Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Today was pretty calm around the chimp house, but I’m diving into the highlights and capturing some of the best moments from the day.
This morning with Mave:
Dora enjoying her nut, which she played with for awhile but ultimately never ate:
Negra found a giant zucchini we put out on Young’s Hill for a forage, she had to take breaks while snacking on it:
And Cy enjoying a pepper during his lunch:
Last year the Great Ape Heart Project was kind enough to loan us a petMAP device, which is used mostly for companion animals like dogs and cats to get blood pressure readings by putting the cuff’s on their tails or front leg but great ape caregivers have been trying to adapt this to get voluntary blood pressure readings without the need for sedation’s. Check out today’s blog video to see this in action with George!
Today has been a busy day in the Chimp House, so I decided since I was short on spare time it’s time to do a little photo dump today!
George in his nest, settling in for the night:
George:
Burrito, enjoying leftovers from Missy’s birthday Party:
Negra, enjoying life to the fullest:
Willy B:
George has been putting in the work with his positive reinforcement training, and it’s paying off. He’s already mastered showing presenting different body parts and participating in Kardia Mobile ECG readings without a hitch. Now, he’s learning to put body presentation to use by placing his hands and feet inside an X-ray box that is set up on the mesh of one of his rooms – we use these whenever we need a quick X-ray of the chimps hands or feet. On top of that, he’s just started practicing presenting his index finger for blood pressure checks—stay tuned for more on that in an upcoming blog post.
We’re throwing a party for Foxie’s 49th birthday, and it’s a big one. Her favorite human, Katelyn, went all out — she planned everything from start to finish and showed up on her day off to make sure it was just right for Foxie. On the menu: homemade avocado ice cream (yes, the staff got in on that too), watermelon bowls piled high with fruit and veggies, and rounds of berry smoothie shooters to top it all off.
Enjoy today’s short teaser video of the festivities and stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the footage of Foxie’s group as well as Cy’s groups, George and Honey B’s crew!
Foxie enjoying her watermelon bowls out on Young’s Hill:
Foxie’s caregiver’s for today also had a friendly competition to see who could draw her beloved Strawberry Shortcake doll and these were then judged by Foxie’s favorite biped, caregiver Katelyn!
The winner in 1st place is Sabrina, followed by Anna in 2nd place and Ellen in 3rd place with Kelsi, Jenna and Krissy all in a tie for 4th
The small drawings then became part of the party decorations!
Cy and Honey B’s groups have been getting access back to areas that were used for George’s quarantine now that he has been given a clean bill of health. Last week Willy B and Honey B discovered a new addition to the space, the new Looky-Lou feeder with a mirror! Willy was fascinated pretty immediately and later Honey B took it for a spin, check it out in today’s video!
