Enjoy a few scenes from a peaceful spring day at the sanctuary.
habitat
Brave Mave’s Foray on the Bray
We almost missed it the first time.
I had a few minutes to kill before the chimps’ breakfast and decided to see if anyone was on the Bray. When I exited the greenhouse door I had to rub my eyes. Funny, I thought, that almost looks like Mave out there…
When caring for animals, or anyone for that matter, there are things you can control or influence and things you can’t. For the latter, all you can do is be patient and let them find their own way in their own time.
I guess the other obvious life lesson here is this: If there’s something you are afraid of, just get in a lot of fights and do the scary thing while you’re fighting. The fighting will seem much scarier by comparison, and over time, you will come to discover that you had the power to do the thing without fighting all along. 🙂
Anyway, three cheers for Mave! See you out on the Bray!
Al fresco
Snow on the Cascade peaks means that winter is on its way to the sanctuary. Until then, we will continue enjoying lunch with a view on these beautiful fall days.
Caravan
Running an organization with nearly a dozen staff and several dozen volunteers is a difficult task, but Jamie takes it all in stride. Enjoy this video of Jamie mobilizing all of the farm vehicles this afternoon.
Here are some bonus photos from this smokey day:
Welcome to the Bray
(or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Step on Grass)
It finally happened. Cy’s group stepped out of the chute and entered the Bray.
It was a very different experience than watching the Cle Elum Seven enter Young’s Hill for the first (or even second) time. It may be because the Californians are a newer group than the Seven were at the time, or perhaps it’s because the Waystation chimps had spent more time outside of cages when they were young (and, as noted in a previous comment section, as adults in some unauthorized cases). In any case, while there was less hugging and screaming as they entered the habitat, watching them explore was every bit as emotional.
Willy B’s transformation from fearful and agoraphobic to Conqueror of the Bray is a testament to the power of friendship. Every minute we spent worrying while integrating his group with Cy’s was worth it to see him follow his friends out into the grass.
You’ll notice that Honey B, Mave, and Dora did not join their friends outside yesterday. That’s OK. I believe they will soon, as they will also benefit from Rayne’s confidence and the boys’ leadership. But if it takes longer, that’s OK too. They will get there in their own time.
Our most heartfelt thanks to all of you who made this day possible, especially to our friend James, in whose memory the Bray is named.
Video: The Chimps are Back on the Hill
As you may have seen in yesterday’s blog post, the Seven are back on the hill! Here’s the video, as promised.
In case it’s not clear, we had to take down the original fence so that we could expand the overall habitat area and split it into two enclosures. The Young’s Hill side, which belongs to the Cle Elum Seven, was pushed further up the hill and to the north and grew by an additional half acre to 2.4 acres. This was only possible because we purchased the surrounding lots and no longer have to worry about encroaching development (after closing on another parcel yesterday, the sanctuary now owns approximately 110 acres). More space means more room for climbing structures, irrigation, and plantings, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us in that department, but we wanted to get the Seven back out as soon as the fence was complete. Perhaps more important than the expansion in habitat size, Young’s Hill now includes a stand of pine and fir trees, which Missy has already conquered. Who will be next?
One thing to note: Negra is not in the video as she did not go outside on the first day. Too many people and too much excitement, perhaps. But she just went out for a lunch forage this afternoon, so the Queen is also back on the hill.
Now that they are back out, we can turn our attention to completing the Bray. The Sage Mechanical crew is welding the remaining gates and post assemblies now and it will be at least a few weeks before we can complete the fencing on that side. We were fortunate from a construction standpoint to have a prolonged summer but fall weather arrives this weekend and winter won’t be far behind. So the timing for Cy’s group to learn about electric fencing and explore their new enclosure is somewhat up in the air. Whatever happens, we’ll work as fast as we can to keep our options open.
Our thanks go out to all of the donors that made this project possible. I also want to thank Dustin and East Slope Earthworks, Katie, Sean, Dusty, Ben, Karen, Richard, Elizabeth, Tom, Gordy, Steve, Debbie, Donna, Laurie, Kurt, Kristin, Jeremy, Liz, Michael, Lisa, Jesse, Adam, Kyle, Grace, Ryan, Jacob, Nolan, Karen, Claus, Logan, Kyle, Jan, Chet, Sabrina, Brenda, and Chelsey for volunteering their time and energy to help build the habitats. My apologies to anyone I accidentally left off the list. And of course we are grateful to Gary, Aaron, and Jose of Sage Mechanical for all of their hard work on this project. There’s something about the fact that these habitats are built by a community of supporters that makes them even more special.
Volunteers Needed!
Update: Our first volunteer work parties will take place Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 starting at 10am. If you’d like to join us, please fill out the form in the link below or contact J.B. at [email protected]. Thanks!
It’s been about 11 years since a group of hard-working and dedicated volunteers helped us build Young’s Hill, the 2-acre habitat that gave the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees their first opportunity to truly step outdoors. Now it’s time to give our group of nine chimpanzees their own dedicated habitat – named The Bray in loving memory of James Douglas – and we need your help!
This spring and summer, we’ll be installing fencing and building climbing structures. If you live nearby and would like to help, fill out this form to join our construction volunteer list. More details on volunteer work parties are included on the form.
And if you aren’t able to volunteer, please consider donating so that we can keep this project moving forward and nine chimpanzees can get the chance to run, climb, and swing through their own open-air habitat.
Thank you!!
