Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee rescue

Playful Jamie

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Chimpanzees exhibit a variety of innate behaviors and vocalizations in different contexts. During play, for example, chimpanzees will often head nod to one another and laugh, which for a chimpanzee is a breathy pant with the top teeth covered by the upper lip. In grooming, chimpanzees will often lip-smack, teeth-clack, or blow raspberries. These behaviors seem to be used to communicate with other individuals that they are interacting in a certain context. Co-director Diana wrote a blog entry last year on grooming, which includes more detailed information about these behaviors and what they mean. As caregivers, we also use these behaviors and vocalizations during interactions to connect with the chimpanzees using their communication methods, which helps build rapport.

In the following video, Jamie plays with staff caregiver Elizabeth. In the beginning of the clip you can hear Elizabeth breathy panting during this tug-of-war/tickle interaction. Jamie then decided that intern Holly’s boot needed some TLC, so look closely at Jamie’s face and mouth to see her lip smacking as she grooms.

Annie putting her feet up

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The chimpanzees spent some time outside collecting their own snow today. But for the most part, everyone has been baking themselves in the sunny windows that look out over the valley below the sanctuary.

After lunch, Annie was quick to settle down in one of her favorite hot spots. When Annie is resting, and is content and relaxed, she loves to throw her legs in the air and kick them about or put them up against the window, intermittently clasping her feet together. Occasionally she throws in some feet clapping and Annie-bird noises (she whistles through her hands for this) for good measure.

Dear, sweet Annie…

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Burrito’s Tug-of-War Massage

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Today before lunch Burrito and staff caregiver J.B. played a nice long game of tug-of-war with a scarf. Burrito will often wrap the scarf around various parts of his body during this game so the caregiver can give him a little massage. Today he wanted to focus on his upper back and arms.

The Warriors

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Jamie and Negra are similar in many ways. Jamie, the youngest female at the sanctuary, is the undisputed leader. She rules through a combination of well-considered political strategy and fierce determination.

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Negra, the eldest chimpanzee at the sanctuary, is the grandma of the group, but she’s the grandma you don’t mess with.

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Jamie and Negra never hesitate to keep their caregivers in line. Both have little patience for (what they consider) incompetence, and they will speak up if someone’s behavior does not live up to their standards. There is something a little demoralizing about displeasing one of them.

The decades Jamie and Negra spent in research labs, being used and abused by humans, could easily have killed their spirits. Many lab chimps give in and give up, and you can’t blame them. We’re so happy that Jamie and Negra have enough fight left in them to keep us on our toes.

Happy Birthday, Dalyce!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Dalyce Kowalski! Dalyce is a great friend to the chimpanzees and in celebrating her own birthday today, she has chosen to give the chimpanzees a special day! Dalyce shared this sweet note:

“I really just wanted to have a day for the chimps to have a party.  I know how much they love a party!”

Dalyce, thank you for such a generous and compassionate gift for the chimpanzees! They definitely love a party! It makes it all the more meaningful that you are choosing to celebrate your own life by making a difference in their lives. All of us here wish you the happiest of birthdays!

Queen Negra hopes you enjoy your day and if you need any ideas, she has some suggestions:

Eat your favorite foods:

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Stretch out and relax:

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Play bite your friends:

Negra and Missy playing

Enjoy a moment of solitude in nature:

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Snuggle with a cozy blanket:

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And birthday naps are always a good idea:

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Missy Uncaged

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This was Missy in her transport cage on her way to the sanctuary in 2008. This cage isn’t much different than the cages she had lived in for the previous 30 years.

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We didn’t yet know Missy well on that day in 2008, but we would soon come to learn that she wants nothing more than to move her body. She is a natural athlete, packed to the brim with energy just waiting to be released in a sprint or leap or swing on the fire hose. It is almost impossible to imagine what those decades in cramped laboratory cages were like for her. She must have felt stifled and confined in the worst way.

Seeing her take advantage of the wide open spaces at the sanctuary these days never gets old. This morning, a tire swing way at the top of Young’s Hill caught my eye as it swayed back and forth, and I momentarily wondered what had set it in motion since it’s a rare windless day in Cle Elum. After a second I spotted Missy perched on the climbing structure, just a speck on the landscape.

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