Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal protection

Silent Communication

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Today, I spent some time with Honey B in silence.

When I’m one-on-one with a chimpanzee in a quiet moment, I find myself trying to communicate to them through my gaze or just my presence.

I want them to know that I’m so sorry for every bad thing that’s happened to them.

I’m sorry that humans took so much away from them.

I’m sorry that they will never know what it’s like to live free.

I want them to know that this place is all about giving them the best life we can.

And that I love them unconditionally for the unique person they are.

Honey B’s 33rd Birthday Movie

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How lucky are we that we have so many celebrations in June!

Also, how lucky are we to have such amazing supporters?! Your comments about caregivers for Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day will be read over and over again. We are all so grateful to have you all behind us all, providing so much encouragement and sharing your kind words.

Speaking of supporters, Paulette sponsored Honey B’s birthday today. It seemed like an extra special celebration in my view because she had more friends to share in her fun. I hope you enjoy the video, and I hope you enjoy this photo of Honey B looking into your eyes the way she looks into the eyes of her caregivers each day ;).

 

Blanket Gathering as seen from the security cameras

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There’s something so sweet about chimpanzees making nests.

In the wild, chimpanzees use branches and leaves to create their beds. In captivity, blankets are a favorite of everyone who nests.

Watching the cameras over these last several weeks, I’ve learned that some chimpanzees are more creatures of habit than others. Gordo, for example, definitely has “his spot” on the catwalk in the Lupine Playroom. He’s not much of a nest-maker, so he usually has just a couple of blankets and some paper, but he also pulls up a fire hose hanging down near his spot and sometimes incorporates that into his nest. Some of the other chimps, on the other hand, stake out different nest sites on different nights. Rayne made a big nest in the Oakwood Greenhouse last night and stayed out there for quite a while before coming in and nesting on one of the “leaves” of the “tree” in Marmot Mountain Playroom.

Mave, Honey B and Willy B, from day one of the integration, claimed the Front Rooms as their bedroom. Just in the last couple of weeks, though, Mave has, once in a while, opted to sleep in the Lupine Playroom in the mix with her new group-mates. And sometimes Honey B will begin her nesting in the Mezzanine and later move down into the Front Rooms, like you see Mave doing in this video.

It will be so interesting to see how their chosen nesting sites evolve as time goes on!

I know you all likely want an update on Jamie, given J.B.’s blog post yesterday. Right now she is nesting in the front rooms on her side of the building. She’ll probably be isolated for another day or so as we monitor her surgical site, but she’s doing great! She rested a lot today, but clearly was interested in getting back with her group soon.

 

The Nightbag Ritual & Your Questions About Integration, Again

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Before I get to the brief content of this blog post, I have a question for you, or, rather I have a request for your questions.

Several months ago, I recorded a conversation with Jen Feuerstein about integrating groups of chimpanzees with one another. Before that conversation, I invited blog readers to submit your questions for Jen. Then I made that recording available for a small donation.

I am going to be talking with Jen again in just a few days so that I can follow up with her now that she helped us make the final leap in putting the two groups of chimpanzees together. The group of nine has been together for just over a month, so the timing seems right.

Once again, I am inviting you to submit your questions about the integration process and now also post-integration considerations, worries, and expectations.

Your questions can be general to captive chimpanzees or specific to the integration that we just did. My thought is to add the follow-up conversation to the original video and make the whole thing more widely available for anyone who is interested in watching it (perhaps with a donation suggestion but available for free).

Let me know what you think, and write your questions in the comments to this blog post or send them to me by email at [email protected]. Thank you!!

 

On to today’s musings:

We’ve written about nightbags before. They are the post-dinner packaged treat that we give the chimpanzees. I’ve never met a chimp who didn’t like them.

It’s more than just the food at this point, though.

It’s the ritual.

The crinkling of the paper as your caregiver twists the bag to hand it to you though the mesh.

The cracking open of the bag (however you might choose to get into the contents of your bag – some break the twisted bag in half, others carefully unroll it, open the bag, and reach in).

The immediate gratification of staying right where you are to partake or taking your bag and going to your favorite spot, away from everyone else.

The spreading out on a surface, then sorting with your fingers or lips, or just shaking the contents and pouring the seeds, peanuts, popcorn, and dried fruit right into your mouth (your individual method has been honed to your personal preference over the years).

The finding someone else’s nightbag spot and picking through the leftovers to see if there are any surprise shells with seeds still contained.

All of it is so satisfying.

Just ask Annie:

Or Foxie:

Mave’s Feminist Uprising

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Mave is currently living her best life. She seems to thrive in a larger group with more chimpanzees to interact with and look after. These last few days, she’s virtually never alone.

