Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee retirement

Rainy Days and Poses

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As I drove up to the sanctuary this morning, grey clouds had already gathered overhead and begun drizzling rain. When I began opening up the Chimp House, I could hear the Bronx cheers of Burrito trying to get my attention from the front rooms. The rain was starting to wash away his snowy treats that had accumulated from the previous day and he NEEDED as many snowy treats, posthaste!

After delivering Burrito his snow, I walked around to say good morning to the other chimpanzees. Most of them were still in bed, including the Boss! This is how I knew today was going to be one of those quiet days.

When I opened up Young’s Hill to the Group of 7, only Jamie and Missy were brave enough to venture out in the rain. Burrito didn’t even want to go out into the Greenhouse to watch his friends embark on their adventure. (His feelings changed later on in the day and spent the most of his day in the Greenhouse.)

It was similar on the other side of the Chimp House. Even with access to the Chute, Mave and Willy B felt it better to watch the rain from inside instead of getting a closer look from the outside.

Honey B was the only one who wanted to go out in the Chute to watch the rainfall.

This didn’t last long, however, as she felt it was too cold to stay out long. She followed suite with most of the other chimpanzees, and decided to just rest in the warm building.

All-in-all, it was a really quiet day here.

Also, I just have to share this photo I snapped earlier today. I’ve been trying to think of titles for this shot, and asked caregiver Anthony and volunteer Krissy for help. “Mave the Thinker.” “Chimp-Person of the Year.” “Mave-azine Cover Shot.” “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Mave-belline.” “Dear Mave: An Advice Column.” “The Most Interesting Mave in the World.”

Any other suggestions?

Mave in the Middle

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Yesterday afternoon, the three “new” chimps (Honey B, Mave and Willy B) were so engrossed in a session of play wrestling that they almost forgot about dinner.

It’s somewhat unusual for all three of them to play this intensely at the same time. In fact, it may have been the most vigorous bout of rough-housing that I have seen them partake in. Mave took a quick break but was soon back in the midst of all the action, chuckling and somersaulting around. For a few minutes, it looked as if the other two might absorb fuzzy little Mave to become one gigantic megachimp amoeba, which is both concerning and adorable. At one point, Mave seemed to surface for air in between bouts of laughing into Honey’s thigh. Even Willy, who is normally quite serious when not dropping jaws with his slinky moves, let the ladies turn him into a total goof.

Of course, I featured this surprising and heartwarming event in yesterday’s blog.

The Month of Love

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I spent the last few weeks fretting over our ambitious budget for 2020. It’s a dramatic increase from past years as we prepare for further expansion by adding staff and increasing all operational funds to care for more wonderful chimpanzees who will arrive this fall if the construction and the funds come together.

I will send out an e-newsletter next week to entice people to join our Chimpanzee Pal and Bovine Buddy programs, but I wanted to share the accompanying video with blog readers and social media followers first (see video above).

You all are the dedicated loyal supporters who follow along with rapt attention. Many of you are already Chimpanzee Pals, and a small handful are Bovine Buddies. Maybe you’ll consider adding another chimpanzee or bovine to sponsor?

You can also share the video and tell people why you are supporters – you’d be surprised how helpful it is to refer other people to the sanctuary!

Since you are still here, I’m guessing you want an update on the day today. I am more than happy to tell you that it was a great day.

It was cloudy and drizzling in the morning and I did not expect anyone to go outside, but Honey B, Mave, and Willy B spent time in the chute, and, in the other group, everyone but Negra took a walk around the hill despite the damp weather. They went counter-clockwise, for those keeping track.

Burrito was not very speedy, but he walked the entire perimeter. Foxie slowed down her brisk pace to stay with him, which just completely melted my heart.

When Foxie came back to the greenhouse, she took some time to release a troll doll from bondage:

Two things to note about the photos of Foxie: 1. That gray hair that J.B. mentioned yesterday! 2. The gorgeousness of Foxie brought out by the camera lens that was gifted to us off of our wish list. I love that camera lens!

While you are pondering which chimpanzee and/or bovine to sponsor, we could also really use some more Safeway gift cards from our wish list. It turns out that ten chimpanzees consume a lot more food than seven chimpanzees, and we find ourselves supplementing the weekly donated produce from Darwin’s Natural Pet Products via Charlie’s Produce quite regularly these days.

Thank you for everything you do to share your love of the sanctuary! Stay tuned for more videos and information for the month of love!

 

Might As Well Play

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The goal of the caregivers and volunteers is to clean the chimpanzees’ enclosures quickly and thoroughly. We want to ensure they have as much space as soon as it becomes available. Though there are times the chimpanzees may try to hurry us along (Jamie usually gesturing, Negra clapping, Burrito blowing Bronx cheers, etc.), there are also times they keep themselves occupied until we are finished.

Today, as we were cleaning the Playroom, Negra was especially playful in the front rooms. First, we saw her playing with Burrito. Then we saw her playing with Foxie. These play sessions lasted as soon as we saw them. Then along came Jody and a pink blanket. This play session last for quiet awhile, until Jody pulled her new move to let Negra know she she has the upper hand is done playing.

Turning the Day Around

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I had a lot of hope for the weather after yesterday’s brief reprieve from the winter weather. As I began to drive to the sanctuary today, that hope began to dwindle. A fresh layer of snow had accumulated overnight and there were grey clouds as far as the eye could see. Earlier in the day, all my plans to shift the chimpanzees from one area to another so we could clean their enclosure was altered multiple times. The chimpanzees just refused to leave certain areas, making it harder for us to clean. I began to accept this day was just an outright bad day. Then our veterinarian Erin arrived. She came by and did a checkup on Burrito to see how his recovery was coming along. When she came back into the foyer area, she gave me the best news of the day. She determined Burrito was well enough to be reunited with his family once again!

It was at this point, the entire day turned around. The clouds had cleared up. The sun came out and melted some of the snow. And the chimpanzees began to cooperate and move into the areas we needed them to so we could clean. It sounds like I’m making this up, but believe me, it happened like this. Our incredible volunteer staff today rolled up their sleeves and really busted their bums to ensure the enclosures were cleaned quickly and thoroughly so we could reunite Burrito with the girls. When it came time, I opened the doors to reunite them and there was excitement. Foxie and Burrito almost immediately engaged in a game of chase, before settling down and starting a very long grooming session.

While Burrito and Foxie were grooming, Annie and Missy shared their excitement by engaging in a silly game of play wrestle.

When they were finished, Annie decided it was time to bask in the sun’s rays through window.

Jamie on the other hand found a new way to relax while watching her neighbors from the Playroom window.

While Jody foraged nearby.

Though today started out sort of rough, seeing Burrito back in the Playroom with the Girl Gang made every bit of today worth it.

Transformations Then and Now

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There’s a memory I have of Foxie that comes to my mind frequently.

Foxie and her six friends arrived on June 13, 2008. Three days later, we put the finishing touches on the playroom and let the group into that large indoor space for the first time.

Here’s the memory, which I mentioned on the blog the day it occurred: Foxie spent a good 20 minutes walking all around the perimeter of the playroom, stomping. Foxie was born in a laboratory and the playroom was most likely the largest space she had ever been. She was 31 years old at the time.

Back then, I was eager, impatient even, to be able to give the chimpanzees more space and more freedom, but our budget dictated that we build the sanctuary around them as we slowly raised funds. It wasn’t until the end of August, a little more than two months after they arrived, that the seven got to go outside for the first time.

What we used to call the outdoor area we now refer to as the greenhouse, but this sunny, breezy, caged space served as their outdoors for three years, and was the only outdoor access some of them had ever experienced in their lives.

The construction of Young’s Hill, the open-top electric-fence enclosure that is now the outdoor habitat, took years of raising funds and planning followed by several months and many, many volunteer hands to construct. The chimpanzees had a front row seat to the construction.

Then, the day arrived. September 20, 2011, all seven chimpanzees poured out of the raceway and onto Young’s Hill, named after donors Karen and Don Young, for the first time.

Guess what Foxie did? She walked the entire perimeter (like she did with the playroom for the first time), then went back inside and didn’t go back out for over a week. Jamie, who was an old hand at exploring the hill by then, showed her and Jody some encouragement, which we captured with the point and shoot camera we were using at the time.

Fast forward more than eight years to today, and Foxie is often the lone chimpanzee on the hill, particularly when the habitat is covered in one of her favorite snacks – snow!

I took the opportunity to do a little shoveling today, and Foxie definitely appreciated my efforts that gave her access to unlimited snacking.

As I’m thinking back on what seemed to me at the time to be the sanctuary’s painstakingly slow transformation from “definitely far better than where they came from” to a sanctuary that is pretty darn impressive, along side Foxie’s gradual transformation from wary to intrepid explorer, I am also thinking about the new three chimpanzees who  joined the sanctuary last August.

Things haven’t gone to plan, exactly. We hoped that Jamie would be guiding Mave out onto the hill, Honey B would be running along with her mom Missy, and Willy B and Burrito would probably be palling around in the greenhouse. We saw moments of this when we were working on the integrations, but the fights that also accompanied these budding relationships and the subsequent injuries told us that we would have to go to Plan B.

Luckily, we have a Plan B! We knew we would need one because integrations are never guaranteed. So, right now Honey B, Mave, and Willy B have a space that’s definitely better than where they were before. Their first explorations outside were a little frightening, so when we open the door at the end of the chute now, they simply stare. But we’ve created a courtyard outdoor space for them and maybe, come warmer weather, they will gather up their courage to explore. It’s up to them.

Come spring, we will be building more sanctuary around them. We will be adding two more playrooms and two more greenhouses so that we can bring more chimpanzees here this fall and so the three can have much more space than what they have now in what we refer to as Phase 1.

We also have plans to expand and divide Young’s Hill so two groups can have separate electric-fenced enclosures. We have received a donation towards this specific work from Jennifer Douglas, and the new section of the hill will be named in memory of James Douglas, who was a long-standing board member and whom we miss very much.

Once we have the (considerable) funds, we will also build a large enclosed outdoor area (think the greenhouse without the panels, but much bigger) for variety and in case there are chimpanzees who come to CSNW who cannot or will not go into the electric fence enclosure.

A few years from now, I wonder what I’ll be reflecting back on in amazement.

I am looking forward to seeing big transformations again, but I am also glad I get to see the beginnings. And I’m glad I am able to witness the little things that happen each day that we are able to share with all of you.