Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

Mave

Mave is Reunited!

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As Anna mentioned yesterday, Mave had to take a trip to the clinic on Wednesday. While she took yesterday to herself to rest, she was ready to get back to her group today! Thankfully, Dr. Erin gave her the all clear and we were able to reunite her.

We started out by giving Mave a breakfast date with Honey B to gauge Mave’s energy level. They were so excited to see each other, although Honey B really just wanted to inspect Mave’s entire body. After the breakfast date, Mave and Honey B were reunited with the rest of the group. The arousal level was high because of how excited they were to see her, so of course, some drama ensued. But the group carried on as normal, as you will see in today’s video!

Mave has done amazing at walking away if her group members are grooming her wound too much. Keep up the good work, Mave! I think she is just so happy to be back with her friends, especially Dora! She’s been busy in the Greenhouses all afternoon absorbing some sunshine (despite the fresh snow) and grooming with others. We’re so happy the 9 are back together.

 

Mave on the Mend

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Earlier this week there was a fight in Cy’s group and Mave sustained an injury to her sexual swelling. It was a deep enough wound that Dr. Zamzow made the decision to organize a medical procedure in the clinic yesterday so she could thoroughly clean out the wound and help it heal. This was also a bonus opportunity to give Mave a thorough physical and dental cleaning, including an abdominal ultrasound, since Mave had previously had a large ovarian cyst removed before moving to the sanctuary.

Sofia doing the dental cleaning, Mekenzie, CRNA monitoring the anesthesia machine, and sonographer Mariah and Dr. Zamzow performing Mave’s abdominal ultrasound for her physical:

This morning nurse Honey B gave Mave’s toes a thorough inspection.

Mave relaxing in her recovery room:

Bonus! Jody and her cherry tomatoes:

 

 

Man! I Feel like a Woman!

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Today is International Women’s Day! I feel so blessed to work in such a female dominated field, it is truly empowering. Not only is our field dominated by women, but so is our chimp house, sorry Chad and JB :).

In the wild, males are usually the most dominate, however in captivity you can find females leading a group or allowing a male to think he the one in control, when really the female(s) are really calling the shots ;).  Let’s meet the real individuals that run the show in this chimp house!

Obviously, Jamie rules this Sanctuary:

Negra, our true queen:

Jody, our forager:

The adventurer Missy:

Foxie, the prankster:

The ever so kind Annie:

Mora, besties for life:

Miss popular Mave:

The friend to everyone, Dora (but mostly Mave):

Rayne, the calming presence:

Lucky, the sweetest of sweet:

Honey B, the master of mischief:

The care staff ladies aren’t so bad either!

Dora! Dora! Dora!

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My apologies for today’s blog! Two Tuesdays a month, after cleaning is done, we have a staff meeting to discuss various topics about the sanctuary. Today’s meeting ran a little long. In fact, it lasted right up to the time it was to serve the chimps’ dinner, kind of putting me into a bind in terms of getting photos for the blog.

I was, however, able to get some last minute photos of darling Dora enjoying her evening popsicles. On days their daily food puzzle is scheduled to be given out during the day instead of the evening, we give out popsicles made of either Gatorade or water flavoring with some berries before they begin to nest in for the night. Dora is not one to ever pass up her evening enrichment, especially her popsicles.

Bonus Photos!

Honey B enjoying her avocado at dinner.

And Mave taking it easy earlier today!

Sounds of Sanctuary 2023

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Last year, I posted a video with sounds from around the sanctuary. As I have previously stated, these are the sounds you can hear on any given day and the sounds I miss on the days I am not in the Chimp House.

So please enjoy the Sounds of Sanctuary 2023!

Bonus Photo of beautiful Honey B with an evening glare!

Lastly, you can now pre-order a brand new Cy’s Book Club t-shirt and/or tote bag based on this photo!

Be sure to act fast as these items are limited edition and to help Cy celebrate his birthday next month! Don’t hesitate! Join Cy’s Book Club now!

Between Love and War: Valentine’s Day 2023

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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!

Unseen Clips

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It’s Nutmeg’s Birthday!

Not only did we have Marcie Milam sponsor this day of sanctuary for Nutmeg’s 8th Birthday, Paulette Wrisley sponsored the day as well! Thank you so much, both Marcie and Paulette! Nutmeg is enjoying a day full of sunshine with Honey, Betsy, and Meredith.

Today, I was not sure what I wanted to do for the blog. My mind was blank. Thankfully, I had some awesome unseen video footage from the past month! Please enjoy today’s video featuring the unseen clips!

Shout out to Kelsi who captured this photo of Mave in a giant box: