Yesterday, we watched George step out into more of the sanctuary for the first time since his quarantine ended. He was a bit hesitant at first—totally understandable—but once he got his bearings, he settled in and began exploring his new area. He had such a great time in the greenhouse that we let him go back in today. Since it turns out, George isn’t a fan of getting his feet dirty on the bark, he figured out the perfect hack: using all the hanging firehose in the greenhouse to get around!
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George Explores the Greenhouse
Now that George has completed his quarantine, he is finally able to explore more of the sanctuary. This poses a bit of a logistical challenge—we don’t want him to be intimidated by the other chimps while he explores and we certainly don’t want to give them the opportunity to fight against the mesh or windows at this point, so for this to work the other chimps have to move to nonadjacent enclosures. And that means that both Honey B and Gordo have to be in a cooperative mood. But sometimes the stars do align…
A New George Every Day
I have to admit I was starting to wonder how this was going to work.
After unloading George’s crate and transferring him into the building, I really didn’t see much of him due to our strict quarantine procedures, which made it difficult to pop in and out to say hi while still getting other things done. But when I did see him, he would scream bloody murder and seek reassurance from another person in the room. My presence was exciting, to say the least. How would I be a part of his caregiving team if he was going to be so unsettled by my presence?
It makes more sense now that we’ve been told that he would often react that way to tall men.
Thankfully George has realized that, despite my height, I’m not very intimidating. And today he decided that he would officially consider me an honorary shorter person. It feels good to be pals with George.
Transitions like this are hard for chimpanzees but George is making great strides. From my perspective, it’s like I’m getting to meet a new George every day. He’s funny, confident, and playful. He’s a very gentle groomer. And his food puzzle skills are…going to need some work. But we’ve got plenty of time for that.
Lucky Day
I recently was graced with a sweet and fun play session with Lucky! See today’s video to join in on the fun. Usually when Lucky wants to spend time together, she invites me to groom, so this was an extra special treat. She loved being tickled with a durable spoon, and we drew a small crowd of chimps as the play session went on who wanted to join in on the fun…Gordo, Cy, and Terry all wanted to be involved at different points (and got some one-on-one time once Lucky and I were done!). I’d like to credit my original chimp friends from Chimp Haven (Agnes and Juan especially) for teaching me all the best chimp tickle spots. Lucky seemed to approve.
I thought I’d also provide a brief George update as I know he has many friends that are wishing him all the best. He is getting more and more comfortable in his new home and exploring his surroundings by the day! We have been thrilled to see him start nesting (to learn more about nesting and see it in action, see previous posts here and here), both with blankets and paper. We learned that he enjoys paper towels and uses them to wipe his hands and face, especially after his morning smoothie to take care of that pesky smoothie mustache.
It’s easy to see how George has captured the hearts of so many, he is such a sweet and gentle individual. We are enjoying getting to know him, and hope you all are enjoying getting to know us and the other 15 chimpanzees, 3 cows, and one very handsome barn cat (aptly named Barn Kitty – pictured below) who also call CSNW home! We are so happy to have you here!
A Day Full of Laughs and Little Moments
Today was a pretty busy day for humans and non-humans! As you will see in the video, there is not better way to pass the time than playing and spending quality time with an old friend. Foxie and Burrito spent quite a bit of time laughing and playing with each other while we cleaned their Playroom. Their friendship always warms my heart. Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, George had an exciting moment, received access to the chute again! Click here to watch the video of George using the chute for the first time! It was a big spectacle, especially for Cy’s group, who had the best view and were very curious observers.
I’ll be honest, it was a bit noisy throughout the chimp house today (but hey, that’s life with chimps!). Eventually, things settled down, and George got to enjoy some peaceful solo exploration of the chute. Every day brings something new, and today was full of connection, curiosity, and a little bit of chaos—the best kind.
Click here for today’s video!
A Rose for George
We’re still on a journey to discover what George loves—whether it’s snacks or ways to keep him entertained—so we’re always trying out new ideas. I happen to have several big rose bushes at home and caregiver Ellen, recalled that some chimps she’s cared for in the past went wild for roses. So I let her snip a few for George, and that little treat turned into the blog video we’re sharing today.
George Starts to Explore
This morning, George got to see a little bit more of the sanctuary.
As an accompaniment today’s video, I thought it might be helpful to detail the process of accepting a new chimpanzee, particularly for those of you who are just now tuning in to our blog because of George. We’re so heartened to see the concern that you all have for George’s well being and we know that you have questions about what lies ahead.
There are three main things that we’ll be focusing on in the coming weeks and months: Ensuring George’s health and that of the chimpanzees already at the sanctuary, allowing him to become familiar with his new home, and eventually integrating him into a social group.
George received a preliminary medical exam on the day he was transferred to the sanctuary and he will receive a second, more thorough exam this week. These exams will help us ensure that he is in good health and will give us a baseline for future comparisons as he ages. The sanctuary’s veterinarian, Dr. Erin, will lead the exam but she will be joined by other veterinarians and specialists so that we can do the most thorough evaluation possible, including an echocardiogram to screen for heart disease. George is currently in quarantine, which is designed to limit the possibility that he could pass along an infectious illness to the sanctuary’s other residents. The length of the quarantine period is based on both the incubation periods for the illnesses we are concerned about and the results of the two exams, but at a minimum it will last several weeks.
As the quarantine process allows, we’ll also be gradually giving George time to explore to the different enclosures and habitats here at the sanctuary. The sanctuary consists of two main wings, one that houses the very first group to arrive at the sanctuary in 2008 and a new wing that currently houses two different groups that were rescued in 2019 and 2021. Each wing has smaller rooms for medical recovery, quarantine, and social introductions, one or two larger, two-story indoor playrooms, one or two two-story greenhouse enclosures, and a multi-acre outdoor habitat. We’ve found that chimpanzees who have lived on concrete floors for much of their lives can have difficulty adjusting to natural substrates, such as the bark mulch in the greenhouse enclosures and the grass and dirt in the outdoor habitats. This adjustment period can take anywhere from several weeks to several years; a few of the chimpanzees we took in in 2019 still prefer to avoid natural surfaces whenever possible. It’s possible that George will need time to adjust as well. Chimpanzees can become institutionalized in other ways, too—notably, chimps who have lived in smaller enclosures can be somewhat apprehensive about open spaces. The two-acre habitat that George will have access to is an open-top enclosure with expansive views of the surrounding mountains so it may require some time before he becomes comfortable. We’re hopeful that George will adapt quickly but he will be in charge.
And finally, a word on integration. It’s a difficult process and there’s never a guarantee that it will work out. Because we know little about George other than the fact that he has lived alone or in pairs for his adult life, we will move forward cautiously. When it’s time, we’ll have him meet some other chimps one-on-one at the mesh. This will be our first chance to assess whether or not he exhibits appropriate chimpanzee behaviors, to gauge his confidence (surprisingly, underconfidence can be worse than overconfidence during introductions), and to determine how his potential new group mates react to him. This process moves along in baby steps, with successful meetings at the mesh (“howdies”, as the are called in zoo and sanctuary parlance) followed by brief one-on-ones together in the same enclosure. Once he has had multiple successful meetings with each member of his potential new group, the process can gradually build until he is integrated in the group as a whole. This can take months. I want to be very upfront here and share that some amount of fighting is to be expected. The responsibility of our staff is to try to foresee and limit the worst aggression while allowing the chimps to work out their social order as chimps do. If George isn’t compatible with the first group we try him with, we will have other options and will ensure that he finds a group of his own. Because he really deserves to be with other chimpanzees.
I’ll leave you with a few photos of today’s lunch forage on Young’s Hill.
Foxie, Annie, Missy, and Burrito:
Burrito:
Annie:
Missy:
Foxie:
