Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Sometimes caregivers go through their phones and realize they have so many pictures that they took and never used for our blog that they end up going to our staff folders and being forgotten. So instead I’m leaving some of my favorite photos from the last week here for you all to enjoy!
Annie and Negra having a relaxing day together in the greenhouse:
Foxie, relaxing in the greenhouse with friends:
Dora, enjoying her cherry tomatoes:
One of the of the trainings we’ve been working on frequently with the chimps is getting ECG (electrocardiogram) from the chimps while awake using the KardiaMobile. To accomplish this the chimps needs to put one fingers on each of the metal electrodes and their heart rhythm is recorded to your smartphone, you can read about it more in depth here.
Well, one resident had a breakthrough recently, in the beginning of this training Rayne would always try to use her toes rather than her fingers, and later progressed to one toe and one finger, as pictured below:
But Rayne just recently got her first ever ECG reading using two fingers!
Here are her results! This a great start to getting regular readings to help monitor Rayne’s heart health throughout her life:
In other sanctuary happenings, Bruce has become quite the social butterfly around here!
Bruce with caregiver Krissy:
With caregiver Sabrina
With caregiver Anna’s daughter, Luna
With caregiver Ellen
Spring has sprung in Central Washington, which means our personal gardens are finally in bloom, so it’s time to cut some roses for the chimps!
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since George arrived here at CSNW. In the last twelve months he has accomplished so much, he went from a being alone without many social skills to help him navigate life in a chimpanzee group to being a full fledged member of a group of 7.
While Cy and Gordo seemed to have a soft spot for this new kid right away, not everyone felt that way. George initially struggled to find common ground with Rayne, which resulted in misunderstandings and some hurt feelings but now you can find them engaged in play sessions where they only have eyes for each other and no one else gets to join in.
George’s playful spirit and youthful energy have brought something special to our little sanctuary and now we can’t imagine life without him!
It’s been busy around the chimp house this week, but I managed to find a little downtime between cleaning and staff meetings to hang out and get groomed by Lucky!
One thing about about Willy B, he rarely seems to get bored. He takes enrichment items that might be ignored by the other chimps and turns it into an hour of fun and play. In today’s blog video, he has a sock that was gifted to him by caregiver Diana for ‘Love a Chimpanzee Day’, and is his usual Willy B fashion he turns a simple sock into a game for himself and caregiver Kelsi.
Negra doesn’t get around as much these days due to her declining mobility, but every day she still makes her way out to the greenhouse. Once there, she makes a cozy nest for naps and takes the time to look out onto Young’s Hill. From there she can feel the breeze and admire the sunshine and blue sky, while she enjoys her lunch at her own pace.
So here’s a glimpse into an afternoon with Neggie – captured in a series of photographs.
