lunch

The Queen Has Spoken

June 27, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Initially, I had today’s blog all planned out in my head. I was going to write about food peering, a behavior where a chimpanzee stares intensely at the food another is eating in hopes of that individual sending some their way. I was inspired to write about such topic based on this photo I got yesterday of Willy B food peering at Honey B for her coconut.

However, as I went to take some photos during lunch service, Negra had other plans for her subject. During lunch, Negra had me stand at the corner and rub her back during the whole lunch service plus some. And to clarify, by “rubbing her back” I mean with one of our approved safe physical contact methods called Knuckle Rub.

That coupled with a biweekly staff meeting, I was not able to have enough time to write out a lengthy blog or get photos of some food peering. The Queen has spoken and I, her dutiful servant, must oblige.

Here are the very few photos I was able to get today:

Foxie and Negra giving each other a kiss during dinner

Cy watching Willy B, Rayne, Terry, Gordo, and Lucky out on the Bray

Both Rayne and Gordo were able to find some coconut husks leftover from yesterday’s celebration

And a photo of the thunderstorm that was rolling in, though it quickly dissipated

Lastly, we added a whole bunch of things to our Wish List ranging from masks for caregivers to keep the chimpanzees safe from human pathogens, two-way radios for staff and volunteers who work in the Chimp House, and new enrichment items for our residents! If you are able and willing to, please take a look at the items needed to help maintain our quality care of these magnificent beings. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

This, That, and The Other

May 23, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Throughout the day, I had several ideas for things I wanted to share on the blog. They were all just small things that happened. Everything doesn’t always go as planned, as you may know. Every single time the idea would pop into my head, by the time I got the camera out (either the DLSR camera or my phone camera) the thing I was going to write about vanished. I was, however, still able to get snippets of each thing.

First, I randomly took a photo of a toy school bus inside Jamie’s greenhouse after we got done cleaning it.

I didn’t know that a short time after I took this photo, Jamie would utilize it.

During lunch, she was putting portions of her meal into it and bring it along with her. This is the only photo she allowed me to take from this far away.

Second, as we were cleaning her greenhouse, I was scrubbing the walls when a little friend gave me a startle.

This little frog was just hanging out watching me clean. Nobody seemed to notice them after we gave them access back to the greenhouse. They were more interested in the spread of lilacs we had placed in there for them. Jamie even sat directly above the frog without a single notice.

Speaking of lunch things, one item everyone was served was a romaine heart. You wouldn’t expect anyone to be excited for romaine hearts, however, the chimps LOVE them and were very excited for them.

Rayne took hers and found a secluded spot in the Riverview Greenhouse, away from the commotion of the food peering that was happening inside the playrooms.

After lunch, her group went out onto The Bray. As some were going out, others were going in. As you might suspect, there was a little bit of a traffic jam on the boardwalk. Three of the biggest boys were the cause of this jam. From left to right: Willy B, Terry, Cy

Lastly, there was one final patrol on Young’s Hill before dinner was going to be served. Here are Missy and Burrito returning from the great outdoors.

Sack Lunch Review

April 25, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Recently, Netflix released a brand new show available for streaming called Chimp Empire. The documentary follows the lives of the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. The Ngogo group has always piqued my interest. They were, and still are, the largest community of wild chimpanzees to ever be documented with more than 160 members. To give you an idea of how big that is, the average number of chimpanzees in a group is usually somewhere between 15 to 30. I would highly recommend anyone who can to watch it. The footage is some of the best footage I have seen come out of a research area. The only other time I saw footage this amazing was from the Disneynature movie Chimpanzee.

Usually when shows or movies like this come out, I usually watch them with a grain of salt. Usually programs as such over dramatize the stories or just plain make them up. For example, Disney’s Chimpanzee had amazing footage, however parts of the story that was told was somewhat stretched. By “somewhat” I mean “really” stretched. When I first began studying chimpanzees, the best piece of advice my professor gave me was to watch films like these and be amazed by the footage, but tune out the narration. With Chimp Empire, I took the same approach to watching it, however I will say the narration of the chimpanzee hierarchy and politics is pretty spot on.

Whenever I watch any show that has chimpanzees (or any primate really), I always feel a little bit awkward watching them. I work with chimpanzees, and prior to that, studied them. So why would I do anything in my personal life that is related to my professional life? It’s even a little more awkward if I watch them with anyone else because I am 100% that person who will point out the flaws/inaccuracies in these nature shows (and yes, I do cite my sources).

As I watch them though, I usually begin to justify my viewing because to me it is different. There many many similarities I see between the chimpanzees in the show and the ones I work with. There are, however, many many differences as well. To me, watching chimpanzees in the wild and watching them in captivity is like watching two completely different species. As I’m typing this, I’m starting to realize I don’t even know if I can describe it properly to make it make sense to a broader audience. I guess one of my theories is watching chimpanzees in the wild there a certain flow to how they interact with each other and how and why they do things. Most of this societal flow is learned at a very early age with the mother as an important role in shaping their offspring’s behavior. In contrast, chimpanzees in the sanctuary world never had that opportunity to learn from their mothers, or pass that knowledge down to their offspring. In a certain way, chimpanzees in a captive setting (not including AZA accredited zoos) are figuring things out as they go. This why introductions with chimpanzees who never met each other can be difficult; they have learned what the could from each other growing up with no “seasoned” individual to pass on their knowledge. It’s even more complicated when dealing with a chimpanzee that came from the entertainment world because they pretty much have zero social skills since most don’t even see another chimpanzee until the finally find a sanctuary home. And yes! It really is heartbreaking to think about in what they have missed not being born and raised in the wild.

So if you have the capability, I do recommend watching the footage from Ngogo in Chimp Empire. I give the footage 5 out of 5 Razzle Tazzle Terry Berries.

Speaking of Terry, today him and his group had a nice lunch forage in their greenhouses. We decided to spice up their lunch with the addition of one of their favorite food puzzles: grab bags! Usually, grab bags are filled with toys, scarves, socks, and a food puzzle of the caregivers choice. I tend to think the reason why grab bags are such a popular item because you never know what you’re going to get when you grab one. This time, we also included parts of their lunch. Being thrilled is one way of putting their reaction when their lunch was brought out to be set up.

Terry flipping through a magazine with peanut butter smeared between pages in the out door chute

Gordo going “all in” on his grab bag

He found a piece of pineapple at the bottom of his bag

Willy B looking around for what he is going to go for next

Mavis!

Cy found some walnuts and hazelnuts in one of the bags he grabbed

Beautiful Rayne!

Speaking of Rayne, she seemed to enjoy a cardboard bookcase we set up in the Mezzanine

Honey B!

Gordo taking it easy after lunch was over

Then there is this guy…

Burrito spent pretty much all day sitting at the window watching everyone who passed by in the outdoor chute. He even took his dinner to go!

Lunch has been served!

March 23, 2023 by Jenna

Please enjoy today’s video of lunch with Cy’s group! Volume up for the ultimate food chewing noises.

If you liked today’s video, you may enjoy our virtual event we are hosting this weekend!

Join us this Sunday, March 26th at 1:00pm PST to virtually watch the Cle Elum Seven have lunch! Reserve your spot here: https://tinyurl.com/CleElumSevenLunch

Also, we are in need of many things from our Amazon Wishlist! The Wishlist is a way to directly help the chimps. Link here!

Between Love and War: Valentine’s Day 2023

February 14, 2023 by Chad de Bree

Valentine’s is a day meant to be spent with loved ones and show affection to them. But as you know, sometimes you can fight with loved ones. J.B. actually just wrote a magnificent blog about conflict and resolution the other. Well today both Jamie and Cy’s groups spent a good chunk of the morning what I will call “bickering.” There wasn’t too much physical contact between everyone, just a lot of screaming. But, also as J.B. mentioned, they were quick to reconcile. What they were all bickering about? It would be hard to say, though I am going scapegoat the six inches of snow and colder weather that came in overnight.

Regardless, everything calmed down once they all realized something special was in store for them today: lots of strawberries, blood oranges, grape tomatoes, radishes, and sparkling blush cider with raspberries and mint leaves! Once their bellies were full of delicious treats, bygones were bygones and everybody had a restful afternoon.

Here are some photos from today:

Missy enjoying her plate of tomatoes and strawberries

And her daughter, Honey B, enjoying the same thing on the other side of the sanctuary!

The devilishly handsome Willy B

Gordo lovingly admiring his radishes

And Dora. Oh so sweet little Dora resting after the parties

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody!

Secret Santa

December 13, 2022 by Chad de Bree

Boy howdy! What a busy day! Besides our daily Chimp House duties, we had our bi-weekly staff meeting, are deep in preparing for the resident’s Christmas party, sorting through gifts that arrived from the recent Comfort & Joy auction, and trying to keep up with Burrito!

We want to thank those who have purchased items off our Amazon Wish List! We just wanted to let you know if you have purchased something off the wishlist, or sent something directly to us, please be assured that we have or will receive it. It may just take a little bit for us to process things in order to send out the confirmation it has arrived.

If you would like to still purchase items off our wish list for their Christmas party, there’s still time! But time is starting to run out for it to be delivered on time. If you can, please peruse through our Amazon Wish List. We hope to make this Christmas a special one for them!

Now for some photos from today!

Terry taking his chow biscuits to go!