Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

A Day on the Bray: Lucky Climbs a Tower!

by

Mave has been showing off her newfound confidence on the Bray, though at this point she prefers to stay somewhat close to home. Lucky, on the other hand, has been pushing herself to explore the very top of the enclosure. The other day she climbed one of the towers under construction at the top of the Bray for the first time (I think!) and took a moment to enjoy the view with her brother Cy and pal Gordo.

Rayne with one of her favorite books:

Cy, as I found him while closing up the chimp house one evening:

Here’s a photo of the sanctuary taken several weeks back from the driveway on the southern edge of our property which the Bonneville Power Administration built to access their transmission towers for us to walk our dogs along. In the background you can see one of the many cuts along Old Highway 10 where university students and geology buffs go to examine the various strata of ancient riverbeds, as well as the infamous Taylor Bridge, forever linked to the 2012 wildfire which bears its name.

And one from yesterday, after a wind gust blew a plastic bag up this impossibly steep hill while Jake and I were working on cattle fencing. I figured I’d stop a take a photo to hide how tired I was from the climb and buy myself a little time before trying to make my way back down. I was reminded of one of those quirky British competitions where people chase after a wheel of cheese down a steep slope (I’m not kidding) except at the bottom of this hill is simply an old barbed wire fence. This view of the slope might give you a sense of why we couldn’t extend the chimp enclosures any further to the east than we did – bear in mind, the chimp enclosure is itself a pretty steep hill. I really thought about it, though.

 

Moments With Cy’s Group

by

Let me tell you, those toy keys are the most exciting thing to happen in a while. Some of the chimps in Cy’s group are prone to chewing up and ingesting enrichment so we’ve been introducing new items very slowly and cautiously over the last couple years. These are made by Nylabone and we’re optimistic that they will hold up and won’t pose any danger. It’s rare for nearly everyone in the group to have an interest in the same piece of enrichment—since they’ve been introduced, the keys have only been put down a minute or two at a time before they are snatched up again!

As I was sitting down in the foyer to upload some video, Chad noticed Rayne on the security monitor flipping through her magazine on the greenhouse catwalk. It’s amazing how much we would miss without those cameras.

 

Grazing Days

by

What food could possibly be so exciting that a chimpanzee would willingly pass up fresh fruit, peanuts, chow, and smoothie? Why, it’s grass, of course!

Yes, for a few weeks each year the chimpanzees at CSNW become grazers, chomping down on grass at a rate more in line with the cows they share their sanctuary home with. What’s so great about grass? You got me. Wild chimpanzees do naturally consume significant amounts of browse—fibrous foods such as shoots, stems, and leaves—but the chimps at CSNW don’t eat any other browse with the same gusto as they do spring grass. This time of year, the grass is at its sweetest and most tender, as the cows will most certainly attest. But is it really better than smoothie?

Speaking of grazing (and with it being Earth Day and all), I thought I’d mention one of the projects we’ve been working on: Converting our pasture fencing to wildlife-friendly fencing. The original sanctuary property and the four parcels we purchased in recent years were part of a large homestead ranch that was in operation for a least a century. During that time, most of the pastures were fenced using barbed wire or a combination of barbed wire and woven field fence. Unfortunately, we’ve seen firsthand the toll this kind of fencing can take on wildlife. First, there’s the very real risk that wildlife, such as deer or elk, will get injured by or caught up in a fence. And second, there’s the problem of fawns being separated from their mothers as their moms cross over pasture fencing too high for them to jump. After doing a lot of research, we decided to transition to 3-wire high-tensile electric fencing, which can effectively contain our cows while allowing wildlife such as deer, elk, bobcats, and marmots to cross over or under safely. And for pastures no longer in use, the fences can be removed and the areas can be slowly re-wilded. As we work on finalizing our master site plan, we will also do so with an eye toward preserving wildlife migration corridors throughout the 113-acre property. After all, it’s not much of a sanctuary if it’s not also a home for the animals that were here first.

And last but not least, allow me to share some photos of Negra from today’s lunch forage:

Brave Mave’s Foray on the Bray

by

We almost missed it the first time.

I had a few minutes to kill before the chimps’ breakfast and decided to see if anyone was on the Bray. When I exited the greenhouse door I had to rub my eyes. Funny, I thought, that almost looks like Mave out there…

When caring for animals, or anyone for that matter, there are things you can control or influence and things you can’t. For the latter, all you can do is be patient and let them find their own way in their own time.

I guess the other obvious life lesson here is this: If there’s something you are afraid of, just get in a lot of fights and do the scary thing while you’re fighting. The fighting will seem much scarier by comparison, and over time, you will come to discover that you had the power to do the thing without fighting all along. 🙂

Anyway, three cheers for Mave! See you out on the Bray!

 

Easter Video

by

Easter was a busy day here at the sanctuary. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to schedule Jake to do some repairs and improvements to the building on the same day as a chimp party. Thankfully, the staff and volunteers (and chimps!) were all good sports about it and we got it all done.

Over the winter, Facilities and Ground Technician Jake, who happens to be a skilled welder, fabricated some new food chutes for Jamie’s side of the building. Food chutes let us safely pass larger foods and enrichment items to the chimps and we have them in all areas of the building except Playroom 1 and Greenhouse 1. Now that the weather is warmer we were finally able to get these new ones installed, along with some new perches for Cy’s group.

Despite Diana’s pronouncement, it’s hard to say who the day’s real winner was: Cy, for discovering the jackpot atop the tower on the Bray, or Negra, for getting eggs, peanut butter, and a leisurely walk through the grass all in one sunny spring day? Let’s call it a tie.