Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Honey B

Cy and Honey B Meet Again

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As Chad mentioned yesterday, it was a busy day and today was no different. Introductions continue, today we were able to have Cy and Honey B meet again! We can almost guarantee when we try to separate chimps to do introductions that Cy is the first to offer his help. While this is helpful, we also want Mave, Willy B, and Honey B to meet other individuals. However, it is important for everyone to establish strong relationships with each other, so meeting multiple times is good. So far Honey B is kicking butt at making friends! As you will see in the video, Cy and Honey B have a lot of fun together, it is rough play, but the both of them have a good time!

Do not forget to bid on our amazing auction items. If you haven’t looked at the art pieces yet, they will take your breath away! I personally have my eye on the Nutmeg watercolor. Join us on Saturday at 6pm for virtual HOOT!

Cy greeting us good morning in the Green House.

Lucky wrapped in a LOT of paper.

Let’s Try This Again

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I had this blog written around 1 pm. It was intended to be all about Neggie, but then we did an intro with Honey B and Terry today. Honey B and Terry’s first introduction didn’t go as we had hoped. Since then we have had them meet at the mesh a few times. Yesterday they met again at the mesh and it went really well, they were playing and laughing. We were so close to opening the door, however we humans were not quite ready yet. So today we decided if it went as well as yesterday we would open the door. Today we opened the door after letting them hangout at the mesh for a while and they did SO well! As you will see in the video, they are laughing, wrestling, and grooming. These behaviors give us hope that they have potential to integrate into a group of 9. Now, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Dyadic meeting can go really well, but once you had more chimps, it changes the dynamic of the group. But for now this was a HUGE success!

Since I teased you with an almost Neggie blog I might as well share it! This morning, as Missy’s group went onto Young’s Hill, I saw the usual people go outside. Missy sprinting out first, of course. Foxie, Jody, Annie, and Bubba formed a line and all marched out together. Jamie sauntered out on her own, but when I turned around to look at Negra in her usual nesting spot, she wasn’t there. Instead she was sitting on the Hill soaking in the warm sunshine and eating some delicious grass.






Sunday Morning, Rain is (Not) Falling

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On this lazy Sunday morning everyone was doing their thing and hanging out in their favorite spots while taking in the warm breeze. Enjoy some moments I captured this morning!

Usually, Neggie can be found nesting in the top platform of the green house on nice mornings.

When Jody came in from the morning stroll around Young’s Hill, she soaked up some sun rays in the green house.

Honey very much aware of me during my perimeter check walk this morning.

Gordo, Gordito, unbothered by everything and everyone. What a life!!!

Sir Cy enjoying the morning rays in the green house.

And then we have this great sequence. Rayne in the back while Dora and Lucky engage in some play time.

Two Years with the Amazing Three!

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Today is Honey B, Willy B, and Mave’s two year anniversary at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest! It has been an honor to get to know each one of them. I can’t imagine life without Honey B’s spunk, Willy B’s dashing good looks, or life without a laid back Mave would just be disappointing. The day was full of their favorite foods and enrichment. There were mangoes, avocados, eggplant to name a few! We put out a LOT of paper, raffle tickets, and buckets of soapy water!

While it’s their anniversary we were still doing one on one introductions. Today was actually the last day of one on one’s before we take a little break. As Sofia stated yesterday, Honey B with no surprise is a wild card and so is Gordo. Honey B still had to meet Gordo and Cy. We also knew these might be some of our hardest introductions. I just need to state how proud we are of Honey B! She did really well overall! It shows us that Honey B can form relationships with new chimps and gives us hope for the future. But she still makes us hold our breath when we open up that door.

First up was Cy. They did great! Cy was playing with her so rough, we were all really for Honey B to freak out, but she didn’t. She loved playing with Cy! As you will see in the video they are laughing and wrestling. That was them playing gently too, we didn’t capture the true wrestling because we thought it might escalate, but to our pleasant surprise it didn’t! Next up was Gordo. Honey B and Gordo met at the mesh yesterday and seemed pretty playful. However, today they both seemed to have taken a slower approach. Eventually we opened the door and they seemed a bit indifferent. Indifference was totally fine, we just wanted them to get comfortable. They warmed up to each other and started to play. It was really fun to watch, but it was short lived. We think there was a little miscommunication on both ends and we quickly ended up having to separate them. Gordo is fine and has a small wound on his foot. We brought Honey B back so her and Gordo had a chance to make up at the mesh, but Gordo wasn’t too interested in coming down. Honey B did give him some good positive behaviors at the mesh. We are hopeful that they can move past this and with a few more meetings understand each other a little bit better. Miscommunications with chimps happens a lot. Foxie and Annie had a lot in the beginning too and even some times to this day!

