but Burrito got the worst of it. While male chimpanzees are impressive, they are no match for six females acting together. Thankfully, everyone still has what was left of their ears, fingers, and toes.
What amazes me about chimpanzees is the way they reconcile after fights like this. As their friends, our instinct is to separate them to make sure no one gets hurt any further. But unless immediate medical intervention is necessary, its important for chimpanzees to be together after a conflict, whether that’s to make amends or to reinforce the new relationship that was established by the fight. Within minutes – after the alarm barking subsided – the entire group was together, grooming each others’ wounds.
Thankfully, chimpanzees also have an amazing ability to heal. The Cle Elum Seven are lucky to have three experienced and dedicated veterinarians looking out for them, so we are confident that everyone will be fully healed in no time. The humans, on the other hand, will be shaking for some time to come 🙂
Did you ever watch The Waltons? This was the show about the family living in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Great Depression. At the end of each show, the family members would say goodnight to each other from different parts of the house. “Goodnight John Boy!” “Goodnight Grandpa!” “Goodnight Mary Ellen!” If you remember this, now you have a good idea what its like in the chimp house at the end of the day (and you know how exciting my Friday nights were as a kid).
After dinner is over, the chimps all head their separate ways to build nests throughout the building. Some sleep in the catwalks, some sleep in the loft, some stay in the front rooms where they had dinner. But when the lights are turned off, they begin to vocalize to each other. This is called a “nest grunt” (or so I’ve read – I don’t remember learning the name for this in school so I googled it!). Some are more breathy, some are more like hoots, but all are fairly quiet (its bedtime, after all). What’s really neat is that we humans can start things off – if I don’t hear the chimps say goodnight, I will let out a little “hoohuhhoohuh” and all of the chimps will respond.
The chimps have been playing all day today. While we were cleaning the playroom, Foxie and Jamie played “ghost under the sheet” and tickled each other:
Later, when the chimps went outside, there was a lot of jumping:
…and wrestling:
…and some foot-biting:
Finally, Foxie hung upside down from the roof with a troll head in her mouth:
