Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Animal Welfare

Nest grunts

by

Recently there was a discussion on our Facebook page about Nest Grunts. When the chimps are getting settled into their nests at night they will often make a hoohuhhoohuh sound which is called a nest grunt. Chimps in the wild will often make these vocalizations to check in with each other before bedtime. We’ve been trying to catch the vocalization on tape for the blog for some time now, and we were finally successful! It’s definitely one of my favorite times of the night.

Old projects and new projects

by

Life with chimpanzees is wonderful, but it is far from predictable. Sometimes things don’t happen when you plan (and vice versa). Awhile back, we did a fundraising drive to raise money for a new door in the chimps’ enclosure. In exchange for donations, we promised to paint donors’ names on a new mural in the outdoor area. Well, we may be slow, but we do keep our promises! Today, volunteer Kim McAndrews (who is our volunteer graphic designer from Peach Design who designed the Out of the Box auction logo, among many other things) is working hard on that mural. Here are a couple of shots of a work in progress:

As if that isn’t enough excitement for one day, David Binczewski (of Booshoot Gardens fame) and volunteer Ken Mikkelsen are here helping J.B. plant the first round of bamboo on Young’s Hill.

We’ll be sure to share more photos when the projects are completed!

Intruder

by

While no match for equatorial Africa, living in rural Cle Elum does afford the chimpanzees some interesting experiences. The other day a garter snake made its way into the chimp house, and the chimps let their feelings on the matter be known.