forage

The Great Potato Pilferer

July 13, 2023 by Anna

This afternoon we put out a lunch forage and everyone quietly and calmly collected their own meals. Missy gathered a large cache of potatoes and headed bipedally back to the greenhouse.

Here’s a poor photo of her forage efforts so you get the idea:

Once she made it back to the greenhouse, she sat down to leisurely finish her lunch:

Meanwhile, Negra went directly to “Negra’s Cabin” and sat down to collect the primate chow we had scattered in there before heading back inside with a big mouthful:

Look out Missy! The Queen charges an income tax.

Missy is a loyal subject and knows when to step aside, no drama necessary. Negra knows an easy “forage” opportunity when she sees one.

Her Royal Highness and her potato plunder:

The Fourth of July holiday is a time when Americans celebrate their independence from Great Britain. For us here, we celebrate the freedom our residents have from the terrors of biomedical testing and harm from humans. For decades, many of the residents have spent their time in small cages and stripped of their freedom of choice. Today though, they have the freedom to make their own decisions, their own choices, and live the life they want to live.

I am fully aware it’s a bit ironic that I talk about their freedom, yet they are destined to live a life in captivity. It really breaks my heart and the rest of the staff here that we will never see Missy sprint in an un-fenced area, or see Rayne exploring new and exciting places. This is the life they have been dealt. The very least we can do is to provide them whatever freedoms and autonomy we can. When I arrive to the sanctuary every morning, I am no longer in my own world. I am in theirs.

To celebrate, the chimpanzees were treated to a forage of fan favorite: Watermelon Bowls! Each watermelon bowl contained: lettuce, a baked potato, baby back corn ribs, green onions, and blueberries! We even put some on the Bray! While everyone was foraging for the bulk of the watermelons inside, Rayne took the opportunity to collect nearly all the watermelon bowls placed on The Bray, as you can see in the video! It didn’t take the boys plus Lucky much longer to realize there was more food outside!

We wish you all a fun and safe Independence Day!

Here are some photos taken throughout the day!

Rayne

Don’t worry! Gordo came by to grab what Rayne chose to leave behind

Willy B

Terry

Missy trying to sneak pass Negra with her haul

Negra in her Cabin

Burrito

Foxie

Jamie enjoying a pre-celebration browse of currant branches

Viola! The prized watermelon bowls

2023 Day of Days: The Trifecta Jubilee

June 13, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Today was such a busy day in the most of exciting ways! Today is the Trifecta Jubilee! Today we celebrated Terry’s 33rd birthday, Negra’s 50th birthday, and the 15 year anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven!

Today was a non-stop celebration with many happenings that came along with the undying support of Paulette Wrisley in today’s second sponsor! Thank you so much Paulette for sponsoring Terry and Negra’s birthdays!

It’s hard to believe Negra and her group arrived in Washington from the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania. There have been many growing pains for both chimpanzee and caregivers both former and current, but all of them for the better. In the 15 years, they have experience the outdoors for the first time in their lives, had room to run around and play in, and as of this year, able to climb their first tree!

It’s also really hard to believe Negra is now 50 years old! Negra is such a strong-willed person who knows exactly what she likes and wants. Though she is 50, is still doesn’t stop here from experiencing new things, when she wants to of course. Negra is such a well respected person by both chimpanzee and human. For her 50th birthday, there were many surprises for her. You have to watch the video to see what they were!

And Teeny Tiny Terry. How lucky are we to just know such a special person. In the couple short years we have known Terry, one thing about him we know is certain: he is the purest of souls! Terry wears his heart on his sleeve, and that heart holds nothing but sincerity. There are no tricks with him. What he does or says, he means, and it’s 100% love.

Here are some bonus photos from today!

Negra

Rayne

Missy

Gordo

Annie

A New Throne

May 15, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Followers who have been reading the blog for a little while may remember the Comfort & Joy Auction from last fall. The items bidders made for the chimpanzees were then highlighted throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas series. Though we covered some, we did not cover all of the items. Mostly because some items took a little longer to get. Well, today were were *finally* able to give the California chimpanzees another one of the items from that auction. Today, Honey B was able to finally get her chair! But before we get to the photos of Honey B using the chair:

Sending a special thank you to

Diane Mattis

Thank you so much for bidding on this item. Honey B wasted no time utilizing it. Every time I went back to their side of the building to get photos her using it, the chimpanzees would stop what they were doing. I was able to get some not so great photos though. It’s the context that counts, right?

Honey B was the first to claim her new seat

When I first found her, she was surrounded by others grooming her on her new throne

As you can see, in one photo, Lucky left when I was trying to get a photo, and Terry left when I tried from a different angle. Hopefully you get the idea though. All three of them (Rayne is also included) were grooming Honey B as she sat atop her throne.

As Honey B was taking in the ambience the new chair brought to Marmot Mountain Playroom, their neighbors were busy enjoying Spring.

One of my favorite things about Spring, and my indication that it is spring, is when the Pacific Bleeding Heart flowers begin to bloom.

This plant lives right outside the door that leads to their front rooms. But there was no time to admire the flowers, or so I was told.

It was time to go around Young’s Hill.

Luckily for me, about half way through our walk/run, Burrito got distracted by some morning Spring grass. Unluckily for me (but actually luckily for me), Missy picked up where he left off.

Missy is a chimp’s chimp. She will choose her family 99.9999999999999% of the time over dealing with the humans. In my case, she usually gives me one or two good acknowledgments a year. But unlike some of my colleagues, my interactions have never been grooming with her or playing tug-o-war. It has always been running around the hill. As you may have guessed, I lose every single time.

When we reached the very top of Young’s Hill, Missy took a break and sat in the shade to lookout upon her home.

When the break was over, it was time for a quick snack of fresh Spring grass.

Not far behind Missy was her best friend, Annie.

And Burrito came around shortly after.

A little later on, they all enjoyed a nice breezy lunch forage. Though she spent some time in her cabin eating the goods she found in it, Negra ultimately decided to grab some last minute picks and take it back to the Greenhouse.

This nice sustained Spring weather has been amazing so far. We hope you are all enjoying the weather wherever you may be as well.

Bonus Photos

Rayne in relaxation mode

Jamie doing her first patrol of the morning

Missy with a lilac bounty she collected from Young’s Hill the other day in honor of Jody

Mave, Dora, and Honey B having a nice lunch together in the outdoor chute during their watermelon bowl forage yesterday

Celebrating Jody on her Birthday

May 14, 2023 by Diana

Today, Mother’s Day, is when we celebrate Jody’s birthday. Though she is no longer physically with us, we held a celebration in her honor for all of the other chimpanzees, and they thoroughly enjoyed the watermelon bowl themed party (photos to follow).

As I was taking photos of Jody’s group during their watermelon bowl forage, I noticed that Missy had gone to the spot where we planted lilac bushes and trees. The spot where Jody is now buried.

It’s very probably that Missy was checking the area to see if she missed some food, but I like to think she was also saying happy birthday to her friend:

Thank you to everyone who have sponsored days and made donations in Jody’s honor and who have sent us amazing heartfelt cards and messages of condolence. I love hearing how people were touched by her life and her death.

Today, we made some changes to Jody’s page on our website to include a donation link to give specifically in memory of Jody for those who wish to do so.

If you scroll to the bottom of Jody’s page, you can see that it is open for comments, so please do feel free to leave a message their about Jody or in her memory. We really appreciate how many people are grieving for her.

Now for those watermelon bowl photos…

Annie:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Burrito:

Dora:

The bovines also had a great day! They were released onto the upper pasture for spring grazing!

Lilac Forage

May 7, 2023 by Diana

It was a beautiful day for a lilac forage.

Sack Lunch Review

April 25, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Recently, Netflix released a brand new show available for streaming called Chimp Empire. The documentary follows the lives of the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. The Ngogo group has always piqued my interest. They were, and still are, the largest community of wild chimpanzees to ever be documented with more than 160 members. To give you an idea of how big that is, the average number of chimpanzees in a group is usually somewhere between 15 to 30. I would highly recommend anyone who can to watch it. The footage is some of the best footage I have seen come out of a research area. The only other time I saw footage this amazing was from the Disneynature movie Chimpanzee.

Usually when shows or movies like this come out, I usually watch them with a grain of salt. Usually programs as such over dramatize the stories or just plain make them up. For example, Disney’s Chimpanzee had amazing footage, however parts of the story that was told was somewhat stretched. By “somewhat” I mean “really” stretched. When I first began studying chimpanzees, the best piece of advice my professor gave me was to watch films like these and be amazed by the footage, but tune out the narration. With Chimp Empire, I took the same approach to watching it, however I will say the narration of the chimpanzee hierarchy and politics is pretty spot on.

Whenever I watch any show that has chimpanzees (or any primate really), I always feel a little bit awkward watching them. I work with chimpanzees, and prior to that, studied them. So why would I do anything in my personal life that is related to my professional life? It’s even a little more awkward if I watch them with anyone else because I am 100% that person who will point out the flaws/inaccuracies in these nature shows (and yes, I do cite my sources).

As I watch them though, I usually begin to justify my viewing because to me it is different. There many many similarities I see between the chimpanzees in the show and the ones I work with. There are, however, many many differences as well. To me, watching chimpanzees in the wild and watching them in captivity is like watching two completely different species. As I’m typing this, I’m starting to realize I don’t even know if I can describe it properly to make it make sense to a broader audience. I guess one of my theories is watching chimpanzees in the wild there a certain flow to how they interact with each other and how and why they do things. Most of this societal flow is learned at a very early age with the mother as an important role in shaping their offspring’s behavior. In contrast, chimpanzees in the sanctuary world never had that opportunity to learn from their mothers, or pass that knowledge down to their offspring. In a certain way, chimpanzees in a captive setting (not including AZA accredited zoos) are figuring things out as they go. This why introductions with chimpanzees who never met each other can be difficult; they have learned what the could from each other growing up with no “seasoned” individual to pass on their knowledge. It’s even more complicated when dealing with a chimpanzee that came from the entertainment world because they pretty much have zero social skills since most don’t even see another chimpanzee until the finally find a sanctuary home. And yes! It really is heartbreaking to think about in what they have missed not being born and raised in the wild.

So if you have the capability, I do recommend watching the footage from Ngogo in Chimp Empire. I give the footage 5 out of 5 Razzle Tazzle Terry Berries.

Speaking of Terry, today him and his group had a nice lunch forage in their greenhouses. We decided to spice up their lunch with the addition of one of their favorite food puzzles: grab bags! Usually, grab bags are filled with toys, scarves, socks, and a food puzzle of the caregivers choice. I tend to think the reason why grab bags are such a popular item because you never know what you’re going to get when you grab one. This time, we also included parts of their lunch. Being thrilled is one way of putting their reaction when their lunch was brought out to be set up.

Terry flipping through a magazine with peanut butter smeared between pages in the out door chute