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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Chimpanzee Behavior

Mave’s Feminist Uprising

May 7, 2022 by Diana

Mave is currently living her best life. She seems to thrive in a larger group with more chimpanzees to interact with and look after. These last few days, she’s virtually never alone.

The video above is of a very fun play session between Mave and Rayne, but the blog post title is more about these two stories…

You may remember from a blog written by J.B. entitled “It’s Only Natural” that Terry and Dora are the only two chimpanzees who express a certain natural behavior. We know from their former caregivers at Wildlife Waystation that they haven’t always done this – they did it for a while, stopped for a very long time, then started again in recent years. Terry only requests that Dora mate when food is brought out for meals. Yep, food is VERY exciting for chimpanzees. From our observations so far, Dora is not always in the mood for Terry’s advances, but she eventually gives in to his requests.

Enter Dora’s new friend Mave.

Mave, apparently, is not willing to tolerate Terry’s behavior and will not only yell at Terry if she catches him requesting Dora to copulate, but will physically “protect” Dora. Chad wrote up the first instance of this the other day. To quote Chad, “Mave began screaming at Terry, and blocked Dora from him via hugging her.” She apparently spent the rest of lunch guarding Dora while also trying to reconcile with Terry. At that point, Terry was more interested in lunch. He did reassure Mave that all was okay, and did not make another attempt that day.

We’ll have to see how this plays out in the end, but I can tell you that the female humans at the sanctuary were feeling a certain feminine solidarity with Mave.

 

The second story is from last night when everyone was getting ready for bed. I was watching on the remote security cameras. Every night prior to last night, Mave, Willy B, and Honey B have slept in one of the Front Rooms while the six chimpanzees from the other group spread out among the two playrooms.

Last night, Cy was still up taking some alone time (or so he thought) in the Mezzanine. I watched as Mave gathered some blankets from the Marmot Mountain Playroom. I expected her to take her large pile of blankets through the Mezzanine and down through the door in the floor that connects to the Front Rooms. What she did instead was make a nest right in the “cubby” of the Mezzanine, blocking the door that connects it to Marmot Mountain. She made a beautiful nest and lied down.

A few minutes later, Cy approached where she was lying down. It was clear to me that he wanted to vacate the Mezzanine. Mave, however, remained lying down, not moving a muscle. He got a little closer and patiently waited again. Still no movement from Mave. After about ten minutes, he climbed over her to get out the door. She still didn’t move.

Mave is a female figure that we all can admire. She’s a friend to everyone but is strong and confident in her position.

If you haven’t already, I suggest you celebrate Mave by getting a Mave hoodie. I will wear mine with even more pride and admiration now.

Filed Under: Chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, Dora, Friendship, Introductions, Introductions, Latest Videos, Mave, Nesting, Play, Rayne, Sanctuary, Terry Tagged With: animal protection, animal rescue, animal rights, Animal Welfare, captive behavior, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, primate protection, primate rescue, rescue

Riding the Waves

November 8, 2020 by Anthony

The chimpanzees began their morning with a raucous exchange of displays between the two neighboring groups. Screams, barks, drumming and hoots reverberated throughout the Chimp House. The neighbor effect is very real.

The following breakfast services were predictably tense. On one side of the building, Jamie was irate that the poor human caregiver wouldn’t give her someone else’s chow bag. The white paper bag sat awkwardly in the bottom of the food chute as Jamie loudly won the ensuing argument, but Negra quietly absconded with the prize during the chaos. In the Mezzanine, Willy B flexed his dominance by intimidating the female chimps and claiming Mave’s chow bags. Willy has grown more patient and tolerant in his time here, possibly due to our efforts to promote cooperative feeding. However, like all high-ranking chimps, he still needs to assert himself occasionally. This morning was one of those moments.

Generally speaking, chimpanzee behavior is characterized by short chaotic episodes during which the social hierarchy is challenged. These conflicts can either reform existing relationship dynamics or reinforce them. Instability and tension, however, are not just unpleasant; they’re downright exhausting. Adrenaline is unsustainable and requires a long reset afterwards. For this and many other reasons, chimps spend most of their time engaged in relatively peaceful activities such as grooming, foraging, and rest. I don’t know if chimpanzees have a “love language,” but low-key quality time would probably be it.

Given today’s hectic beginning, it was not surprising that the sanctuary’s residents had calmed down by lunch. The Seven were all about doing laps around Young’s Hill, while Honey B and Mave spent a large chunk of the day grooming and playing chase. Once our team was finished scrubbing enclosures for the day, I took a moment to go sit just outside the caging in the Mezzanine and observe the chimps. Willy B was the only chimp up there, lazily turning over some blankets and toys that had just been distributed by caregivers.

Willy B stared at me for a second, made a gentle hoo, and retrieved a fluffy blue blanket that had been draped over the nearby bench. He dragged it towards me with his knuckles, stopping only when the edges of the blanket were pushed up against the bottom of the steel mesh that separated us. Willy then leaned forward and, like a collapsing Imperial AT-AT, took a gargantuan nose dive into the shaggy pile.

He laid there for some time, face buried in the folds of the blanket. It was difficult to tell if it was a moment of pure exhaustion or zen-like bliss. I followed suit, sprawling out on the smooth heated floor. He lifted his head to reveal his brown eyes, which briefly showed a flash of skepticism, before apparently deciding that it was okay for me to join him on the floor. As I laid on my back, looking up at the passing clouds through the Mezzanine’s skylights, Willy began to take longer and longer blinks until he slowly fell asleep.

Even though I’m used to the routine by now, I noted how odd it felt to see Willy B gradually drift off into a light nap. He seemed to be at ease amid his surroundings despite being a hurricane of hair and muscle just hours earlier. I also felt slightly honored that he had chosen to be in my proximity without asking for anything else. I reminded myself that the never-ending waves of chimpanzee emotion, with peaks of chaos and troughs of serenity, are not something to be necessarily battled against. Rather, they are all part of the chimpanzee experience, adding value to each other. As Anna once told me when I was learning to manage the complex dynamics among these unique chimp individuals, “you’ve gotta ride the waves.”

I decided not to take any photos of Willy B’s nap; doing so would have likely caused him to sit up and stare into the camera lens. Instead, here are some photos our team has taken of chimpanzees resting during the peaceful eyes that separate many tumultuous storms.

   

   

Have a great night, everyone!

Filed Under: Chimpanzee Behavior, Dispaying, Fights, Friendship, Willy B Tagged With: Animal Welfare, chimp, chimp behavior, chimp enrichment, chimp rescue, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, chimps, Sanctuary, social dynamics, wildlife waystation, Willy B

Greeting Tour

September 27, 2020 by Anthony

A while back, one of our followers specifically requested a video of us greeting the chimpanzees in the morning.

Well, here it is.

I hope y’all appreciate the chimps’ enthusiasm as much as I do.

Filed Under: Caregivers, Chimpanzee Behavior, Latest Videos, Play, Young's Hill Tagged With: animal care, Animal Welfare, caregiver, chimp, chimp enrichment, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, chimpanzee rescue, chimpanzee retirement, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, csnw, Play, Primate behavior, rescue, Sanctuary, sanctuary caregiver, young's hill

Great Expectations

September 12, 2019 by Anthony

We caregivers have been incredibly busy lately, but we make a point to read comments on our social media content and we attempt to respond appropriately whenever possible. Lately, most of our followers, donors and volunteers have been overwhelmingly focused on one topic in particular: social integrations. More specifically, everybody wants to know about our plan for introducing the three new individuals (Honey B., Willy B. and Mave) to our existing social group of seven resident chimpanzees. Diana described the situation eloquently in her recent post, which is a “must-read” for anyone trying to follow the action here at the sanctuary.

Willy B. and Mave listen to the other group of chimpanzees in the adjacent Playroom.

As stated previously by the other staff, the incoming trio are about to clear their four-week quarantine period and we are formulating a loose plan to begin the introduction process. All members of our care staff are experienced in chimpanzee care and management, but we have never conducted a merger of two social groups in this unique facility or with these individual chimpanzees. Therefore, it is impossible to write a detailed, step-by-step description of our introduction plan. We are committed to remaining flexible and open-minded from start to finish, and will make whatever changes are needed to ensure the safety and well-being of all chimpanzees throughout the process. As with the outdoor tunnel, The chimpanzees will let us know how they feel about each step and we will adjust our plan to reflect their choices. At this point in time, all we can say is that we have scoured the written literature on chimpanzee social integrations, consulted with experienced personnel from other facilities and organizations, and aggregated our own observations in order to make the best decisions for these individual chimps.

