Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jenna

Eye Contact

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Some primate species consider eye contact a direct threat to them. However, chimpanzees are not one of them. In fact, some chimpanzees, particularly some of those who live in captivity, may enjoy gazing into someone’s eyes. We have a few of those individuals here at CSNW…. please let me introduce you to Honey B, if you aren’t familiar with her intense stares.

Some staff has made jokes that Honey B knows our entire life story, our full social security numbers, and our darkest secrets, just by looking into our souls (see photo above). Sometimes, Honey B will stare into my eyes during a meal time, and I can’t help but chuckle at her intensity.

Other chimpanzees like Gordo or Willy B have a list of 1,000,000 other things they would rather do than gaze into my eyes. And that’s okay! Eye contact is different to everybody.

While working with chimpanzees, I have been taught to “look” but not “stare”, as to not make the chimps feel uncomfortable in their own home. Just like humans can feel someone staring at them, chimps can too!

Lunch has been served!

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Please enjoy today’s video of lunch with Cy’s group! Volume up for the ultimate food chewing noises.

If you liked today’s video, you may enjoy our virtual event we are hosting this weekend!

Join us this Sunday, March 26th at 1:00pm PST to virtually watch the Cle Elum Seven have lunch! Reserve your spot here: https://tinyurl.com/CleElumSevenLunch

Also, we are in need of many things from our Amazon Wishlist! The Wishlist is a way to directly help the chimps. Link here!

It’s almost Spring! Time to clean!

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Every morning, we divide up our caregivers and volunteers between the two sides of the building and assign cleaning roles. Today, I decided to show you all what a typical cleaning of Playroom 1 looks like! Fortunately for us, Jamie’s group was pretty clean the past 24 hours so we just had a quick spot clean upstairs and a full clean downstairs. They took it easy on us, for sure. The weather has been so enjoyable out that Jamie’s group has been enjoying spending the majority of their time out on Young’s Hill or in there cozy Greenhouse.

Once a week, we will scrub every area from top to bottom and use a disinfectant!

Missy and Burrito intertwined while grooming in their Greenhouse:

Mave is Reunited!

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As Anna mentioned yesterday, Mave had to take a trip to the clinic on Wednesday. While she took yesterday to herself to rest, she was ready to get back to her group today! Thankfully, Dr. Erin gave her the all clear and we were able to reunite her.

We started out by giving Mave a breakfast date with Honey B to gauge Mave’s energy level. They were so excited to see each other, although Honey B really just wanted to inspect Mave’s entire body. After the breakfast date, Mave and Honey B were reunited with the rest of the group. The arousal level was high because of how excited they were to see her, so of course, some drama ensued. But the group carried on as normal, as you will see in today’s video!

Mave has done amazing at walking away if her group members are grooming her wound too much. Keep up the good work, Mave! I think she is just so happy to be back with her friends, especially Dora! She’s been busy in the Greenhouses all afternoon absorbing some sunshine (despite the fresh snow) and grooming with others. We’re so happy the 9 are back together.

 

Literally no monkey business here!

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Anytime I discuss my career with a new person, almost 100% of the time their reaction will consist of something along the lines of, “I love monkeys!” or a joke about “monkey business”. While sometimes I can correct people, I often just accept defeat, smile, and nod along. Chimpanzees are not monkeys! However, both chimpanzees and monkeys belong to the taxonomic order of Primates, which I assume is where the common misconception stems from.

When looking at a primate, an easy way to determine if it is a monkey or not, is if it has a tail. Nearly all monkeys have tails, while apes do not.

Another great indicator is the overall body shape, size, and how they move. Apes are much larger than monkeys, with wide chests and bare faces. Apes can move both bipedally, on two feet, or on all fours. Monkeys are smaller, have smaller chests, and some use their tails for balance or to help grab branches as they navigate through the trees.

Great apes include humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans. There are also small-bodies apes, such as gibbons and siamangs.

Apes also have a larger brain than monkeys. Research studies show that apes are capable of higher levels of cognition and communication.

For more information, here is a great resource that allows you to click through different primates.

Now on to some photos of the day…

Terry standing bipedally in the sunny Riverview Greenhouse

Volunteer Krissy set up some pre-made nests for Jamie’s group this morning. Missy immediately claimed this spot!

Oh, Burrito

Unexpected Story Time

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Last week, Cy was sitting in the front rooms with an orangutan book. While he absolutely loves to read, he was not even touching this one. However, to my surprise, when I sat down to spend time with him, he slid the book my way. Cy does not usually hand over his reading material, so this was unexpected. I even said to him, “You gave it back?!”. Instead of leaving to swap out his book with a different one, I decided to read it to him. Cy loves having quiet moments with caregivers so I assumed he would not mind. As I started reading, I had no idea that I would soon have a front room full of chimpanzees listening to facts about orangutans.

Dora and Honey B came first.

Then Mave.

Then Rayne.

Terry.

Gordo.

Lucky.

I somehow had eight chimps gathered around to listen. I made sure to hold the book up after every page so everyone could see all of the pictures.

I will admit, since you cannot see their faces well on the camera footage, some enjoyed it more than others. Honey B appeared captivated and enjoyed looking at the pictures. I could tell Terry just wanted to groom my shoes. Gordo did not even face my direction. However, with the exception of Willy B, they all chose to gather and that felt pretty special to me.

After a few minutes had passed, the audience started to leave. First went Gordo, followed by Mave, and Lucky. Then, Cy started blowing raspberries demanding his book to be returned to him. I slid the book under the caging and he immediately grabbed it and left to the Mezzanine. He had had enough.

Please enjoy the video up above showing these events!

Keep the Love Going: Fall in Love with Gordo!

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Today, we are continuing on with our Fall in Love videos and highlighting the one and only, Gordo! He is truly one of a kind. I think I can speak for all of us caregivers when I say, we wouldn’t voluntary suffocate in the Troll Mask for anyone else. Gordo absolutely loves playing chase with a caregiver who is wearing the Troll Mask. Check out the video above to see said Troll Mask and to learn more about Gordo!

If you’re interested in sponsoring Gordo, you can become his Chimpanzee Pal today!