Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimpanzee sanctuary

Nest grunts

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Recently there was a discussion on our Facebook page about Nest Grunts. When the chimps are getting settled into their nests at night they will often make a hoohuhhoohuh sound which is called a nest grunt. Chimps in the wild will often make these vocalizations to check in with each other before bedtime. We’ve been trying to catch the vocalization on tape for the blog for some time now, and we were finally successful! It’s definitely one of my favorite times of the night.

It’s harvest time!

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Despite the less than desirable season, the garden was once again a success this year. We’ve had many a meal that was exclusively from our garden- for example, I served cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions at lunch, and every bit was from the chimps’ own soil. What a special feeling!

Kale:

Leeks:

Strawberries:

Green Zebra Tomatoes:

We’ve also had an abundance of sunflowers, so I cut several today for the chimps. Some were a bit unsure, but Missy and Jody were especially excited. Negra put hers down and immediately asked for grass instead, but eventually decided they weren’t so bad.

Negra enjoying a sunflower:

Missy:

Jody:

Chimps’ Choice

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As you can probably tell from several of our recent blog posts (including the termite board, the browse feeder, hanging juice bottles outside the caging, and frozen troll dolls), we’ve been working really hard to come up with unique enrichment puzzles for the chimps. Last week, Jessie from the Center for Great Apes visited, and told us about Boomer Balls. Boomer Balls are non-toxic, heavy-duty polyethylene plastic balls. At the Center, they drill holes in the boomer balls and freeze Gatorade or juice inside. She says the apes at the Center love it and we suspect the Cle Elum Seven will too. So, for this month’s Chimps’ Choice item, we’re asking for Boomer Balls. Help us enrich the chimps! Send us a 4 1/2″ ball, a 6″ ball, a 10″ ball, or a 10″ snack-n-trim in the next month, and we’ll send you something special in return.

Grooming

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Missy and Annie spent some time grooming on the platform outside this afternoon. It had just started to sprinkle, so Missy covered herself up with a blanket to stay dry.

When chimps find something good during grooming (usually a piece of dead skin), they will often inspect it. Here, Annie is holding out her lower lip to check something out.