Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Missy had such an amazing birthday party yesterday! Because we had so much to cover for her party we weren’t able to share what happen over on Dora’s side of the building! They also had a lunch forage to celebrate Missy. Please enjoy the video and photos from yesterday!
Willy B with an arm full and a mouth full of chow:
Rayne in all her pepper glory:
A very distinguished Mave:
Mave swooping in to grab tomatoes:
Gordo with a mouth full of what we think is chow:
Sweet Dora:
The Cle Elum Seven formed by Negra, Jamie, Burrito, Jody, Foxie, Annie and Missy have been neighbors to the newly formed group of nine chimpanzees for almost four months now. We have received questions about whether they react or not to the other group. The short answer is yes, the long answer is that it depends. I have been working as a caregiver at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest for about 15 months now and during this time I’ve noticed that some of the chimpanzees under our care react more than others when it comes to ruckus on the opposite group. Some members of the Cle Elum Seven get very invested when they hear something going on, while others continue their day like if it were business as usual.
A great example of this is what happened today at lunch time. We set up a forage in Young’s Hill for the seven that included corn, mini peppers, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, onions, and chow. With the idea of grabbing stills of them foraging for their favorite items, I brought the camera with me. Every single one of them was super excited to get out there, with Negra leading the way. About 3 minutes into the forage, the nine had a disagreement and the screaming on that side commenced. Jamie, Foxie, Annie, and Burrito dropped what they were doing to investigate. They went to the corner of the hill with the best view of the greenhouses and stood bipedally trying to figure out what was happening. As the screaming on the other side of the sanctuary continued, they eventually went inside to the greenhouse and playroom to peek from the windows and display at the other group. I realized that six of the seven chimps were inside and ignoring their meal. So where was Negra?
I walked outside and found her. Alone. On top of a platform, enjoying an ear of corn. She seemed completely unfazed by what she could hear happening in the distance. Cases like this make me wonder whether she thinks her group mates are fit enough to handle the issue without needing her assistance, or whether she simply put food first and decided to let the situation unfold. Whatever it was, she looked peaceful, at ease with her corn and chow, simply unbothered.
Missy invited me to play chase up the hill this afternoon. When we reached the top, she veered off into the tall grass with a look of determination.
She climbed atop one of the mounds.
And then walked out onto the log bridge.
From there, she scanned the area.
Then she disappeared into the weeds.
When she emerged, it was clear she had found what she was searching for: a yellow goatsbeard flower and a handful of prickly lettuce leaves.
With an equal sense of purpose, she marched through the grass to Jamie’s Tower.
She climbed the ladder and perched on a support.
There, overlooking the river canyon, she munched on her prickly lettuce.
When she was done, she met up with her best friend, Annie, and returned to the chimp house, saving the flower for later.
I wanted to share a fun little story from this morning! As I gave Annie’s group Young’s Hill, everyone including Negra rushed out. Once Anna brought breakfast out to the greenhouse all the chimps were heading back in to eat, except Annie. We couldn’t find Annie anywhere. It had been more than 10 minutes of breakfast being served and she was nowhere in sight. Annie does not miss a meal! Sofia came over to help do checks when I said I think Annie is on the Hill, but we can’t see her anywhere. Sofia told us she did this yesterday, but eventually came back for breakfast. We finally got a glimpse of her 15 minutes into breakfast, she was far up on the top of the Hill foraging for what I assume was grass or some kind of foliage. Apparently, that grass was so good she didn’t even come back for breakfast! Breakfast was not a concern for Annie, because when she finally returned and Anna tried to call her over for food, she very contently laid back on the platform in the greenhouse and took a little nap.
Today was a beautiful spring day so we took advantage of the weather and did a Hill forage for lunch!
Don’t worry Annie got plenty of food!
But Missy seemed to score the most!
Negra was quite pleased with her haul! She even worked pretty hard for her food too, look at Neggie on the Esher structure!
Jody with a mouth full of corn and hands full of forage!
Jamie collected her forage and then took all of it to a secluded hammock to eat alone.
Burrito cradling an arm full of onions:
Little Foxie was having a great day roaming around the Hill and hanging out with friends!
Bonus Photos!
Rayne was asleep in a cozy nest up on one of the leaves in the Marmot Room.
And sweet Dora was hangout in the window ledge watching her caregivers cleaned her playroom.
For the first time in what feels like forever, we have had some consistent sunny days with the temperatures in the 60s. A sunny day with slight overcast in 60º weather and the slightest of breezes are the perfect conditions for the first forage on Young’s Hill of 2022!
Annie:
Burrito:
Foxie:
Jamie:
Jody:
Missy:
Negra:
Annie and Missy:
Rayne turned 32 today! We’re so grateful to Tobin, Monica, and Paulette for sponsoring this day in her honor. At breakfast we served mangoes, which are a rare treat around here since we can’t store or prepare them in the kitchen due to Annie’s allergy. They were a huge hit. Later, the playrooms and greenhouses were filled with Rayne’s favorite enrichment and a forage of fruit smoothie, bok choy, grape tomatoes, and young coconuts with bamboo straws.
This group is notoriously difficult to photograph, as they prefer to stick to the upper levels of their playroom and greenhouse enclosures, but we managed to catch a tiny bit of the action. Here’s the birthday girl:
Cy:
Gordo:
Terry (that coconut really sticks in your teeth!):
Dora, who after having her first sip of coconut, had to tell me and the group next door all about it:
As the party wound down, Rayne gathered some smoothie and coconut, went up to the highest nest platform in the playroom (her favorite spot), and made a nice nest.
Happy Birthday, Rayne!
Who was able to hold the most food from this afternoon’s forage?
Burrito:
Negra:
Jamie:
