Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Today after cleaning the playroom, we put a small drop of non-toxic dish soap in the pool and filled it up with water. The chimpanzees all enjoy soapy water. Jamie sometimes uses it to scrub the floor, while others like to take big mouthfuls of it. They seem to like the sensation of the foamy bubbles in their mouths. There’s no denying it – bubbles are just fun.
Annie:
Foxie:
Jody:
This sweet video will make you smile.
Today is warm and sunny at the sanctuary and the chimpanzees are in great moods. Annie and Missy spent much of the morning like this:
If Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest were a high school, Burrito would be the guy wearing the wrong clothes and saying the wrong things.
Chimpanzee groups operate under a strict set of social rules. Wild chimpanzees learn these rules as children by watching the older members of their group. Most of the chimps at the sanctuary, despite having grown up in entirely unnatural circumstances with limited exposure to other chimps, seem to have some understanding of these rules. But Burrito hasn’t read the rulebook. He doesn’t even know where to find a copy.
Burrito’s hormones and millions of years of evolutionary pressure are giving him bad advice. As a male chimpanzee, he is instinctually driven to show everyone he’s in charge. He does this multiple times each day through intimidating dominance displays. Wild male chimps have these same instincts, but their instincts are tempered by social learning. A free-living male chimp might get the following message from his brain: “It’s time for a display, but the alpha’s over there, so steer clear of him, and be sure to keep it short and to the point.” The message Burrito receives seems to be less nuanced: “GO!!!”
None of this is Burrito’s fault, of course. He was born in a laboratory and lived most of his life alone. He never had peers to learn from. Consequently, he has all of the instinct and none of the experience. This has gotten him in some trouble with the other chimps at the sanctuary, and he often seems out of his element. But he has come a long way. At the age of 32, surrounded by a stable group of chimpanzee friends, he is learning the skills and lessons he should have learned as a kid. He is fitting in more and more everyday. Burrito is finally growing up.
In the three and a half years since we opened Young’s Hill, the chimpanzees’ two-acre outdoor habitat, the chimps have become more and more comfortable with the wide open space it provides. It didn’t happen immediately for many of them. After living for thirty years in climate-controlled buildings, touching nothing but steel and concrete, it takes time to adjust to the feeling of wind through your hair, or hot sun on your back, or rain. Not to mention how vulnerable and exposed they must have felt in such a huge space – it wouldn’t have been surprising if one or more of the chimps decided not to venture out at all.
But they did go outside, and they have continued to go outside on most days since we first opened the hill. They have gradually become more at ease with things that they wouldn’t tolerate in the early days, like wind and rain and cold temperatures. Almost four years later, they’re still making strides.
In the last couple of weeks, Foxie has been pushing the boundaries of her own personal comfort zone and spending more time alone on Young’s Hill. Until recently, she has stayed near the bottom of the hill, closer to the familiar chimp house, during her excursions outside. The other day, though, I was on a perimeter walk with Jamie and we found Foxie all alone at the very top of the hill, calmly and methodically exploring. I thought she might be relieved to see us, and join us on our walk back down to the chimp house, but she remained up there by herself, walking around in the grass. There are certain moments when one of the chimps surprises you in the best way, and that was one of them.
Today really feels like spring in Cle Elum – warm temperatures and a pleasant breeze – so we set up a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Foxie was one of the last ones to remain outside after the others had gone back into the greenhouse with their food.
Jamie woke up on the wrong side of the nest this morning. From the moment we arrived at the chimp house and greeted the chimpanzees, it was clear that Jamie was feeling a little cranky. This isn’t terribly unusual, and we caregivers know to just give Jamie her space for a little bit until her mood brightens.
Once the chimps got some breakfast in their bellies, Jamie’s mood did brighten. By late morning, she was feeling a lot more mellow. Keri snapped these photos of Jamie in a quiet moment with one of her boots.
Chimpanzees spend a lot of time grooming each other. Grooming serves hygienic purposes – removing dead skin, tending to wounds – but maybe more importantly it serves to strengthen bonds between individuals. Chimpanzees don’t seem to have the same hangups about personal space as many of us do; they are not shy about getting right up in each other’s faces (or other body parts). It’s hard to imagine how two individuals wouldn’t be closer after a chimpanzee grooming session.
For the most part, the chimps seem to take these invasions of personal space in stride. This afternoon, though, I found poor Foxie pinned into a corner of the greenhouse by Burrito and Jamie, who were both showering her with (seemingly unwanted) attention. She looked like she wouldn’t mind a little breathing room (that’s Burrito in front of Foxie with his back to the camera, and Jamie on the right).