The video above is of a very fun play session between Mave and Rayne, but the blog post title is more about these two stories…

You may remember from a blog written by J.B. entitled “It’s Only Natural” that Terry and Dora are the only two chimpanzees who express a certain natural behavior. We know from their former caregivers at Wildlife Waystation that they haven’t always done this – they did it for a while, stopped for a very long time, then started again in recent years. Terry only requests that Dora mate when food is brought out for meals. Yep, food is VERY exciting for chimpanzees. From our observations so far, Dora is not always in the mood for Terry’s advances, but she eventually gives in to his requests.

Enter Dora’s new friend Mave.

Mave, apparently, is not willing to tolerate Terry’s behavior and will not only yell at Terry if she catches him requesting Dora to copulate, but will physically “protect” Dora. Chad wrote up the first instance of this the other day. To quote Chad, “Mave began screaming at Terry, and blocked Dora from him via hugging her.” She apparently spent the rest of lunch guarding Dora while also trying to reconcile with Terry. At that point, Terry was more interested in lunch. He did reassure Mave that all was okay, and did not make another attempt that day.

We’ll have to see how this plays out in the end, but I can tell you that the female humans at the sanctuary were feeling a certain feminine solidarity with Mave.

 

The second story is from last night when everyone was getting ready for bed. I was watching on the remote security cameras. Every night prior to last night, Mave, Willy B, and Honey B have slept in one of the Front Rooms while the six chimpanzees from the other group spread out among the two playrooms.

Last night, Cy was still up taking some alone time (or so he thought) in the Mezzanine. I watched as Mave gathered some blankets from the Marmot Mountain Playroom. I expected her to take her large pile of blankets through the Mezzanine and down through the door in the floor that connects to the Front Rooms. What she did instead was make a nest right in the “cubby” of the Mezzanine, blocking the door that connects it to Marmot Mountain. She made a beautiful nest and lied down.

A few minutes later, Cy approached where she was lying down. It was clear to me that he wanted to vacate the Mezzanine. Mave, however, remained lying down, not moving a muscle. He got a little closer and patiently waited again. Still no movement from Mave. After about ten minutes, he climbed over her to get out the door. She still didn’t move.

Mave is a female figure that we all can admire. She’s a friend to everyone but is strong and confident in her position.

If you haven’t already, I suggest you celebrate Mave by getting a Mave hoodie. I will wear mine with even more pride and admiration now.

Love a Chimpanzee Day 2022

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Today was a Love a Chimpanzee Day for the books! Not only did Monica continue her tradition of generosity by paying for party supplies (including a bunch of stuff like scarves and giant stuffed animals that are not pictured here, but the Primate Awareness Network at Central Washington University also got involved and planned the party! It was bug themed and the food for the day included bugs on a log (celery with peanut butter and berries), whole sweet potatoes, watermelon radishes, kale, bok choy, and Swiss chard.

We didn’t get a lot of photos of all of the elements of the parties because the chimpanzees were a blur of excitement, but Kelsi and Anna got some great photos of the chimpanzees. There were so many, I had a difficult time selecting only a few.

Thank you to those who have already donated on my and Monica’s GiveBIG fundraising page in celebration of Love a Chimpanzee Day. Monica’s matching donation is live, so your donations will be doubled.

Huge hugs of thanks to Monica, and Happy Love a Chimpanzee Day to everyone!

 

Gordo enjoying Swiss Chard:

 

Terry enjoying bok choy:

 

 

Beautiful Rayne:

 

Some set-up shots of creative party elements that the Primate Awarness Network made for the chimps:

 

Negra digging into a box and later eating some greens on the hill:

 

 

Willy B with the big party banner:

 

Missy slack-lining and carrying sweet potatoes:

 

Burrito with a watermelon radish and bok choy then “hanging out”:

 

Annie with some kale:

 

Jamie was the first on the hill and collected as much bok choy as she could:

 

A goodnight photo of Mave grooming Honey B while Honey B was in her nest:

Outdoor Habitat Expansion

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We are pretty darn excited about the expansion projects underway at the sanctuary! I predict Jamie is going to LOVE her new patrol routine.

Learn more about all that’s happened the last two years and the future/current projects on the Future of CSNW page on our website.

Construction costs have gone way up, so if you have the ability to donate, we would really appreciate it!

In addition to all of the various ways you can contribute every day, there will be a few special opportunities throughout the year, including the upcoming GiveBig and the in-person HOOT! fundraising fête in September. Reach out if you want to talk to me about donation and sponsorship opportunities.