Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimpanzee retirement

So Many Personalities

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This chimp house is so full of distinct personalities. I mean the building was brimming with personalities before, but, wow, now everywhere you turn there’s someone with their own unique wants and needs and quirks. And that’s just the humans! Just kidding – I am referring to the chimpanzees.

The two photos of Dora below were part of a series I quickly snapped yesterday. J.B. included one of them in his blog post yesterday.

Mr. Willy B got some solid Courtyard time today:

Of course there were some onlookers (Jamie, below):

Once Jamie noticed me noticing her, she pointed out the grapes that were right in front of where she was sitting in the original greenhouse:

Indeed, the grapes seem to be thriving in the hot weather and there are a LOT of very under-ripe grapes. I wasn’t able to convince Jamie, or Missy, who noticed me noticing Jamie noticing the grape vines, that they were a few weeks away from being good to eat.

As I was closing up, Foxie tossed me a strawberry shortcake doll from the loft in her playroom. This is a common occurrence as the lead caregiver of the day is doing the checklist and about to lock up; suddenly a doll lands right in front of you. Then Foxie puts her hand out, while laying down, in a gesture that indicates that she will gladly take the doll back if you toss it back up to her. In reality, she doesn’t even have her hand positioned in a way that she could catch the doll, even if my poor attempts at tossing it the six feet above were remotely on target. Eventually, she sits up and puts both hands out, or (like tonight), I find a scarf to tie around the doll, so there is a better chance that she could catch a bit of the scarf and pull the doll into the mesh.

On the other side of the building, when I climbed up to the Mezzanine, I was greeted by Cy. He had made a very nice-looking nest in the corner and was paging through a magazine. Meanwhile, Gordo was pacing the second floor of the playroom trying to get a glimpse at Mave, who might rank above his interest in food at the moment.

So many personalities and interesting observations for us caregivers to discuss and for us to share with you.

Speaking of sharing, I know some of you noticed that we had tried a new comment system yesterday for the blog called ReplyBox. There was a glitch in getting all of the old comments over, and we are waiting to hear back from the software’s support team. I’m hoping that they will fix it and we can use that moving forward. It has the requested features of allowing for emojis and for editing comments and the privacy standards seem a bit better than some other options out there. It will require people to either create a login via ReplyBox or sign in with Google or Twitter. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to find something else! Thank you for your patience.

Block You Like a Hurricane

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This morning, supporter Kathy Benson swung by to drop off some new enrichment items for the chimpanzees.

Kathy has been giving to the sanctuary since 2008 and avidly follows the daily blog. Over the years, she’s donated enrichment items which were so cool that they made it onto the daily blog. Kathy’s always friendly to the care staff and enthusiastic about helping the sanctuary, so we’re happy to meet her at the gate and accept her gifts on behalf of the chimpanzees!

Today, Kathy’s bag of donated goods contained some new books for Jamie and brand new wooden toys for all the chimps, including some of the same painted blocks that Burrito famously totes around.

Since they’ve proven to be a bit more destructive than the other chimps, we decided to give the toy blocks to the new group of six chimpanzees to see if they would pass their inspection. We weren’t sure how it would go, but it’s safe to say that the blocks were a big hit. So far, they seem durable enough for the chimps living in that wing of the building.

Throughout the late morning and afternoon, the chimps were all seen carrying the little wooden cubes in their hands, mouth and feet. Only Cy seemed completely uninterested in the blocks (in favor of his beloved magazines). The following images (from a couple hours ago) show some of the inquisitive chimps hanging out with these new enrichment items.

Terry (close-up!)
Terry
Gordo
Cy

Even though the chimpanzees provided me with ample inspiration, I still had to think of a catchy title for the blog post. According to J.B., Chad and I are developing a reputation for egregiously using puns in our titles and captions (even roping Sam and Kelsi into our corny games). As someone who likes to casually “rock the boat” around here from time to time, I’m not about to let a controversy like this just fade away.

Naturally, I spent the afternoon turning the word “block” over in my brain until something came to mind. I kept gravitating towards songs and movies featuring words that rhyme with “block.” The winner, of course, ended up being “Block You Like a Hurricane.” I knew it was perfect when I suggested it to caregiver Sam and she wordlessly walked out of the room.

(For the record, “We Will Block You / We Are the Chimp-ions” was the runner-up.)

Now that you’ve seen the cool new blocks and read the not-so-cool puns, here are some additional portraits that I’ve collected over the last couple weeks. Thanks for your continued attention and support!

Annie
Gordo
Honey B
Lucky
Gordo
Cy (watching a video on a caregiver’s phone)
Gordo
Jody
Rayne
Gordo
Cy
Terry

The Elusive Gordo – A Contrast in Characters

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Jamie is a chimpanzee who does not hide anything. She’s not shy. This was evident even the first time we met her at Buckshire before her group of seven came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

She doesn’t hold back when she has an opinion about something. She can be challenging (she’s the only chimpanzee at the sanctuary who throws feces, for example), but we all appreciate that she is not only able to express herself, but feels quite comfortable letting the humans know if she wants something or is displeased with us. When she likes something she REALLY likes it, and it’s a joy finding those things (like boot books), and being able to enrich her life in very specific-to-her ways.

Here’s a photo I took of the boss today:

Gordo, on the other hand, has been very aloof so far.

He arrived just one month ago from Wildlife Waystation, and we are still getting to know him and the other five in his group. We were told that he takes some time to warm up to new people, and so far he’s definitely the least interactive with the caregivers.

The other two males in his group, Terry and Cy, are usually front and center and wanting to play chase. Upon seeing the caregivers, Lucky will present her belly for rubs, Dora likes gentle games where she touches the back of our hands with her outstretched fingers, and Rayne is showing herself to be a fun-loving friend.

Gordo is very interested in food, so when serving meals has been the main opportunity to interact with him. He will take food from us without hesitation, but it’s normally a very one-way transactional interaction.

I feel no shame in admitting that I have been on a mission to win over Gordo. I make eye contact with him (eye contact with chimps is a good thing, though that’s not the case with some other primate species) and attempt to instigate games of chase whenever I can. Most captive chimpanzees, particularly males, really like to play chase.

Often, Gordo is against a wall in one of the new playrooms or in a doorway, observing at a distance. The photo below isn’t very good, but it shows Gordo in one of his spots with one leg crossed over the other – this, along with the full splay, is a classic Gordo pose.

I’ve noticed that he’s also been hanging out in the corner of the far greenhouse. Whenever I pass by, I stop to talk to him for a bit. Often I don’t get much of a response.

I was beginning to wonder if I was perhaps coming on too strong, when, last Saturday, Gordo did grant me a game of chase. It was wonderful. And brief.

Today, Kelsi and I were being goofy with the whole group, and Gordo joined in the fun! I don’t know if you can tell how elated Kelsi was in these photos, but let’s just say she’ll be riding this high for awhile.

When he was done playing with Kelsi, I caught his eye and went out to the greenhouse hallway. To my great surprise, he walked towards me. On purpose! And I didn’t have food!

It was a great moment to kick off my weekend.

Thank you, Gordito.

 

Jody wadging a cattail

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This video (above) reminded me of someone eating a corn dog at a ball game, though I don’t really go to ball games and I have no idea if they still have corn dogs.

In any case, Jody definitely was enjoying her cattail wadge while keeping an eye on the neighbors today.

For more on wadging, check out this blog post from Anna from a few years ago or this one, also from Anna, with some photos of Jody wadging pineapple skin.

Today is the first day of sending out the blog to both the old and the new lists of subscribers. If you are new to the blog, welcome!!

If you signed up to the new list the other day, you should be receiving notice of this blog post from both WordPress and Salsa. Check your spam folders just in case!

Note: if you have previously unsubscribed from our e-newsletter or other communications, you may not receive the email. Get in contact with me if you have any questions or issues: [email protected]

I’ll be troubleshooting this week, so you might not receive blog posts through Salsa (the new way) everyday, but my goal is to have it all worked out by the end of the week.

If you haven’t yet signed up to the new subscription, you should be able to do that on either the right side or below this page (scroll down).

Happy Saturday, everyone!

 

World Chimpanzee Day 2021!

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If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee’s eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?”

-Frans de Waal

Honey B

Today is World Chimpanzee Day!

Several organizations within the sanctuary, zoo, education, and conservation worlds came together to create a day to honor our closest living relatives and to use the day to spread awareness of issues they face both in the wild and captivity.

July 14th was chosen as the honorary day because it was on this day in 1960, Jane Goodall first stepped foot in Tanzania to study chimpanzees. Though she had received backlash at first, her discoveries forced researchers to look at chimpanzees differently, and not just as another animal. From then, we have begun to truly see just how close of a living relative we are.

There are many things you can do to be an advocate for chimpanzees. You can donate to your favorite conservation organization, share your favorite sanctuary on social media, talk about your favorite chimpanzee to family, discuss what is a good social media post is and what is bad to friends, and the list goes on! To find out more about World Chimpanzee Day and how you can help, please check out World Chimpanzee Day!

We are truly honored as caregivers to know the 16 chimpanzees who call Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest home!

Burrito after one of our runs around Young’s Hill yesterday! (Did I actually tire him out? No. He immediately shot right back up after he saw me take this photo.)
Rayne watching a train pass by earlier this week!
Queen Negra!
Willy B getting lost in the grass finding some nuts in the Courtyard! He still hasn’t quite gotten used to the grass, though he will venture on it in short spurts.
Jamie adoring a raspberry branch she found in today’s browse!
Jody also enjoying a raspberry branch she found!
Cy soaking in some sun on the log in one of the new greenhouses!
Gordo enjoying his sugar snap peas during lunch this past Monday!
Mave! Is more of a caption needed?
Foxie, followed by Jody, Missy, Annie, and Jamie during today’s morning patrol around Young’s Hill.
Foxie, again!
Lucky in a box!
Terry!
Dora!
Honey B and Mave grooming in the outdoor chute!
Annie venturing out onto Young’s Hill!
Missy during dinner today!

Thank you all to our followers and supporters for always supporting, advocating, and honoring these magnificent individuals!

Here’s Luckin’ At You, Kid.

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The “Lucky Six” chimpanzees just arrived a few weeks ago, but they already feel like part of the sanctuary’s family.

Within this charismatic group, Lucky stands out for being vigilant, independent, and strong-willed. Although she is a female chimpanzee, Lucky shares many physical traits with her brother, Cy: a dark face, intense stare, and bulky frame.

So far, she has generally maintained a serious demeanor with the humans and often observes us from afar. Even so, she occasionally “breaks character” to playfully present her belly, inquisitively examine our footwear, and demand cool drinks from the cleaning hose.

Given that Lucky likes to monitor her surroundings, it’s not surprising that she has taken to the upper levels of the multi-tiered greenhouse enclosures. Diana wrote Saturday’s blog post about these innovative spaces and how they give the chimps many opportunities to be comfortable and entertained. The blog entry also included the following photo of Lucky peeking through the upper caging.

It’s a familiar look for Lucky. From that secure and elevated vantage, she can look down on the human staff as we go about our chores, waiting for the right time to swoop down and let loose. In just a couple of weeks, I’ve already taken several photographs of her staring down at me from the platforms above.

Glorious Greenhouses

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I have to really hand it to J.B. for his greenhouse design and Gary from Sage Mechanical for putting it all together plus adding some special touches.

These new greenhouses are truly a chimp’s dream.

Gordo
Gordo

 

Yesterday was the first day that I was cleaning in one of the new playrooms with the new group of six chimpanzees on the other side of the windows in a greenhouse. I snapped some quick photos on my phone through the window to give you a sense of the chimpanzees’ perspective.

That view! 

All of the new six like to take advantage of the vertical space and can often be found up high on the benches at the edges of the greenhouse. There are some great spots to observe the neighbors.

Lucky watching the neighbors from a high bench in a greenhouse.

Cy even took a minute away from his magazines to watch Willy B in the Courtyard today:

At Wildlife Waystation, the indoor space for the chimpanzees was much smaller than at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, and they spent most of their time in their concrete-floored, chain-link fenced space. We were all pleasantly surprised that they walked on the grass in their new greenhouse habitats right away. The grass is an experiment for us in these new spaces, one that so far is working well.

Terry

Though there are many differences, the greenhouses are probably most similar to what they are used to at Wildlife Waystation. During the day, there is usually at least one chimpanzee out there, and sometimes all six of them are in one greenhouse or another. During their first week they were in the greenhouses well after we had closed up for the night.

Last night around 7:30, I was outside wandering around. The sanctuary property was full of activity. There was a doe grazing in the pasture near Young’s Hill. The bovine family had gotten up from their daytime shady spot and they too were spending the cooler evening hours grazing. Ground squirrels and the occasional marmot were scurrying about, always in a hurry. The cliff swallows that have taken over the eaves of the new addition to the chimp house were soaring and dropping and diving, undoubtedly getting their dinner of insects.

As I approached the chimp building, however, there wasn’t even the hint of anyone stirring. I walked around the outside of the fence behind the new greenhouses and did not see a soul.

It made me feel disappointed for a fleeting moment, because it’s nice to see the chimps among the bamboo and logs and grass, with the sky as the backdrop, but then I smiled. Sometimes I even have to remind myself that it’s not about what I want or what I think they should be doing; it’s about giving them choices and letting them figure out what they want.

I pictured all six of them–Cy, Lucky, Gordo, Terry, Rayne, and Dora–sleeping soundly in their nests made of blankets and paper, in the special spot they chose for themselves, indoors in the new playrooms, perhaps with a newfound sense of safety and security.