Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
There are several chimpanzees at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest that love a cool pair of shoes, or a new pair of boots. Some of the usual suspects include Terry, Lucky, and of course Jamie!
Recently, caregiver Ellen got some new work boots. Guess who couldn’t wait to see them in action?
George’s integration into a social group continues! This is very likely the only time in his life he’s been with two other adult male chimpanzees at the same time!
Big congrats to Ellen for leading this successful introduction and thanks to J.B. for the footage.
The trio spent the whole day together and tonight George and Cy are a duo once again with Gordo back with his group.
Our plan is to carry out the same process with other chimpanzees, with George and Cy remaining together. This will give us some information on group dynamics that one-on-one intros don’t provide and will give Cy the opportunity to decide what to do if there’s a conflict between George and another chimpanzee.
Tensions did rise at one point and George and Cy had an every-so-brief mild scuffle today. Gordo did not get involved. For a chimpanzee intro, we couldn’t have asked for a better result that these three. We feel proud of all of them.
When I first started as staff, I was told that being invited to play with Missy is a rare gift. Sometimes it only comes around once a year! In today’s blog video, watch as Missy makes sure Caregiver Ellen gets her steps in with a game of chase, with a hide-and-seek twist.
One of the biggest holidays of the year at the sanctuary is quickly approaching…Jamieween! Check out our wish list to send gifts for Jamie’s big day!
In today’s blog video, come along with me to play with Gordo! I hope it brings as much joy to your day as it did mine.
There is nothing better than the sound of chimpanzee laughter filling the chimp house.
See if you can guess who is making Burrito laugh before the video reveals their identity!
Honey B’s confidence with her outdoor enclosure continues to grow. Today she invited me to play a game of chase that turned into a mini walk part way up the hill. It honestly takes my breath away to think about how far she’s come. A couple hours later I went looking for her to see if she wanted to go again, only to find her further up the Bray on the Escher structure, all on her own. GO Honey B GO!
The other morning, I was turning on lights and greeting the chimps to start the morning. As I turned on lights for Gordo’s group, he jumped up and initiated a game of chase with me, and off we went! Somehow, as I was running to catch up to him in the front rooms, the fun was doubled when Rayne decided to join in our game. As we ran through their spaces, Gordo decided to take a rest, but pretty soon that quick game of chase between me and Gordo had turned into a train of chimps playing together, and I was just the third (well, fourth) wheel! Rayne, Honey B, and Terry chased each other, with Honey B grabbing at Rayne’s feet playfully as they went. Once they were done playing chase and sat down to play more, Gordo appeared again and joined in on the fun. It made me think of dominoes, as it only took that one quick game of chase with Gordo to start up a chain of play among his group. I hope you enjoy today’s video!
