Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
The ghost game never gets old for Missy! I had to do a double-take when I was watching the security cameras on Lucky’s side. It’s usually Rayne who plays under and with blankets and sheets, but there Lucky was having a great time as her groupmates continued to sleep. I hope you enjoy the video!
These little moments of the chimpanzees doing spontaneous joyful things are what keeps me going. You can see some of these moments LIVE via zoom on Valentine’s Day. Learn more and register here.
These lucky chimpanzees have been receiving a new gift every day from the Comfort & Joy auction and Today they got TWO!
Kathleen C. won the bid for a giant sheet featuring photographs of Rayne and Honey B taken by sanctuary staff. Melody W. bid on a very cute, very soft smiling tomato blanket for Missy, who is famous for loving tomatoes.
Volunteer Lizz helping to display the giant Honey B/Rayne sheet
Honey B the chimpanzee juxtaposed with Honey B the sheet
This tomato blanket looks just right in the greenhouse, no?
Big thanks again to Kathleen C. and Melody W.! We know the chimpanzees are going to get good snuggly use out these gifts.
And just for fun, please enjoy the goofball video above of Burrito with a giant kong!
Originally, I didn’t know I wanted to work with chimpanzees. From a young age, I was drawn specifically to orangutans. I have a vivid memory of being probably 8 years old, my mom and I were at the mall and we were in a candy shop that, in addition to candy, also sold random stuffed animals and Beanie Babies. There was a large size orangutan Beanie Baby (think the size of a 6 month old infant) that I BEGGED my mom for. It was $39.99, which was outrageous for a stuffed animal of any kind. Luckily for me, my mom gave in and bought it for me. This stuffed animal was just the beginning of my fascination with apes. I went on to do book reports in high school about orangutans where I would rave about how amazing they are.
Fast forward about fifteen years, I stumbled across the primate behavior program at Central Washington University while I was researching graduate programs and it immediately caught my attention. When I applied and even began the graduate program at CWU, I assumed that this was the beginning of the road to working with orangutans.
That is until I went to Fauna Foundation for a summer internship.
My internship at Fauna Foundation was the first time I had been around chimpanzees. I don’t think I had ever even seen a chimp in-person, as the Phoenix Zoo (where I grew up) only had orangutans and other smaller primates. I remember on the very first day of the internship, myself and the four other interns, were led around property by Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold. When we approached the chimp house, Tatu and Loulis greeted us from the outdoor aerial tunnels. Tatu began using American Sign Language to sign to her long-time friend, Dr. Jensvold. Dr. Jensvold signed to Tatu that we interns are new friends. I will never forget this interaction.
There was another memory from that summer that will always stick with me. We were doing a behavioral observation study where we were recording the chimpanzees’ activities throughout a day. We were creating a baseline for them, so their “normal” activity level would be recorded. Therefore, for about fifteen minutes at a time, I would observe a chimp’s activities and record them on an iPad. This one day in particular, I was observing Rachel. She was out relaxing on one of the islands when I walked up. After a few minutes of me observing her, she gathered her two stuffed gorillas and headed over to sit in front of me (her on the island behind the fencing, me on the sidewalk). Rachel sat there and stared at me for awhile. I tried not to stare back too much, as to not make her uncomfortable. It was clear to me she just liked being in the presence of someone. It’s a moment that is hard to describe, now that I’m behind a keyboard. Truly, it’s like everything clicked when I was sitting there with Rachel: how human-like chimpanzees are, how chimpanzees shouldn’t be in captivity, how they are just. like. us.
Ever since that summer, I knew I wanted to work with chimpanzees for the rest of my career.
Working with chimpanzees can be dramatic, stressful, exhausting, but it also is the best thing I have ever done.
When did you fall in love with chimpanzees? Comment below!
Burrito:
Negra:
There are those days when nothing too terribly exciting is happening so writing the blog can be a little tough. On the other side of the coin, however, there could be many things happening it can be just as daunting to try to pick just a few of the things to write about. Today is a latter. So for the sake of time and strained eyes looking at screens, I just chose three.
Morning:
As I was making sure Young’s Hill was safe for Burrito’s group to venture out on this morning, I saw Missy draped in an orange blanket.
