Negra seems to enjoy interacting with her caregivers, but on her own schedule. She stays pretty busy living her “Neggie-lifestyle” so she isn’t often front and center giving caregivers tons of opportunities to interact with her up-close, outside of mealtimes. A few days ago, I saw Negra was in Burrito’s infamous spot in the Playroom – posted up on the blue barrel looking out the window to watch Cy’s group (the noisy neighbors). I always have great interactions with Burrito at that window, so I thought I’d see if Neggie would interact with me from there too. Spoiler alert: she was so sweet to me and gave lots of kisses through the glass. It made my whole week! Check out the interaction in today’s video!
Be Mine, Gordo
I have to be honest, I feel immense pressure to write a blog that accurately reflects how complex, yet amazing, Gordo is. He has so many quirks that make him stand apart from all of our other chimpanzee residents. Also, I’m still emotionally recovering from reading Katelyn’s blog about Foxie on Wednesday. How does one follow that!? However, just like Gordo himself, I’m going to do my best, but in my own unique way.
The phrase, “march to the beat of your own drum” perfectly describes Gordo. We have described him as aloof, because he is more reserved than the others. Gordo isn’t going to be the first person to greet his caregivers, he doesn’t often crave human attention like others (Cy and Terry), and seems to prefer hanging back and observing. He is not too keen on making a lot of eye contact with us humans, especially when it is not on his own terms. Often times, if Gordo is staring and watching a caregiver, he will quickly look away when they notice. He will then proceed to do a side-eye glance a few seconds later to see if the caregiver is still looking at him. It is one of his many quirks!
There is one corner in Playroom 2 that is Gordo’s “spot”. He doesn’t sleep there, nor spend the entire day there, but it’s a great spot for him to be close enough to all of the happenings within his group but also far enough from the Front Rooms where a lot of the bigger personalities hang out, while they’re trying to get some human attention. He doesn’t always hang out alone, but he does pick and choose the times he is being social and putting himself out there.
Gordo’s “spot” in Playroom 2. It has a great view of The Bray and is just steps away from the Front Rooms and the Chute.
Despite being a reserved guy, he really comes out of his shell when he wants to have fun. When Gordo is feeling silly and wants a caregiver to chase him, his movements are so subtle that anyone who is not familiar with his cues, could easily miss them.
Gordo initiating play with caregivers usually starts with a quick side-eye glance, immediately followed by him looking away. Next, while the caregiver playfully gestures towards him, he will start to scratch his torso and legs. This is when you know you got him locked in for an ultimate game of chase. Then, he will stand up and start hopping with his back legs (we have referred to this on the blog as a “bunny hop“). He loves being chased through the Playroom, out to the Greenhouse, and back. Sometimes, when he is really wanting to play chase but the humans aren’t picking up the cues, he will lightly tap on the floor with his knuckles, almost in a youthful, silly, impatient kind of way. Gordo also appreciates when caregivers wear silly accessories for games of chase. A Troll Mask, a jacket hood, or a blanket wrapped around you while chasing him is enough to make Gordo’s day.
Gordo often plays chase with the boys in his group. Anytime there is something exciting happening (such as a birthday party), it is almost a guarantee you can find Gordo “bunny hopping” with Willy B playfully chasing him from behind.
In social situations or conflicts, Terry and Gordo back each other up. They look out for each other, especially when Honey B or Mave is upset with one of them. Terry and Gordo spend a lot of quiet time together as well, often grooming or exploring The Bray.
Gordo (L) and Terry (R) on The Bray
I feel inclined to share with you something Gordo DETESTS.
He hates firehose knots. Firehose knots, one of our enrichment puzzles, is a strip of firehose that is twisted and knotted in unique ways, with nuts on the inside. The chimps needs to untangle the firehose to retrieve the nuts. Gordo seems to think that this is a waste of his time, especially if his caregivers are not going to help him with it. Nowadays, because we know he hates doing it himself and won’t, caregivers now untangle and untie the firehose knots for him and then hand it to him through the mesh, as one single untied strip. He seems to appreciate this gesture, as once he sees we’re willing to do the work for him, he is suddenly interested in coming and collecting his nighttime puzzle.
Now, this is where things get a little wild and everyone nearby should duck-and-cover. Instead of Gordo opening the firehose slits at the ends (like all the other chimps do) and dumping the nuts into his hands, Gordo whips the firehose onto the floor, as hard as he can. He doesn’t stop until he hears a nut go flying and hit a wall/floor/ceiling/bench/etc. Once he hears that, he starts hunting down the flying nuts, before his group members find them first. He repeats this method until his firehose strips are empty.
Recently, Gordo was doing this whipping technique in Front Room 7 near Cy, who sat there with his arms-crossed, watching. Once the whipping began, Cy sat there and sneered, seemingly hoping the firehose does not accidentally hit him (which it didn’t).
We have shown Gordo how to do firehose knots differently, but he prefers his way.
Gordo’s worst enemy, the firehose knots.
Gordo working on a raisin board. Peep the chopstick wrapper in between his toes!
If there is one thing you should know about Gordo is that if there’s a box, he will be sitting there. Especially during meal times.
Gordo’s favorite foods are pomegranates, avocados, chow, and potatoes that are not cut. Occasionally, we bake sweet potatoes for dinner and if the pieces are cut up (like they normally are to fit through the mesh), Gordo will decline. However, if it’s a baked sweet potato that hasn’t been cut-up, he will take it. He’s a particular guy, which we’re happy to accommodate for. I’m glad we can pick up on small things like that and make those adjustments, even if they seem silly.
Gordo also loves his daily breakfast smoothie. He happily grunts when he sees it coming and will find himself a nice place to sit so he can hold his own cup through the mesh. One of the sweetest things Gordo does, is when he is done with his smoothie, instead of just letting go of the cup like all the other chimps do (nearly giving us humans a heart attack from the loud sound), he will carefully slide it down the mesh, pinch by pinch, until it’s sitting upright on the ground. Then, he will leave. These are the little things that make my heart melt.
Gordo was born on July 19, 1988 at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). According to his records, his mother was Andrea and his father was Les. Dora‘s father is also Les, making Gordo and Dora half-siblings. Gordo is half-siblings with many chimps at other sanctuaries.
Gordo greets Dora in the Riverview Greenhouse
When LEMSIP closed in 1996, Gordo and 30 other chimpanzees were sent to live at Wildlife Waystation (WW) in California. WW announced its closure in 2019, causing their 400+ animal residents needing to be rehomed. Gordo arrived here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in 2021, along with his group members, Cy, Terry, Dora, Rayne, and Lucky. They since have been integrated with Mave, Honey B, and Willy B and now live in a group of nine.
Left to Right: Cy, Gordo, and Terry
Gordo currently has 4 Chimpanzee Pals that sponsor him: Vicki, Monica, LauRenn, and Desmond. Thank you, thank you!
Gordo somehow has the lowest numbers of Pals out of all the chimps. How can this be?! We hope you fell in love with Gordo today and feel inclined to become his newest Pal.
Be Mine, Lucky
Happy Valentine’s Day from CSNW!
Lucky is a sweet, quiet, independent, and excitable chimpanzee. She is low-ranking among her group of nine, but seems pretty content with her social status, except when her big brother, Cy, occasionally steals her corn.
Lucky was born in 1991 at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). She lived in the laboratory for five years until it closed in 1996.
From there, Lucky and 30 other chimpanzees, were sent to Wildlife Waystation (WWS) in California, where they would live for the next couple decades. In 2019, WWS announced its’ closure due to financial difficulties. At the time of closing, WWS housed 42 chimpanzees and over 430 other wild and domestic animals. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife were able to find homes for the other wild animals, but not for the chimpanzees. The “Chimpanzees in Need” fundraiser began from there, with the goal of finding all of the WWS chimpanzees new forever accredited homes, which required many facility expansions, and also to get the chimps from California to their new homes, safely.
Lucky, as well as her group mates, Cy, Terry, Gordo, Dora, and Rayne (known as “The Lucky Six” in the “Chimpanzees in Need” campaign) arrived here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in June of 2021. The “Chimpanzees in Need” fundraiser was a success, raising over $4.7M and rehoming all of the WWS chimpanzees.
One of the original “The Lucky Six” pictures for the fundraiser (top L-R: Cy, Dora, Gordo; bottom L-R: Lucky, Rayne, Terry):
Lucky was quite a bit heavier when she arrived in 2021:
Once “The Lucky Six” were settled in at their new home in central Washington, they began to slowly be introduced to Willy B, Honey B, and Mave, a group of three chimpanzees that had also came from Wildlife Waystation two years prior (2019).
Spoiler alert for new blog readers: the introductions went well and the group of 9 (commonly referred to as Cy’s group on our daily blog) have been living together full-time since April 2022 (that anniversary is coming up fast!).
Lucky is full siblings with her group leader, Cy, as well as half-siblings with group mates, Rayne and Honey B.
When Lucky is very excited, whether it be because of an upcoming party, a delicious lunch, or a human friend visiting her, she will breathy pant with her tongue out, while shaking her head excitedly. It’s guaranteed to put a smile on our faces!
She also heavily communicates with her caregivers through grunting. I have been out of the chimp house lately while I recover from a non-work related injury (just to clarify!) and Lucky and I have a pretty close relationship. As soon as she spots me while I’m visiting, she will grunt loudly, even if she is a room away, and I immediately know I’ve been spotted. She will then hurry over to grunt and then breathy pant with excitement. She sure is good at making me feel special and missed! Thanks, Lucky.
Lucky’s favorite activity is to groom with others. She loves grooming her caregiver’s boots since she loves footwear.
Lucky is a fashionista. She likes to wear scarves or sweatbands around her neck like a choker necklace. My personal favorite part of her wearing a sweatband around her neck is that she has so much hair, you can’t see it when you look at her head-on, you will only notice the necklace once she climbs up high or you catch her at the proper angle. Blue and red are her colors, in my opinion.
One of my favorite days I have ever experienced while working with chimps, was the day Lucky went out on The Bray for the first time. She needed some verbal affirmations while she was building up the courage to leave the chute, and then she went for it. I remember throwing my fists in the air like my team had just made the winning touchdown of the Super Bowl. Ever since, Lucky loves spending time outside on The Bray and ventures out to all of the wooden structures to relax, take in the scenery, and forage.
Lucky’s first days on The Bray:
Lucky loves most foods. Her favorites are cherry tomatoes, berries, corn, mangoes, fennel, and baked sweet potatoes. She also loves her daily breakfast smoothie. She always licks her lips before she starts drinking her smoothie. Oh! How could I forget? Lucky is a gum enthusiast. Once she has gum, she will savor it for a few hours and chomp away.
A huge thank you to Lucky’s Pals: Vicki, Monica, Debi, Lindsey, Síle and Rachel.
If you think Lucky is as sweet as I do, make her your Valentine by becoming her Pal today! We appreciate it!
Tomorrow, we will be sharing more of today’s Valentine’s Day party! Here is a sneak peek:
Can you guess the party theme? Hint: February 14th is World Bonobo Day!
What does the fox say?
We received a giant stuffed fox during the Comfort and Joy auction, thanks to a special donor! Due to some enrichment restrictions, Cy’s group cannot have any stuffed animals (a few of them would eat it) but they still got to meet the fox and enjoyed it. Later in the morning, after cleaning the Playroom for Jamie’s group, we set up the stuffed fox on Burrito’s blue barrel. As you will see in today’s video, Burrito absolutely had the time of his life. What else is new?
Thank you Pamela N. for the fox!
Our new fox (shark was just a blanket on top):
Cy gives the fox a kiss:
Gordo grooms his toenails:
Gordo bites his lip while in his box nest:
Handsome Gordo:
Gordo looks at the fox while Kelsi holds it:
Gordo interacts with the fox:
More Gordo:
Lucky:
Rayne:
Terry sniffs the fox:
Honey B’s World
…. We’re just livin’ in it!
Honey B is a complex, intelligent gal. She is very much like Jamie, in the sense that she does what she want when she wants. Her group has learned to accept that about her. She is not the most dominant member in their hierarchy, but she does control a lot of situations. She is very sensitive and does not let anyone mess with her! Sometimes, Honey B prefers her alone time and decides to not shift with her group. We shift the chimpanzees throughout the morning so we can clean each area. However, Honey B sometimes chooses to stay put. Which is fine by us! She just stays in one of the front rooms (her favorite place to be) and we clean the other spaces, minus the room she is in. Once we are done cleaning, we will shift again so Honey can go back with her group, and then we can clean that last room she was in.
In today’s video, it was a Honey B-not-shifting day! We gave her Front Room 7 to hang out in and she had the time of her life. Enjoy! It may be one of the most fun videos I’ve put together!
Random photos from today!
Lucky:
Giving Thanks!
A donor recently bought us a Fire TV stick and the chimps have been captivated by the new videos! Previously, our TV only was able to play DVDs, but now we can stream anything online. Willy B’s favorite types of videos include chimpanzees, so it was pretty easy to decide to first put on our own YouTube channel for them to watch. As you will see in today’s video, Dora, Lucky, Willy B, and Cy were captivated by the whole experience so far. We don’t have the TV on all the time, so they definitely take notice and enjoy it when it is time!
Thank you to the special donor who bought the Fire stick for us! Thank you to all of our donors who help us 365 days a year. We appreciate you, greatly!
Exciting news! Ornaments of each of our residents (chimpanzees and bovine) have been added to the online auction! These are one of my personal favorite items to bid on and Grace and I have already been outbidding one another. Join us!
We also have a matching donation from Monica Best (official founder of the Comfort & Joy Quid Pro Throw Online Auction) from now until the end of the auction until we reach the total goal of $20,000 raised! Bidding and donating ends tomorrow, Saturday, November 18th at 6:00 PM PT/ 8:00 PM CT/ 9:00 PM ET, so the time to bid is now!
Creative Nest-Building with Honey B
This morning, I caught Honey B in the Mezzanine nesting. She managed to use every enrichment item she had access to in her process, which cracked me up. My personal favorite part of this video (featured above) is when she grabs the green sweatband and stretches it for no reason, before she places it beside her. Honey B is a funny gal, that’s for sure.
And…
Today is Honey Cow’s 16th Birthday! The cattle will all be receiving some special treats today for Honey’s day!