Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Grooming

Dreaming of Summer

by

As I was cleaning today, I randomly thought to myself how sad I was that Annie had skipped her summer fashion for 2022. Then lo and behold, as if her ears were burning, Annie walked in wearing a hot pink headband around her waist!

It’s hard to tell if the fashion season has come early this year, or if Annie is making up for missing the 2022 season. Either way, Annie looks fabulous!

Bonus Photos:

Dora and Mave grooming this morning

Bonus Side Story:

Yesterday, as I was cleaning the Oakwood Greenhouse, I saw Dora grab a piece of paper and sit on the Lupine Playroom stairs. She sat there for a few minutes staring at it and kind of caressing it. When she got up and left, I was able to see what she found so intriguing.

It’s the Mave spread of the 2023 Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest Calendar! (Which is coincidentally on sale right now!) I thought it was a little funny because she was acting like she hadn’t seen Mave in weeks. In reality, Mave was just across the room eating what was remaining of her breakfast.

Sometimes, I just can’t with the Mora relationship!

Bonus Bonus Photos:

I passed through the two greenhouses and saw Mave like this. How could I not share them?

focusing on the peaceful moments

by

As the video says, it’s been drama city the last two afternoons. It’s not the most fun to be around when chimpanzees are unhappy with each other, and it’s almost always impossible to know exactly what’s going on.

But, when we think about all of the hours in the day, the chimps spend most of them pretty peacefully. Maybe even more so than a lot of humans.

During these times of unease between the chimps, it’s nice to keep all of the tender, playful, and peaceful moments in mind.

Bromance Isn’t Dead

by

As today’s video suggests, “bromance” is very much alive in this chimp house. I caught Terry and Willy B engaging in an exciting grooming session – with tons of breathy pants. It still amazes me to think that a year ago at this time, Willy B and Terry lived in two separate groups. Now, Terry and Willy B (plus their 7 friends!) have been living together for 7 months (as of tomorrow)! I’m so happy for each of them as friendships help enrich their lives.

Speaking of the group of 9, I had a photoshoot today with Cy. He took me both indoors and outdoors in attempt to get the perfect shot. I tried, Cy!

Photoshoot with Cy:

Lucky:

The VIP Lounge

by

The chimpanzees spend more time resting and socializing in the heated indoor areas as the weather gets wetter and colder.

We’ve recently been focusing much of our content on the chimps’ outdoor enclosures, especially Young’s Hill and The Bray. Large outdoor habitats are irreplaceable because they provide chimpanzees with unique opportunities to engage in “natural” behaviors such as climbing, foraging, and patrolling as a group. The greenhouse-type enclosures, including the new Riverview and Oakwood Greenhouses, also have certain characteristics that the chimps can take full advantage of at their leisure.

Even so, chimpanzees living in sanctuary also need clean, climate-controlled, enriched indoor spaces. These are locations where they can be cozy, entertained and secure, regardless of the conditions outside. It would be easy to look at the artificial interiors and think that these enclosures are inferior to the outdoor ones, but the chimpanzees don’t seem to think so. Instead, the residents seem to utilize the various spaces differently so that together they provide one expansive, complex, multi-functional home.

Sofia highlighted the indoor front rooms in her September post “Back to Front Room 7” and Anna wrote about them again in last week’s post “Small space, big fun“. I thought it might be fun to share some additional video clips of the chimpanzees enjoying that same space today!

Hot Commodity

by

For once there wasn’t a lot going on today for the chimps or the humans. That happens very rarely in this chimp house now a days! The chimps spent most of their day napping, grooming, lazily playing, or working on some enrichment.

Jody grooming a pile of blankets… oops I mean Negra!

Jamie and Missy spent most of the day coaxing their caregivers over to the small garden where the tomatoes and grape vines were ready to be picked! Of course, we had to oblige!

Terry was a hot commodity today! As I walked by with the camera, Lucky and Terry began grooming.

I took a series of photos of Terry Bronx Cheering (or blowing raspberries) when he and Lucky were grooming. Terry is always Bronx Cheering- whether he is grooming, trying to get our attention, and he even does it when he is working up into a display.

A few minutes later Rayne passed by to join the party. Terry began grooming her and then Rayne reciprocated the grooming.

I found Honey B relaxing on one of the tree leaves. She looked content, but also up to no good all at the same time.

Jamie also found sometime in the day to kick back and relax too.

Sweet sweet Lucky lounging in Oakwood.

Grooming with Missy and Annie

by

Find someone that looks at you the way Annie looks at Missy. But make sure you have separate hobbies or something like that because, to be honest, Annie can be a bit clingy at times.

Seriously, Annie is a completely different person than she was when she first arrived over 14 years ago. She’s far more confident and secure. And I would attribute that in large part to the thousands upon thousands of hours she has spent grooming with her best friend Missy.

Grooming with Honey B

by

Since she was integrated into a larger group, Honey B has been making new friends, reuniting with old ones, and spending time with her half-sisters. Here she grooms with half sister, Rayne, and her old friend, Terry. Or rather, here she is being groomed. Honey B doesn’t do much grooming herself. Without knowing more you might think of that as an indication of dominance, but instead it seems to be more of a quirk. At least one study suggests that chimps with significant human interaction at a young age exhibit deficits in grooming behavior as adults, even when they are integrated into a group and engage in other social behaviors like playing. As far as I’m aware, Honey B didn’t have significantly more human interaction when she was young compared to the others in her group, but you would swear she was raised as a pet or performer if you didn’t know better. Perhaps some chimps are just more susceptible to the effects of human rearing.

In any case, it’s moments like this that make the integration process worth it.