The existing scientific reports of first meetings between unfamiliar chimpanzees have somewhat helped us to set our expectations. Chimpanzee social behavior is by far the most thoroughly studied of all wild primates, and there are substantial bodies of work on their behavior in captivity as well. What we see around the sanctuary is often paralleled by what scientists have seen at other locations and in other populations of chimpanzees. To illustrate this point, let’s consider Burrito’s behavioral changes since the new three entered his world, both audibly and visibly.

Burrito Chimpanzee stomps around the Playroom.

In general, Burrito has been more alert and agitated than usual. He has conducted more forays onto Young’s Hill to monitor the section of fence closest to the new expansion, spends more time gazing towards the neighboring enclosures, and creates more noise by drumming and throwing objects around the Chimp House. He has been uncharacteristically late for some meals and even skipped a couple courses entirely. During these absences, we hear him getting rowdy by the Playroom windows, usually within sight of the three new arrivals who can watch the spectacle from the safety of their outdoor tunnel. Once his displays and hoots reach their inevitable crescendo, he leaps towards the window and stares intently, apparently waiting for a response. When he does show up tardy for meals, he has been swaggering up to the Greenhouse deck and then charging through the females, scattering them and causing a ruckus. This is an edgier version of Bubba than we have seen previously.

Burrito looks out of the Playroom window after completing a display.

This change in Burrito’s behavior is evidence of what some primatologists have called the neighbor effect. In their 1996 study of chimpanzees housed at a large research facility, Dr. Kate Baker and Dr. Filippo Aureli observed captive chimpanzees to determine whether noise from neighboring groups had an observable effect on each individual’s behavior. To summarize their findings, chimpanzees tended to perform more pant-hoots, displays and outright physical aggression when neighboring groups did the same. Aggression outside of social groups was related to aggression within groups. For captive chimpanzees, rowdiness and instability are apparently contagious. Right now, we are witnessing a similar pattern of behavior here at CSNW.

Willy B. watches Burrito from across the yard.

Other aspects of captive chimpanzee behavior have been studied at facilities around the globe. For example, recent studies have investigated how chimpanzee behavior varies in relation to temporary space restrictions, permanent relocations, different enclosure types, and atypical rearing histories. One study even asked whether chimps find music enriching (results: “meh”). Most of these papers were produced from data collected at no more than a few facilities, and many publications are mere case studies of single groups of chimpanzees. Each facility is unique and groups of chimpanzees can vary greatly depending on social structure, cultural variation, and context. Thus, even though there is a good deal of information out there, it requires a good deal of sifting and speculating to apply it to our chimpanzee residents here at the sanctuary.

Missy Chimpanzee monitors the neighboring chimps.

In a couple of situations, we have invited graduate students to conduct noninvasive applied welfare studies at the sanctuary. We are definitely not a research facility and do not profit from scientific investigations, but collecting systematic observations can generate information that can then be used to optimize our care of the chimpanzee residents. Central Washington University (CWU) is located in nearby Ellensburg and contains the nation’s only Graduate Program in Primate Behavior, so a handful of committed CWU students have helped us to answer key questions about the Cle Elum Seven. Most recently, a collaborative team led by Jake Funkhauser published his analysis of the sanctuary’s chimpanzee social network and dominance hierarchy. This report, although only based on a summer’s worth of observations, produced insight that has proved valuable as we prepare to add three new individuals into the mix.

Foxie Chimpanzee expressed her arousal and uncertainty during one of Burrito’s displays.

Additionally, we recently hosted Chimp Haven’s Director of Behavior and Research, Amy Fultz, who observed the chimps and inspected the facility. Amy has coordinated countless introductions between unfamiliar chimpanzees and numerous mergers of large social groups, thereby developing an immense body of knowledge and wisdom that she was generous enough to share with our team. Even as she gave us some useful tips and relayed some incredible stories, she also emphasized a few points that we already knew: that each chimpanzee is a unique individual, that each facility offers its own advantages and challenges, and that any introduction between two groups can take a surprising turn at any moment. It’s best to have a plan, of course, but the plan will inevitably change as we acquire new information about the chimps and their preferences.

Burrito Chimpanzee watches his neighbors through the caging of the Greenhouse.

