Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Jamie the Merciful

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We take a lot of photos and video around here, but Jamie isn’t always a fan of the camera. Sometimes she’ll be clear across the room, and as soon as she spots a caregiver with the camera she charges over and pounds on the caging to let us know to cut it out. If you’ve ever had an adult chimpanzee charge toward you, hair standing on end (even if there’s caging between you), you’ll know why we respect her wishes. She gets her message across loud and clear.

But sometimes Jamie’s in a tolerant mood. At times she even enjoys the camera; she likes for us to turn the camera around and show her what we’ve captured. Today she allowed me to record her building a nest in the playroom. She even gave me her patented head nod of approval (watch to the end).

The Winter’s Calm for One Chimpanzee

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I think that of all of the seven chimpanzees at the sanctuary, Annie could be described as most like a poet. She can frequently be seen in serene moments by herself, seemingly lost in thought.

Today, while I was busy filming Missy in the greenhouse, I realized that Annie had been outside for quite some time alone, so I ventured into the snow to see what she was up to.

To highlight her inner poetic nature, I found this poem to pair with the photos of Annie below:


Winter is the slow-down
Winter is the search for self
Winter gives the silence you need to listen
Winter goes gray so you can see your own colors…
~Terri Guillemets

 

Annie snow background

 

Annie look away

 

Annie profile 2

 

Annie sit

 

 

Annie profile, arms crossed

 

Annie look camera

Contagion

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Excitement spreads fast in a chimpanzee group. All it takes is for one chimp to get excited or upset, and the whole group is on fire before you know what happened. The chimps respond to each other’s vocalizations even when they’re not in the same room. If someone starts pant hooting in the playroom, you can bet that someone will answer with a pant hoot of their own from the greenhouse. It makes sense that it would benefit a chimpanzee – maybe especially a captive chimpanzee – to be responsive to others’ emotions and moods. I know that if I lived in an enclosure with whirling dervish Burrito, I’d be on guard at the first sign that he was getting worked up.

Today shortly after we let the chimps back into the playroom after cleaning, there was a very brief and mild scuffle. You’ll see how quickly Jamie and Annie respond.

A look of contentment in their eyes

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Often times I catch myself gazing at these chimpanzees, wondering what they are thinking. It’s easy for me (and maybe for most people) to attribute my own human feelings of awe and wonder as I watch them explore Young’s Hill (their 2 acre outdoor enclosure) or sit quietly looking out the windows from the catwalk in the Playroom. It seems that there is a sense of excitement and enjoyment when they are playing with one another and a curiosity as they inspect new enrichment items.

Looking at the pictures below, I can’t help but think that there is a sense of contentment in their eyes.

Jamie
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Negra
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Burrito
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Jody
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Foxie
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Missy
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Annie
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Top Videos of 2015!?

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The other day, I was looking back on the year and watched a few of our videos from 2015. I had this idea to compile some of my favorites and/or some of the most popular videos from the year in a blog post.

This turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. I really love all of the videos for different reasons, so the narrowing down process was not easy.

But, here goes…

Epic tug o’ war session between Foxie and Jamie:

 

Burrito and his stuffed gorilla friend:

 

The new structure completed in the spring:

 

Burrito playing with staff caregiver Keri:

 

This one of Negra simply because she is was so happy on her birthday:

 

Foxie being oh so very Foxie:

 

This one due to the pumpkin thieving incident:

 

I really think that this one is near the top of the list, even though J.B. put it together just a week ago for Christmas:

 

OMG – this one, especially beginning at the 2:01 mark:

 

Okay – I really could just to on and on. The positive reinforcement training videos are also great, and the video of the process we go through when Jamie wants to take a walk around the hill. And so many videos of the chimpanzees enjoying food. And several videos of Missy and Annie playing. And…

 

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know – I’m curious to hear from the chimps’ fans. You can go to our You Tube channel and take a look at 7+ years of video!

 

Today is in memory of Soldier

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Amy Ferreira and her family in memory of their beloved pitbull, Soldier. Amy shared this message about today:

“Sponsored in memory of Soldier, our 14 year old Pitbull Rescue. His personality quirks and loving gentle nature made him so special to us. And we love seeing you honour the Chimps’ personalities, quirks, and their day to day choices! The work you do and your blogs sharing with us are good for the soul!”

Amy, we are so touched that you would sponsor a day for the chimpanzees in honor of Soldier’s memory. It makes us so happy to know of rescue animals, especially sweet pitbulls, finding the loving homes they all deserve. Thank you for all you do to make the lives of so many animals better and for having given Soldier such a special forever family all his own. We are so happy to get to share in his life and honor him here today.

Soldier and his human sibling:

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Amy shared that Soldier’s version of troll dolls were his much adored “quacker” stuffed duck toys which he loved to nest with. I suspect Foxie would understand completely:

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Lunch With the Chimps

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The chimpanzees eat three meals a day, and at most mealtimes they’re asked to shift out of a certain area so we can close off that area to clean. (There’s nothing quite like food to motivate!) Lunch is an exception to this rule. Since we don’t do any cleaning at lunch, the chimps have free run of the entire sanctuary during the meal. The server chooses an area to serve, and the chimps come to that area to get their food, but they can then take their food wherever they choose.

Today volunteer caregiver Becca started serving lunch in the greenhouse, but the chimps quickly let her know it was too cold, so she came inside back inside the building to serve in the front rooms. Most of the chimps tend to stay put throughout the meal, but Missy – always on the move – likes to show up at the beginning of each “course”, grab her serving, and take it off to enjoy in the playroom.

Today’s lunch consisted of tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, and green onions.