I exchanged morning greeting with her via a head bob, and continued to check the gates and doors that lead to Young’s Hill. A minute or two later, I went back around to open the door that gives Missy access to the outdoor enclosure. Still seeing the orange blanket, I blurted out, “Are you ready to go outside Missy?” To my surprise, Missy was already at the door waiting to go outside. So who was in the orange blanket?
It was Negra!
They pulled the ol’ switcheroo on me!
Funny enough, I had just greeted Negra as she was still nice and comfortable in her nest inside the playroom right before Missy in their greenhouse.
Afternoon:
After cleaning was done, I glanced at our security cameras to see where everybody was. In the Marmot Mountain Playroom, I saw Honey B and Rayne taking the “play” part of playroom seriously. Or not seriously, depending on how you look at it. As I was watching them, Rayne showed off some of her moves! No need to fret, I have included the clip in today’s video. If you were to name this move, what would it be called?
Yesterday:
If you read yesterday’s blog, then you know (and hopefully celebrated) Mave’s *real* birthday! In the description, you may have read that Mave was having some problems getting one of the prized young coconuts. Luckily for her, her new best friend Dora allowed her to have one of the two she acquired! I wasn’t quick enough to submit my footage to J.B. before the video was completed, so I included the unfolding of that event. We cannot definitively say Dora was actively sharing (wanting Mave to have it and physically giving her it), but she was at least passively sharing (not getting mad she took it).
Yesterday I also randomly glanced at the security cameras and saw Mave’s power move! One of the most endearing things we all love about Mave is the “Mave plop.” I’m trying to think of the words to use to describe the “Mave plop,” but am coming up short. Caregiver Kelsi said the only way she says she can describe it is “it’s like a Jason Bourne move if he was lazy.” That is a fair assessment because it’s like a dive-roll type of move. I digress though. None of us have seen the “Mave plop” in quiet this fashion as we saw it on the cameras. We were trying to think of names to call it. Some said it’s the “help I’ve fallen and can’t get up.” Some said it’s “the catwalk flop.” To some it’s “the failed flying chimp-in-a-blanket maneuver.” After watching it, what would you call it?
Bonus Photos:
Annie with her coconut yesterday
Cy and his coconut
Gordo and his coconut
Teeny Tiny Terry and his teeny tiny pine cone
Mavis!
And don’t forget, Giving Day for Apes has begun! Be sure to find out about the different Power Hours on Oct. 3rd. You can even create your own fundraising page with your own goals and send it to family, friends, and well wishers!
Enjoy today’s video featuring Burrito and his Greenhouse shenanigans!
Also I wanted to thank everyone who attended our Positive Reinforcement Training virtual visit this afternoon! I am glad we got to share that aspect of the sanctuary and answer questions.
Lucky
Yesterday, Diana wrote about the natural surroundings of the sanctuary that bring her a sense of awe. I have had many moments where I felt a sense of awe as well. I thought I would share two of my iPhone photos with all of you today. Both pictures were moments where I just thought, “Wow”.
Sunset view from parking lot on January 10, 2023
View of the side of the Bray on December 30, 2022
I was really excited to give out the buffalo hooded blanket from the Comfort & Joy auction today for the fourth day of Christmas! Though I definitely have visions of Negra becoming a buffalo, I’m not surprised that it was Burrito who got it first!
Thank you to:
Lisa S. for being the winning bidder of the blanket!
I wanted to share a cute quick story from yesterday and today, which fits perfectly with our Comfort & Joy, the Quid Pro Throw online auction theme! Yesterday, we noticed at all points of the day Annie was carrying one particular blanket in her pelvic pocket all day. I was on the other side of the building cleaning most of the day, but at any point I saw Annie, she had this blanket in her pocket. I was finally able to snap a few pictures at the end of the evening. I asked Chad, who was lead in Annie’s side and he said he observed her with it a lot too! When Annie came to lunch today she had a new blanket in her pelvic pocket that she then proceeded to carry around for the day. I can only assume that the blankets Annie carried around seemed to bring her some sort of comfort, but we can never really say for sure.
The auction is going on now! You can bid on items for the chimps or yourself. Don’t miss out on all the fun, but don’t out bid me ;)!
Annie enjoying her evening popsicle with her blanket in tote:
Annie at lunch today eating avocado and holding a blanket in her pelvic pocket:
