Can you guess who is behind Bamboo #2?
chimpanzee sanctuary
Spring grass
Everyone is so happy about the spring grass (the chimps and the caregivers alike!) Just look at how content Jody looks:
And Negra is ecstatic to have an entire 2-acre salad bowl to munch on all day.
Fierce Foxie
Foxie may be petite, but she’s fierce when she wants to be. One of countless things that I love about this chimpanzee woman.
Negra gone wild
It was perfect weather for chimpanzees here at the sanctuary this morning (in Cle Elum, this means warm sun with no wind!) so we decided to put out a breakfast forage on Young’s Hill. All of the chimps seemed more at ease and peaceful on the Hill today than I have ever seen them! No one appeared to feel the need to keep an eye on where everyone else was and just went about peacefully foraging in their own direction. Much to our surprise and delight Negra went further than I have seen her go yet! She immediately headed for the far side of the Hill and promptly sat down to check out the neighbor’s horses. I even saw her glance upward occasionally listening to the birds overhead. And as if that weren’t enough, Negra continued to roam and explore even further, enjoying handfuls of grass along the way. We were astounded and couldn’t stop taking photos! I think even the other chimps were excited to see Negra venturing so far. In the end it seemed to me that Negra had enough of all the paparazzi and promptly turned her back on everyone just to enjoy her adventure on her own.
I think Annie, Jody and Missy were as much in awe of Negra as we were!
Burrito’s Charm
Burrito is pretty irresistible. He also tends to be a bit shy at times. When he is feeling playful he will often initiate play with his caregivers by biting on a toy or a firehouse as he shyly looks in our direction. If he is feeling particularly playful he will add a foot stomp and a head nod in for good measure. One of my favorite moments is when I go out to the greenhouse to see what the chimps are up to and upon first sight, Burrito grabs something to bite on, stomps his foot at me and takes off running for a game of chase, laughing all the way.
A Few of Negra’s Favorite Things
Two of Negra’s favorite things are looking out over the view of the valley and eating fresh, spring grass. It fills us with delight this spring to find Negra feeling more and more comfortable venturing outside onto Young’s Hill, often all on her own. Despite being the middle of spring, we have been surprised by snow showers the past couple of days here in Cle Elum. As a result Negra was very reluctant to get out of bed this morning and I can’t say that I blame her. At one point I caught her looking out her window at the heavy snow showers and pulling the blanket back over her head. It took JB reminding her that another favorite of hers, peanuts, were on the menu before she decided to join everyone for breakfast. Thankfully it didn’t take long for both the sun, and Negra, to come back out again.
Twin Doras
During Foxie’s decades in biomedical research she was used as a breeder. We know of five children that Foxie gave birth to, two of whom were twins. It’s heartbreaking that Foxie was not given the opportunity to raise any of her children. Since arriving at the sanctuary she seems to have found a special affinity for her beloved troll dolls and more recently, Dora dolls. When Foxie chooses to join us for a walk around Young’s Hill she can often be seen carrying one of her many dolls on her back just as chimpanzee mothers do with their children in the wild. It’s a bittersweet glimpse into how life should have been for her and each of the Cle Elum Seven. While we can never know for sure what Foxie is thinking about her “babies” it makes my heart happy to see she has found something to call her own.
