Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Jody

Today’s choices

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Today the day started out kinda rainy and so the chimps stayed in the front rooms while we cleaned the playroom. I caught an unusual duo wrestling—Negra and Annie! Annie does not always play with folks other than her best friend Missy, and Negra doesn’t play as often as the other chimps. So it was really awesome to see the two of them engaging in so much fun. I wasn’t able to get a lot of good video of it, but I did catch a brief snippet.

Later in the day the sun was out and Young’s Hill was the place to be. Everyone but Negra came out at one point, and even after Burrito went back inside the other girls hung out for a bit longer. It was great to see five chimps out on the hill all at once. In the last piece of this video, you’ll be able to see all five in the same shot.

Tomorrow we’re celebrating Jamie’s birthday on Halloween. It’s not too late to donate to make her party really great!

Greeting

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Chimpanzees give each other really sweet greetings after they’ve been separated for some amount of time. Jody spent all afternoon on the hill yesterday by herself, and when she started heading back Annie was getting pretty excited. I didn’t catch a very long video, but I did get a quick snippet of Annie’s sweet greeting with Jody. I wanted to include some explanations of Annie’s greeting behaviors, so you may have to watch the video twice!

Typically less-dominant individuals greet more-dominant members of a group. Although Jody isn’t the leader, she is more dominant than Annie (although Annie is definitely asserting herself and has much more confidence these days than she did when they first arrived). In the video, you’ll see Annie bipedally (up on her feet) swagger with her hair standing on end (pilo erect). These behaviors are indicative of a high arousal state, basically meaning she’s excited. Then you’ll see her crouch down and run toward Jody. The crouching down is a sign of submission, and it shows Annie’s respect for Jody. When she contacts Jody she gives her a hug and simultaneously offers an open mouth kiss (it’s hard to see, but that is what she’s doing!) And finally as they head back into the greenhouse together, Annie dabs Jody’s back.

Even though this all occurred in just 15 seconds or so, there’s a lot of communication going on! Chimpanzees are really amazing and complex beings.

Hill grass

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Grass has always been a favorite treat for the Cle Elum Seven, so it’s been interesting to watch their reactions to the grass on Young’s Hill.

Annie loves to eat grass, but seems very uncomfortable walking on it. I’ve been referring to her as our resident gibbon- she walks bipedally and holds her hands out a bit from her sides and her gait is almost more of a waddle than a walk. I can’t say exactly why she does this, but I’m sure it feels strange to walk barefoot on grass after years and years of nothing but concrete.

Jamie, on the other hand, is a natural out there.

And how fun is it to harvest your own treat!?

Missy and Jody:

Missy:

Jamie:

Full Speed Ahead!

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On day 1 of Young’s Hill, we saw a lot of wrestling from Annie and Missy (shocking, I know!), but since then, we haven’t seen a whole lot of playing on the hill, most likely because there has been so much to do and explore out there that they just haven’t “had the time”. Over the last few days, however, I’ve been noticing them get more and more playful. Chase has been a favorite game lately (apparently, even Gators make good chase partners!). I’m sure after watching the construction all summer, the chimps (or Missy and Jamie at least) have just been waiting for the opportunity to get up to a full speed run! But with 2-acres to explore, even just walking around is such amazing exercise for them. I’m sure they are sleeping like babies at night!

An accomplishment

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Jody’s adventures on/with the hill have been so exciting and fascinating to watch. After the initial excitement of the grand opening of Young’s Hill was over, Jody went back into the outdoor area and stayed there. She monitored the activities on the hill daily, often standing in the raceway tunnel waiting for everyone to come in, and closely inspecting folks upon their return. It took a long time, but once she gained the courage to go out- she went way out! She walked the entire perimeter, exploring every inch of the hill. It was spectacular to watch!

What really struck me while watching her out there was how much she looked back towards the building and the rest of the property. She really seemed fascinated to see parts of the property that she hadn’t seen before- including her home for the last 3+ years. I can’t imagine how strange it would be to live in a house for years and not know what the place looks like from the outside. And after all this time, it must be really satisfying to finally be able to see inside the barn or the garden in it’s entirety, the mountains in the distance, and even just further down the driveway…

I’m so inspired and in awe watching the chimps explore the great unknown and to see their amazing confidence and courage. It makes me not only proud of the chimps, but so proud of this sanctuary. The way I see it- it’s such a huge change from anything they’ve ever known that the chimps really have to trust us to feel comfortable out there. They have to believe that we are taking care of them and that we are still protecting them in this big open space. I feel so proud of our team when I see the chimps out there– and so grateful to our supporters! Just like Jody, it’s a huge accomplishment- we did it! It’s such an amazing thing and definitely something for all to be proud of.

Jody’s exploring

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If you checked the blog a couple days ago, you’ll know that Jody and Foxie are making some big steps toward finding their place out on Young’s Hill. Well, as I mentioned on her Facebook page, yesterday Jody decided to start exploring all on her own! She even skipped lunch entirely to check out nearly every inch of the enclosure.

When I think about how the chimps must feel about the open space we’ve given them, I imagine they must feel so many different emotions—joy, excitement, fear, anxiety, curiosity, and so many more I’m sure. After living behind steel bars for over 3 decades, it’s fairly overwhelming to step out into grass and open sky.

I was in front of the tunnel yesterday (while cleaning Young’s Hill to get it ready for the chimps) and I was able to see how things are from their perspective. Although Young’s Hill is an enclosure, when you first leave the tunnel it does not feel that way.

Jody was captured from Africa and put into a cage, so it’s really awesome and inspiring to see her gain the confidence to step out into the unknown.