Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp sanctuary

Pre-lunch Shenanigans

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Working with chimps can be a little loud and even overstimulating at times. That is why when there are quiet moments or sweet interactions, they mustn’t go unnoticed. Those moments can fill our cup up! Jamie’s side of the building has been pretty calm today, while Cy’s side has been making quite the ruckus for some of the morning. It did make for great “TV” for Burrito, but tension on one side can often cause tension on the other. However, Burrito’s side has been pretty easygoing. Jamie has even let individuals like Foxie and Annie have their fruit this morning. The best part of the day so far has been watching Burrito and Missy get so excited for their lunch forage that they had to play and laugh it out, even Jamie and Foxie decided to groom! My cup definitely got filled today :).

Negra watching her noisy neighbors on the Bray in the morning:

Family Ties

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Happy National Siblings Day, everyone! As the youngest sister to two older brothers, I confess that I didn’t know it was national siblings day until Chad told me today during our morning huddle. I feel like that tracks for my experience as the youngest sibling, though, and my brothers wouldn’t expect anything different. Now that I know, happy siblings day to my own brothers and to all who have siblings they wish to celebrate today!

One of my passions about sanctuary work is connecting the dots of the chimps’ family trees. While there’s information we don’t know, and details that we are learning as the years go by, what we do know is pretty special! We have quite a few siblings (both full and half) here at CSNW, so let’s take some time to celebrate them.

First up: Lucky and Cy are full siblings! They share the same parents (Herbie and Sally). They also look quite similar, especially when Lucky is worked up and her hair is pilo-erect (or standing on end). While Cy is more outgoing, when he’s not busy with his magazines, Lucky likes to hang back a bit. When I was in the interactions portion of my training, Cy immediately wanted to play chase while Lucky was more reserved and enjoyed hazing me a bit (her ability to jump on the caging in front of you when you don’t see her coming is uncanny). Over time we’ve built a special friendship with lots of grooming and some of the sweetest morning greetings. They both have a way of looking at you that makes you just stop and stare into their eyes for a while, while all your worries fall away.

Lucky (back) with full-brother, Cy (front)

While Lucky and Cy are full-siblings, they are also half-siblings to Rayne and Honey B since they share the same father, Herbie! What a group! Rayne is reliable and socially savvy, but with a spunky streak. Which makes sense, since she’s related to Honey B. As we creep up on the two-year anniversary of the integration of the six and the three, it’s really wonderful to see how Honey B’s relationships have grown- especially with Rayne!

Cy (left) with full sibling Lucky (middle) and half-sibling Rayne (right)

Honey B (Left) with half-sibling Rayne (right)

That’s not all! Gordo and Dora are also half-siblings, as they share the same father Les. Gordo can be aloof with the humans, but when he warms up to you he’ll engage you in a game of chase with his signature ‘bunny hop’! He also loves smoothies. Like, LOVES. Dora, while she can take or leave her breakfast smoothie, is known for her little head bobble. She has made a best friend in Mave, but her and Gordo enjoy fun games of chase.

Gordo (left) with half-sibling Dora (right)

Oh! And, speaking of learning family connections as we go, we can’t forget that we learned last year that Terry and Mave are also half siblings! They share a father, Conrad. We had wondered for a while, because they share a heightened level of floof and similar face speckling. I often think that they really do act like siblings- Mave will come up to Terry with one of her exaggerated, bouncing, loud greetings to which Terry often greets her quickly before turning away and moving on.

Mave (left) with half-sibling Terry (right)

While there aren’t any siblings in the Cle Elum 7, Burrito shares a father (Mack) with Clay, Jody‘s son, and with Noah, Negra‘s son. Both Clay and Noah live a life of sanctuary at Save the Chimps in Florida.

Handsome Burrito

Burrito arms crossed

And, of course, Missy is Honey B’s mom. Not a sibling-thing, but a family-thing.

Missy

Honey B

To add to the excitement, today has been a beautiful day and both groups got to enjoy a lunch forage in their outdoor habitats! Let’s start with photos of Cy’s group.

Who’s hand is that????

It’s MAVE!! While she’s been getting more comfortable on the Bray, today she participated in her first forage on the Bray. 🙂 Happy day!

She was anxious at first (she came out with a bit of a fear grimace and pilo-erect hair)…

But she got some reassurance from Lucky and began enjoying the forage.

Now, to Jamie’s group!

Sweet Annie-bird

Annie got a good stash of mini peppers…

But Jamie took the gold.

 

 

Wood Wool Forage and More!

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Providing enrichment opportunities for the chimps and watching them enjoy the experience is truly a rewarding part of our job. Today we put out peanut butter frisbees, which is a favorite among Negra’s group. Surprisingly, Jamie shared this food puzzle with everyone including Foxie! After cleaning the playroom we noticed we had a lot of leftover wood wool. We decided to put the wood wool out in the green house and put out seeds in the wood wool for the chimps to search for. Watching them problem solve and find different tactics to engage with their enrichment always motivates us to keep creating more ways to enrich them throughout the day. Overall, making enrichment for chimpanzees is not only fun, but also deeply enriching for both chimpanzees and their caregivers.

Don’t forget to test your knowledge of chimpanzees and other primates!

Burrito tossing the wood wool around:

Negra stepped out onto Young’s Hill today 🙂

Jamie:

Goofy little Foxie:

Foxie grooming Negra in the green house:

Moments of Comfort & Joy

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From the moment that we pull up to the chimp house in the mornings, the day gets busy fast. We jump right into breakfast, then cleaning, then lunch, then chimp house chores and blogging, to dinner and closing!

In between the busy and sometimes chaotic moments, we try and interact with the chimps as much as we can (and as much as they want us to). And, like Jenna wrote in her blog titled ‘Stay Awhile’, sometimes forcing ourselves to pause and be totally present allows us to witness moments that we otherwise would have missed. Or it allows us moments with the chimps that we otherwise wouldn’t have had if we had just moved onto the next item on our to-do list.

It’s a balancing act, definitely. But these moments of pause allow us to witness moments of comfort & joy with the chimps- which, if you really get down to it, is a pretty wonderful part of sanctuary. Check out today’s blog video for just a few of these happy & comforting moments from today. 🙂

Speaking of comfort and joy (look at me go, connecting all the things!)- we want to celebrate these special moments of sanctuary with YOU! If you haven’t yet, head over to our Comfort & Joy, Quid Pro Throw Online Auction to participate in the fun. You can bid on items and experiences for yourself (or for some holiday shopping- it’s never too early) and you can *also* bid on items to give to the chimps! Imagine the bragging rights you will have if you win the Mora Blanket that’s listed for us to give to Mave and Dora themselves? Just, wow. We’re also adding new items throughout the auction, so be sure to keep an eye on things!

Also, registering for the virtual event automatically gets you access to our upcoming Comfort & Joy Virtual Gathering this Sunday, November 12th at 5:00pm PT / 8:00pm ET. This virtual presentation will cover past, present, and the exciting future of the sanctuary- along with staff intros and behind the scenes footage of the chimp house! It’ll be a great excuse to kick up your feet, grab a yummy drink, all your favorite blankets, and learn more about all of us here. Diana and I will be chatting live with attendees, so be sure to say hi!

Bonus Photos:

Burrito and his favorite red Frisbee from today:

Foxie, enjoying watching the neighbors out in the chute:

Lucky having a moment of comfort in her nest in the front rooms:

Go Gordo, It’s Your Birthday!

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Many thanks to Paulette Wrisley for sponsoring this day of sanctuary: “Sending happy birthday wishes to Gordo, Tom, Dan and David! Have the best day you guys!” Thank you so much Paulette for helping us celebrate Gordo on his special day!

Today is Gordo’s 35th birthday! We threw a big lunch celebration for both Gordo and Burrito’s groups. We started Gordo’s day with an extra large cup of smoothie, because that is hands down Gordo’s favorite thing in the world. To say he was excited would be an understatement. I am sure you are all dying to know what was on the menu for Gordo’s birthday! The forage consisted of some of Gordo’s favorite foods such as oatmeal cups topped with fresh berries, leeks, cherry tomatoes, corn, and more fresh berries.

I thought I would share a few of my favorite things about Gordo. Number one, I think this might be why all of us staff love him, because he is quirky! I love his pokey fingers and that he always sits in boxes (the novelty has not worn off). I adore his little smirk, he just always looks cheeky, it kind of fits his personality. As we have mentioned before, Gordo does come off aloof like he is uninterested in us humans. However, if you pay close attention, when he does want to play or interact he will do the most subtle little knock with his knuckles or he will ever so slightly tap his toe, not toes, just one toe. It’s like he is seeing if you are paying attention and if you are you are rewarded with the prize of playing chase with him. I love the way he lays at the end of the stairs on a hot summer day, looking like fell down them (he has not!). Emotionally, Gordo can be hard to read so it makes me admire how brave he is and extremely proud of how he has handled himself and embraced all of these new situations. We are so lucky to know him. Gordo is a one of a kind guy!

Now you can see why it may look concerning when Gordo lays by the stairs (again it’s just how he lays):

Growth

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I know I have mentioned this many times, but being able to witness Mave and Dora’s group grow into this integrated family that has provided them more social opportunities and friendships, plus the ability to work through interpersonal relationships has absolutely been one of the highlights of my career! It is really easy to forget how stressful the introduction process was, especially since they have grown so much and worked so hard to become this group of nine! However, I can still remember the feelings of uncertainty and stress about whether the integration would actually work. It almost feels silly to think about about how stressed we all were. I just remember thinking that Mave, Willy B, and Honey B needed more friends, especially the social butterfly Mave. That was the motivation- more friends and more opportunities.

Now a year and some months later, Dora’s group is flourishing! As predicted, eventually, Mave loved making new friends and Willy B finally has some male friends to hangout with. But the real surprise, the real social butterfly is Honey B. Honey B always seems to be in the middle of a grooming train, mall walking with friends, or playing with a friend like Dora! It goes to show that in sanctuary providing more opportunities and choices really does make their lives all the better.

Bonus photos!

Jenna took this photo and was kind enough to share it with me! A sweet photo Honey B, Mave, and Dora all nesting together:

Recently, Negra has been keeping a doll in her pelvic pocket:

Jamie in the portrait studio:

Foxie right next to Jamie:

Foxie rubbing her toes together:

 

The Morning After Jubilee

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After yesterdays festivities, today has been pretty low-key for everyone. I think both chimps and humans are exhausted from such an awesome day of nonstop partying! If you didn’t see yesterdays blog, STOP EVERYTHING you are doing and look now! And if you missed Diana talking about Negra’s story, be sure to check that out too! Don’t forget that until the end of June all donations will be doubled until we reach $30,000. Follow this link to learn more about how you can help us reach our goal!

Cy on the Bray:

Lucky hanging out by the hammock:

Gordo heading back from exploring:

Willy B:

Guess who!

It’s Rayne!

How did we get so lucky to have such a sweet and kind soul like Terry?! It has been so fun to watch Terry grow in just the few years he has been at CSNW and watch him make new friends. I am not sure if we share this often, but he is quietly good friends with Honey B (maybe don’t tell Honey B). I often will see them on the cameras grooming or hanging out in the same area together. She even grooms with him from time to time! And I don’t know if I have ever met a gentler chimp than him. What I am trying to say is that Terry is just such a nice guy with a really good heart <3.