Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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nest

This And That

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A while back, I posted a blog that included what I called “lousy photos“.  The photos that we take throughout the day that don’t make it on the blog.  This also happens with videos.  You never know when you’ll catch a great moment, or have your phone knocked out of your hand!  Or in my case, knocked into the drain.

Today, I’ve compiled a few videos that weren’t enough, for one reason or another, to warrant their own blog post.  Willy B plays with a box, Rayne forages on the Bray, Ellen and Gordo play, and Honey B works on her nest.

 

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

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While it wasn’t exactly quiet in the Chimp House this morning, I did stumble upon some quiet moments.

It’s been so fun watching George make friends.  And while Cy is definitely George’s defender, Gordo seems to be his closest friend.  Back in February, you got to see George and Gordo play, play, play!  But they also spend time grooming.  Well, Gordo grooms George, George grooms George.  George has adapted so well to his new living environment and social group, but he still isn’t grooming the other chimps.  Someday soon, we hope.

On the other side of the building, I caught Negra up on a bench in one of the front rooms, enjoying her meal.  Usually, when we serve a meal, everyone gets one item at a time before we move to the next item.  But not Negra!  She wants you to load her up with everything!  Which she will stuff into her mouth, hands, feet and sometimes her pelvic pocket, and hit the road.  Then she can take her time enjoying her meal, often times in bed!

These quiet moments are some of the best.

George settling in

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It continues to be fascinating and endearing as George gets used to living in a group of chimpanzees.

***Commercial interruption: we could use more Albertson’s gift cards! You can buy them from our Amazon wishlist or directly at Albertsons or Safeway to send to the sanctuary. This does relate to George. When he first came to the sanctuary in May, he was very thin. He gained weight quickly and got to a healthy body condition. Since the introduction process, though he’s eating well, he’s lost some of that weight he had gained, most likely nervous energy! We are boosting his calories in various ways, including purchasing plant-based protein shakes from our local Safeway stores, which is owned by Albertson’s now.***

This video might show you a side of Cy you haven’t seen much of in the past. Interestingly, when it was just he and George living as a duo, Cy didn’t do a whole lot of asserting of his dominance. Once we added more chimpanzees to the mix, he began to display more and took more opportunities to ensure that no one forgets his leadership role in the group.

George seems to be soaking up all the lessons he’s been given about chimpanzee social living.

There’s something about the image of them all sleeping near one another, as a family, that really warms my heart.

Nesting with George: Part 2

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Anna posted a few weeks ago about George becoming more comfortable here at CSNW and starting to take part in normal chimpanzee behaviors such nest building. In the beginning his nests were pretty sparse and made mostly of scraps of paper, boxes and the occasional blanket. More recently George started making much more elaborate nests of blankets and large sheets of paper we offer him as an enrichment item. In the wild chimpanzee’s make a new nest every night so here we do deconstruct their nests daily during our cleaning routine and we make sure they have clean blankets, paper and enrichment items they might like to include in their nests, like boxes, scarves and wooden blocks.

 

George in one of his first, more elaborate blanket nests. You can see he has a box of enrichment items that we offer all the chimps so they can carry them, play with them and just use the items as they see fit. Sometimes these items even make their way into nest designs, especially with the more experienced nest builders like Negra and Jamie:

 

In this nest he included some magazine pages:

 

Here, George opted for a paper base with a blanket over him:

Nest Envy or Snuggling Up?

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The security cameras continue to be insightful as well as entertaining, catching so much that we would otherwise miss.

We’ve actually be doing a bit of an experiment these last several days and having Willy B sleep solo in order to cut down on the drama during the night and in the early mornings.

It’s worked well as a temporary measure, and it’s been interesting to see how the other chimpanzees navigate his separation. Rayne’s first nest in this video was right next to the Mezzanine where Willy B was sleeping that night. I wondered if she was signaling some sort of alliance or wanted to keep tabs on him. In the end, I think the blanket that Lucky had found for her nest looked too enticing for Rayne to stay in her original nest. Or maybe she wanted to be super close to her friend Lucky.

I almost forgot! This Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance and Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest are having our 4th discussion about the docuseries Chimp Crazy. We’ll be discussing the fourth and final episode of the series (Fantasy Island), and we have a very special guest who will be joining us – Ana Paula Taveres, CEO of Save the Chimps! Ana Paula will be able to tell us all about Tonka’s new life in sanctuary! Register to join the discussion by zoom.