Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Kelsi

Two Years with the Amazing Three!

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Today is Honey B, Willy B, and Mave’s two year anniversary at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! It has been an honor to get to know each one of them. I can’t imagine life without Honey B’s spunk, Willy B’s dashing good looks, or life without a laid back Mave would just be disappointing. The day was full of their favorite foods and enrichment. There were mangoes, avocados, eggplant to name a few! We put out a LOT of paper, raffle tickets, and buckets of soapy water!

While it’s their anniversary we were still doing one on one introductions. Today was actually the last day of one on one’s before we take a little break. As Sofia stated yesterday, Honey B with no surprise is a wild card and so is Gordo. Honey B still had to meet Gordo and Cy. We also knew these might be some of our hardest introductions. I just need to state how proud we are of Honey B! She did really well overall! It shows us that Honey B can form relationships with new chimps and gives us hope for the future. But she still makes us hold our breath when we open up that door.

First up was Cy. They did great! Cy was playing with her so rough, we were all really for Honey B to freak out, but she didn’t. She loved playing with Cy! As you will see in the video they are laughing and wrestling. That was them playing gently too, we didn’t capture the true wrestling because we thought it might escalate, but to our pleasant surprise it didn’t! Next up was Gordo. Honey B and Gordo met at the mesh yesterday and seemed pretty playful. However, today they both seemed to have taken a slower approach. Eventually we opened the door and they seemed a bit indifferent. Indifference was totally fine, we just wanted them to get comfortable. They warmed up to each other and started to play. It was really fun to watch, but it was short lived. We think there was a little miscommunication on both ends and we quickly ended up having to separate them. Gordo is fine and has a small wound on his foot. We brought Honey B back so her and Gordo had a chance to make up at the mesh, but Gordo wasn’t too interested in coming down. Honey B did give him some good positive behaviors at the mesh. We are hopeful that they can move past this and with a few more meetings understand each other a little bit better. Miscommunications with chimps happens a lot. Foxie and Annie had a lot in the beginning too and even some times to this day!

As an update we are taking a small break because everyone has met everyone for our one on one introductions. We will be doing one on ones occasionally and we will be working on two on two soon as well. For now, us humans and chimps are going to get a few good nights of sleep! Overall, the intros so far have gone as well as we could have asked. I just want to say this again because I think Honey B deserves this. She exceeded our expectations and to watch Honey B play with Cy, Dora, Rayne, and Lucky is exactly why we are doing this. Honey B was so expressive, so happy, and she is a chimp that deserves to have more socialization with other chimps! This proved that, but that doesn’t mean this road is easy or even guarantees this will work out.

Let us all cheers to one on one introductions being over and two incredible years with Honey B, Willy B, and Mave!

Gordo and Honey B. This was right before Honey B came over to Gordo and tried to give him a reassuring kiss!

Cy and Honey B wrestling!

Mave enjoying her whole mango! Mave was so excited, her food squeaks were unreal!

Exhilarating Day

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Today was a pretty exhilarating day. Burrito is doing really well, so well he got to go back with this group! Burrito is truly inspiring, he never gives up and through his struggles he somehow finds a way to be more positive and goofy through it all.

Foxie greeted Burrito by giving him a hug.

Dr. Missy checking Burrito out.

This other amazing thing happened today! Willy B got to hang out with Terry and then later Willy B met Lucky! Terry and Willy B did so well! Willy B was having so much fun he almost didn’t want to leave. There was a moment when they were grooming so intensely I felt a little emotional watching because they seemed so happy and were breathy panting so loudly! Willy B and Lucky had great interactions too! They had a really nice grooming session. I mean who wouldn’t have a good time with Lucky!

Willy B and Terry!

Lucky and Willy B!

Bonus photos!

Negra looking out the window in the portrait studio.

Lucky in her new favorite spot.

Willy B looking at himself through the camera.

I love this picture. Jamie is playing keep away with Foxie’s France Dora. Foxie just peaking out behind Jamie.

New Chimps New Routine

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New chimps also means a new routine. We are definitely trying to work out some kinks. Shifting can be hard when chimps don’t want to leave a room. Sometimes it means the humans clean until later in the day or if the chimps decide not to leave we can’t clean. Eventually, Dora’s group and Mave’s group will get into a new routine of shifting, but that probably won’t be this week ;). Today was no different, but we did get to clean Playroom 3, which feels like a win. So you might hear us say it was a busy day or today was crazy. What it really means is us humans are a little tired, but we got most of their areas clean. Also, have we mentioned how great our sixteen chimps are! I still can’t believe there are sixteen chimpanzees that get to call this place home! I couldn’t get photos of everyone today, but I was fortunate to get a few and have some kind caregivers share some of their photos with me.

Annie this morning looking over at the neighbors. I mean you have to keep an eye on the new guys, right?

This photo I captured last week and just wanted to share because it’s Burrito! How lucky are we to have this guy in our lives.

Little Miss Foxie exploring through the tall grass.

The ever so mischievous Honey B!

Jody also had to go spy on the neighbors this morning.

While cleaning Playroom 3 we found a grooming train! The Green House has so much vertical space, it really is amazing. In this photo you can see Gordo grooming Lucky and Lucky grooming Terry. Dora has a nice little nest on the other platform and if you look below, Rayne foraging for cherry tomatoes.

Look at this Mave!

After Rayne was done foraging in the Green House, she came up to say hi.

I can not get over how handsome Willy B is. No wonder Dora gets excited to see him.

Shut Up and Blog

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Today was pretty busy day for the humans, but the chimps made sure to fit in some fun. Of course, Burrito played with everyone! Jamie had a lovely day napping in a extravagant nest full of book pages and boots. I loved watching her sort through her big bag of enrichment too.  Honey B and Mave had a blast unrolling around in the raffle tickets! Cy flipped through magazines. I wasn’t able to capture much from Lucky’s group, but they were busy inspecting one of the security camera JB just set-up.

Today’s blog was going to be my favorite type of blog, a smorgasbord of photos! But, throughout the day I was able to get some fun video clips of some of the chimps. So why not do it all! It made me start thinking. What are all of our blog followers’ favorite kinds of blogs? Do you like blogs that are interactive like games or educational? Do you like blogs with lots of content or are you like, enough already I want to see the photos. Maybe you’re more into the videos where you can see the chimps and get more familiar with the building. Personally, I love photos with descriptions! Whatever you are into, I will stop talking so you can enjoy these photos!

Annie and Jody:

Honey B with her raffle tickets:

Jamie looking through her giant enrichment bag:

And a series of photos of Jamie nesting:

Mave unrolling her raffle tickets:

Queen Negra and Missy:

  

 

Rayne Rayne Don’t Go Away

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I think many followers often wonder how we identify the chimps. It’s a fair question. Once you know them you will feel silly for ever having a hard time telling them apart. We obviously look at physical features, behavior, and even body language. For instance, when Foxie goes out onto Young’s Hill, even when she is far away I can see it’s her by the way she walks. She is quite stomp-y. I can also identify her by her sexual swelling that we describe as a bow tie at the end, her white beard, her tiny figure, the intensity in her eyes, and a very sassy personality. We can not go off of things like areas they commonly nest or if a particular chimp is holding a doll because we have fake Neggie’s among us and from time to time Jody carries a doll around. But for you viewers you only get photos and videos which can be hard. So I thought in this blog I would help you all identify a new member of ours, Rayne!

Rayne has kind and curious eyes, when you look into them you feel a sense of calm.

Rayne has a longer face and slender body. Rayne also has a white beard. She seems to have bigger ears than the others in her group and has a pronounced brow-ridge. Rayne also has a lack of freckles. Rayne’s forehead is also a little ashy, which we hope to be able to help with :).

Rayne also looks like Tatu. For those who do not know Tatu, she lives at the Fauna Foundation in Quebec Canada. Rayne and Tatu are also sisters! I worked with Tatu for many years and I see a lot of Tatu in Rayne.

Rayne’s sister Tatu knows sign language. Tatu is very articulate when she signs. Rayne’s long fingers remind me of Tatu’s.

I hope this helps everyone identify Rayne a little better!

Jamie’s Day

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Let’s be honest, everyday is Jamie’s day. But today, Jamie had no problem stopping us from whatever we were doing to help her. Don’t tell Jamie, but we love doing this. It’s the best when Jamie gestures for something in particular and you know exactly what she wants. It’s a great feeling to be able to give her exactly what she had in mind. For example, when she gestures for a specific boot or book. She will nod her head for the one she wants and then once you hand it to her she makes the low groan of excitement. That is the best. So all day felt like Jamie’s day because she had a belly full of raspberries, walks around Young’s Hill, naps, groomed with friends, and most importantly Jamie got to tell us exactly what she wanted all day.

Jamie is her amazing nest. Jamie was modifying blankets to help weave her blankets through the caging, there were book pages included in her nest, and a cardboard box. Not to mention she has a boot close to her while she reads a magazine. I think tucked under her chin is a boot page from one of her many boot books.

I can’t take credit for this photo because Chad took it yesterday, but it needs to be shared. Jamie deep asleep on a boot.

So on Friday Gordo seemed to be coming out of his shell a little bit. I thought this also needed to be shared. Gordo in a BOX!

We have some more birthdays coming up soon so keep check up on our wish list! Also, check out our new Wildlife ToyBox wish list too!

Zero Kernels Given

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Lunch is known to be a more relaxing meal to serve. Breakfast is always exciting because it’s fruit, everyone loves fruit! Dinner is the last meal served before the end of the day and night bags are always on the mind! Today’s lunch was eventful for all three groups of chimps. It seemed Dora and Annie were yelling towards each other and everyone had something to say about it, well everyone but Negra. Negra couldn’t have cared less. The interactions weren’t bad, just loud. But Negra’s only concern was eating lunch.

I thought I might share this photo of sweet little Honey B.