Even with a wealth of available data and input from various sources, we know that this is unfamiliar territory for these ten chimpanzees and is a big step for our team as well. Ultimately, we will put these two groups together in our own way, the CSNW Way, which will be whichever way works best at that moment in time. For now, our staff is continuing to observe how the chimpanzees react to each small change in their environment and we will continue to share those moments with you whenever possible. We certainly appreciate all of your interest and support as we help the new three to acclimate to their new home, new lifestyle, and new neighbors, who will hopefully become their seven new friends. Shortly, we hope to have some updates for you all!

Filed Under: Burrito, Chimpanzee Behavior, Introductions, Sanctuary Tagged With: animal behavior, Animal Welfare, behavior, Burrito, captive chimpanzees, chimp, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, chimpanzee sanctuary, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, chimpanzees, Sanctuary, social integration, social networks

The Other 5% of the Time

December 2, 2017 by Diana

Are the chimpanzees at the sanctuary peaceful and quiet all of the time? This video starts to answer that question.

 

 

Filed Under: Chimpanzee Behavior, Fights Tagged With: animal rescue, Animal Welfare, chimp, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, csnw, display, northwest, rescue, Sanctuary

Peering

March 20, 2013 by Jackie

Peering is an interesting part of chimpanzee culture. One chimp will get uncomfortably close to another and stare at them intently, usually with hopes to convince them to share whatever it is that they are eating or drinking. Occasionally the chimp being stared at will share, but sometimes they are excellent at just pretending not to notice that someone is 2″ from their face and will either completely ignore them or calmly turn away. It is so intense and makes me feel uneasy just watching it! Check out this video of a couple of older clips of peering that I found:

Annie peering at Negra munching on some cabbage leaves:
web Annie peer Negra eat cabbage leaves chew face forage PR IMG_4606

Foxie peering at Annie:
web Annie groom self Foxie peer gh IMG_9902

The reason I wanted to share a little insight into this behavior is because during the St. Patrick’s Day party, I caught an interesting interaction between Foxie and Annie. As part of their forage, I put out cups of yellow Gatorade and filled up a large bucket we have with diluted Gatorade for fun. Foxie immediately went over to sit by it, obviously in hopes to sneak a drink. But Jamie was foraging nearby, so Foxie seemed a bit uneasy taking a drink from the one and only giant tub of Gatorade without getting some sort of permission from the boss that it was okay (check out this video for how Foxie would normally do that). She sat there for a really long time with Jamie foraging nearby, and seemed very nervous, though Jamie seemed completely content without the bucket.

web foxie bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4869

Then, Annie (surprisingly enough) confidently walked right over, picked up the bucket, and took a big gulp with Jamie and Foxie watching the whole time.

web annie drink foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4872

Foxie then intently peered at Annie, maybe in hopes that Annie would share her Gatorade or perhaps to see what the consequences were of taking a drink without permission.
web annie foxie peer bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4873

Once Annie walked away, Foxie had gained the courage to take a drink for herself.
web foxie drink bucket of water st patrick's day PR IMG_4888

Filed Under: Annie, Chimpanzee Behavior, Food, Foxie, Jamie, Negra, Party, Sanctuary Tagged With: Annie, Chimpanzee Behavior, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Foxie, Jamie, Negra, peering

Chimps using tools

August 1, 2011 by Debbie

Chimpanzees naturally use tools in free-living Africa. One common example of tool use is “ant fishing” or “termite fishing” — when a chimpanzee takes a stick and dips it into an ant or termite mound to gather up some tasty insects. At CSNW, we have a simulated termite board which we fill with things captive chimpanzees enjoy, such as fruit puree or peanut butter.

As part of our sanctuary philosophy, we strive to allow for “species specific” chimpanzee behavior. This can involve providing adequate space and climbing structures for a natural behavior like brachiation, and it can also include providing enrichment that allows them to use their instinctual chimp behaviors, such as nesting or tool use.

The other day, Jackie and I presented the chimpanzees with a puzzle: how to get drinks from buckets outside the caging. They quickly grabbed hoses to use for tools, as you’ll see in the video.

Filed Under: Annie, Burrito, Chimpanzee Behavior, Enrichment, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Sanctuary Tagged With: Animal Welfare, Annie, Burrito, chimp, chimp behavior, chimp sanctuary, chimpanzee, Chimpanzee Behavior, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Cle Elum Seven, csnw, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, primate protection, Sanctuary, tool use

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