As an update we are taking a small break because everyone has met everyone for our one on one introductions. We will be doing one on ones occasionally and we will be working on two on two soon as well. For now, us humans and chimps are going to get a few good nights of sleep! Overall, the intros so far have gone as well as we could have asked. I just want to say this again because I think Honey B deserves this. She exceeded our expectations and to watch Honey B play with Cy, Dora, Rayne, and Lucky is exactly why we are doing this. Honey B was so expressive, so happy, and she is a chimp that deserves to have more socialization with other chimps! This proved that, but that doesn’t mean this road is easy or even guarantees this will work out.

Let us all cheers to one on one introductions being over and two incredible years with Honey B, Willy B, and Mave!

Gordo and Honey B. This was right before Honey B came over to Gordo and tried to give him a reassuring kiss!

Cy and Honey B wrestling!

Mave enjoying her whole mango! Mave was so excited, her food squeaks were unreal!

Wildcards…plus a medical update

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We have a had a lot of things going on for the past weeks so here is a brief update from your friendly veterinary assistant regarding Bubba’s encounter with a rattlesnake. After Burrito’s sedation to infuse the antivenin, we had him apart from the group for almost a week to ensure he was recovering correctly. During this time he was getting medications to help with overall itchiness and discomfort after exposure, and we were also collecting fecal samples. The importance of these samples was to monitor his coagulation factors after being exposed to rattlesnake venom. Such bleeding abnormalities can show up days after the exposure, which made it crucial to monitor him for at least a week.  All of our caregivers were on poop duty and thankfully all of the samples came back negative for occult blood which meant that his clotting factors were not affected. This guy was the best patient, he took all his medications in food and wanted to engage in play at all times. Right now, he is doing awesome and has been keeping us all caught up with our daily cardio.

Caregiver Anthony took these photos of Bubba today and if they don’t reflect this guys goofiness and constant happiness, I don’t know what does

On the other side of the Sanctuary, one-on-one introductions continue. One of our wildcards is Gordo, he tends to be a little unpredictable when it comes to neighbors although he has been showing a lot of interest in Mave since their arrival. He first met Willy B, nothing super exciting, they had a brief positive interaction and parted ways. Next up was Gordito’s crush, Mave. This introduction was very lighthearted as both engaged in some very amusing grooming sessions. Because we had some extra time, we had Honey B meet Gordo through the mesh. She was a little amped up about the situation and we decided it was best to keep a barrier between the two individuals. Through all of this, Gordo seemed unfazed and behaved great. Next up was Cy meeting Honey B through the mesh. At this point, both Cy and Honey B had so much energy going on that after a few interactions through the mesh, both individuals returned to their groups for dinner.

Here is Mave and Gordo in one of their grooming sessions today

BONUS: Negra nesting this morning in the green house

Play During Intros

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The video says it all. It was a relief to see Honey B with Rayne and Lucky today and with Dora yesterday. She was different with each one of them, and of course it wasn’t non-stop play, but the play was definitely the highlight!

Ups and Downs

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We did a number of dyadic intros today – some great, some disappointing. Honey B and Terry did not hit it off despite Terry’s best efforts, so that relationship will take some time to develop. Neither was injured but Honey B did end up with a souvenir from their encounter – a mouthful of Terry’s hair. And much to our dismay, Willy B would not even give Dora the time of day! She was heartbroken. But there were some promising signs near the end of their meeting and they will certainly meet again, perhaps when Willy B is less distracted. Thankfully, Mave – as she always does! – put on a masterclass in chimp introductions when she met an anxious Dora and tailored her behavior perfectly so as to engage Dora without upsetting her.

But the greatest story of the day by far was when Honey B met Dora. These two had lived together in the past. As we saw with Terry, this doesn’t guarantee a happy reunion. This, however, was the happiest of reunions and it took us completely by surprise.

They met at the mesh and instantly started breathy panting and grooming. When the door opened, they hugged and then launched into a game of chase. We’ve never seen Dora smile so much! Honey B doesn’t know how to dial it back like Mave does and we were afraid that Honey B would overwhelm Dora with her rambunctiousness but Dora loved every minute of it. They wrestled, tickled, ran, and laughed, and then did it all again. Here you can see Honey B playfully dragging Dora across the floor by the feet.

And here’s a still from a short video I took. The look on Dora’s face says it all. There’s nothing like reuniting with an old friend.