Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sofia Castro-Loza

I Spy: Movement Up the Mountain

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Last week one of our supporters very excitingly asked when expansion work was going to begin, and I’m happy to inform everyone that today was the day. During the morning, Gary’s Sage Mechanical crew came in to do some work on top of Young’s Hill. This meant that Jamie and her six friends could not go out on the hill during that time but that did not mean that they were unaware that some humans were in need of chimp supervision. After work concluded and it was safe to give them access to the hill, Jamie, Annie, Missy, Foxie, Burrito and Jody sprinted up the hill to assess the situation. Jody went back inside the safety of the green house shortly after, might have been too scary of a situation. On the way up Missy asked for reassurance from all her friends. First from Burrito, then Jamie, and finally from Foxie who gladly complied. Annie was the first one to arrive and climbed up the Twister to get a better view. Jamie, of course, was very excited to see new people but more excited about seeing new boots.

Foxie reassuring Missy on the way up to check out the expansion work.

Missy and Foxie looking at Jody as she turns around to go back into the safety of the green house.

Foxie and Jamie looking at J.B. and the members of Sage Mechanical…and their boots.

Gary’s nephew, who has a background in forestry, Gary, and J.B. smiling for the camera.

Annie supervising from the Twister platform.

After brief visual inspection, the construction boots pass the test and are worthy of a run around the hill.

On the other side of the chimp house:

Rayne eating green apples during breakfast this morning. Courtesy of caregiver Sam.

Dora resting in one of the front rooms.

Rayne in the green house taking advantage of the break from the rain that we got today.

Another Lazy Sunday

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Sundays are for recharging energies and getting ready for the week, and over here it is no different. Enjoy some moments captured today on this lazy lazy Fall day.

Gordo resting in the front rooms, courtesy of Caregiver Katelyn.

Gordo resting in one of the platforms of the green house.

Jody enjoying some brussel sprouts during lunch time.

Which then led to laying down and munching on some potatoes.

Terry hanging out in the green house, catching some rays.

Honey B very much aware that Caregiver Anthony was doing cattle care.

Lucky in her favorite spot to nap, the platform of one of the front rooms.

 

[Read more…] about Another Lazy Sunday

Blankets and Nests Type of Day

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As part of today’s daytime enrichment we pre-made nests for the three groups of chimpanzees. They are clearly capable of making their own nests with the special modifications to meet each of their personal needs, therefore our pre-made nests might not be up to their standards. We won’t get offended if some rearranging and redecorating occurs, if anything it makes for good enrichment. For example, Jamie likes to incorporate boots and books to hers so tomorrow morning we might see some boot or book additions in them. In the wild their night nests are complex and are made by arranging tree branches and lining them with leaves, while their daytime nests are usually closer to the ground and less time consuming. Just in case, we made some in all areas of the enclosures to allow the chimps to pick and choose where they want to rest, after alterations are made. We mostly used blankets and different fabrics to design them today but other days we provide the chimps different materials to make their evening or daytime resting nests like paper, plant material, clothing, silk scarves, etc.

Last week was busy with introductions so as caregivers were making nests in the different enclosures, some had the same thought I had: let’s just lay down here for a bit.

Caregivers Kelsi and Sam testing out some nests in the front rooms.

What do you guys think about this pre-made nest?

This morning I saw Negra nesting while enjoying squash browse that Dr. Erin brought yesterday.

Jamie on one of the pre-made nests caregivers prepared today in the green house.

Annie nesting in the greenhouse. Note how she is holding her hand and foot.

Missy and Jody on the greenhouse platform, Jody arranging blankets for her nest.

Enjoy some extras:

Burrito sitting peacefully on the platform of the greenhouse. Don’t be fooled, this guy does not let us skip our daily cardio.

Foxie in the greenhouse looking straight at the camera.

Honey B chilling in the playroom.

Missy looking towards the hill on this chilly and cloudy day.

Dora about to eat the raisin she successfully retrieved from the raisin board using a chopstick.

Rayne carrying around a chopstick after going through most of the raisin board enrichment.

PS. Check out our Amazon wish-list for a list of books for this years Jamieween celebration!

Rainy Day Sleepover!

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Today has been a much needed rainy day, which meant a lot of chimps looking all comfortable in their blanket nests. While rain was coming down, introductions continued with the original plan of having a quad group that included Willy B, Honey B, Cy, and Rayne. But as we have said many times before, the chimpanzees definitely decide how things are done over here. To start the day off Willy B, Honey B, and Mave decided they wanted to keep the Mezzanine during lunch, postponing cleaning. Honey B and Willy B teamed up and took turns to go out to the playroom to grab food while the other secured the area. Quite admirable if you ask me. Then, the ideal quad group was not achieved and the chimps that were together yesterday, Honey B, Willy B, Cy, and Lucky met again in the front rooms.

While off to a rough start with a lot of displaying and a minor scuffle, they managed to share some very nice peaceful moments. Willy B and Cy shared a long grooming session that lasted over ten minutes straight and then some shorter moments that were also very positive. Willy B even had some saliva foam on the side of his mouth from all the lip smacking while grooming Cy. On the other hand, Honey B and Lucky took a little longer to interact in such positive ways but Lucky invited Honey B to join her in the platform for a grooming session and she complied. While not as long as a moment, every positive moment gets us closer to uniting the two California groups. When the time came to separate the four and get them back to their original groups, they did not comply. Having Jen Feuerstein, behaviorist specialist, here has been a amazing to help oversee and make decisions like letting the four have a sleepover. Tonight, Willy B and Honey B, and Cy and Lucky will spend a *supervised* night together in the front rooms. We will update everyone tomorrow hopefully with good and exciting news!

Cy and Willy B grooming

Lucky and Honey B engaging in some play and groom

Jamie spotted Negra’s nest and climbed in as soon as she got the chance

Honey B this morning hanging out in the green house before the rain started pouring down

Isn’t Sanctuary Life Grape?

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A million thanks to all Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest supporters that participated yesterday in our HOOT! For The Holidays virtual celebration to welcome the Lucky Six. We are all so grateful for the generous donations and bids because we surpassed our goal by plenty and more, assuring future plans to develop. Sanctuary life for these amazing 16 chimpanzees could not be possible without all of you amazing souls. We hope that learning more about the Lucky Six and their past brought everyone a bit closer to them.

To continue the celebration we harvested some grapes directly from our small vineyard and gave some to the chimps as an afternoon snack. Everyone was very excited about fresh grapes!

I walked to the green house and noticed this chimp lineup. Caregiver Katelyn had many sets of eyes looking at her while she harvested grapes from the vineyard.

Caregiver Katelyn serving Missy some grapes fresh from the vine.

Negra all cozy this morning in the green house. Thanks to everyone that has donated blankets, they certainly appreciate it!

Foxie coming in from Young’s Hill after enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

Gordo resting high up on the green house platform after a scrumptious lunch.

Mave looking into the camera while enjoying the breeze in the outdoor chute.

Rayne looking down from a platform in the green house with a wooden toy in her mouth.

Sunday Morning, Rain is (Not) Falling

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On this lazy Sunday morning everyone was doing their thing and hanging out in their favorite spots while taking in the warm breeze. Enjoy some moments I captured this morning!

Usually, Neggie can be found nesting in the top platform of the green house on nice mornings.

When Jody came in from the morning stroll around Young’s Hill, she soaked up some sun rays in the green house.

Honey very much aware of me during my perimeter check walk this morning.

Gordo, Gordito, unbothered by everything and everyone. What a life!!!

Sir Cy enjoying the morning rays in the green house.

And then we have this great sequence. Rayne in the back while Dora and Lucky engage in some play time.

Take two: Lucky and Willy B

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Introductions continue at the Chimp House! Lucky and Willy B met each other for the first time on August 21st with nothing but positive interactions and a good old grooming session. With the plan of continuing introductions to better solidify their future relationships, they got to interact one on one today as well. We can’t force outcomes when it comes to introductions, and sometimes one on ones are uneventful. Today, Willy B and Lucky had a short but sweet interaction. Willy B displayed multiple times during the beginning of the introduction while Lucky just stared at him like “dude, are you ok?” from the comfort of the blanket covered platform. When Sir William stopped displaying, Lucky came down, giving Willy B a chance to get closer and initiate some grooming. Willy B groomed Lucky in such an intense way that his loud lip smacking had him drooling for a quick second. Even though Lucky was completely on board to get groomed by Willy B for what seemed like a very long 5min, she went back up to the platform and the two did not engage further. While it might seem like not much happened during this re-intro, every positive interaction gets us closer to uniting the two groups and having them form their own interpersonal relationships within the new group.

Willy B grooming Lucky during their intro today

Bonus 1: The cattle watching me during this mornings perimeter walk

Bonus 2: Annie laying down in the green house