Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

Photographs of the Day

by

Saturday is the end of the week for some of the staff, while others return from their weekend on Sunday. I’m in the latter group.

As the person responsible for the blog on Sundays (the beginning of my work week), I often gravitate towards whatever topics have been touched on in the previous day’s blog. It isn’t always intentional, but I do notice that it naturally happens more often than not. Hopefully, all of you blog followers don’t mind getting two related posts in just as many days.

Yesterday, Diana shared “Video Clips of the Day“, a fantastic blog entry that consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Therefore, of course, I’m giving you all “Photographs of the Day”, which is essentially the same concept but with still images instead of filmed content.

Just like the clips in yesterday’s video, the pictures aren’t all from today. However, you may be assured to know that some of these photos are from this dreary winter day, while the rest are quite recent. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this evening’s post and have a great week!

 

The view of the Yakima River and train tracks near the sanctuary:

 

Icicles hanging from the Chimp House roof:

 

Willy B looking down at the snow, then looking at me as if I have the magical power to make it instantly go away:

 

Honey B supervising the construction of her new playrooms:

 

Mave using the same windows to groom her toes:

 

Jamie strolling on the Hill (sorry about the bad focus!):

 

The view from the sanctuary driveway:

 

3/4 of the Moo Crew:

 

Nutmeg:

 

Meredith:

 

Betsy:

 

Honey (apparently also known as “Honey Buns”):

 

Lunch in the cattle barn:

 

Burrito:

 

A closeup of Burrito’s toes:

 

Burrito’s plush monkey friend (featured in yesterday’s video) being incrementally dragged into the chimp enclosure through a food chute and then leisurely disemboweled by seven VERY enriched chimpanzees:

 

Barn Kitty’s tracks in the snow (black-and-white version):

Doll Thief

by

Jamie and Foxie had a pretty epic play session while we were cleaning the playroom this morning. A few things to note about this video:

  • Everyone was playing all morning – this is just a small slice of all the craziness.
  • I love how Jamie shows Foxie how to get this game started – “Here, I’ve got your doll and you’ve got to try to get it back!”
  • If you ever question whether chimpanzees are stronger than humans, try hanging from the ceiling for 10 minutes and let me know how that works out.
  • Jamie employed a new move in this play session, which I have dubbed “The Motorcycle”. See if you can spot it.
  • Jamie is 43 years old and seems to have unlimited energy. I am 43 years old and would like a nap. I don’t know how they do it.

Oh, and I’ve got some good news to share – we’d like to thank the Glide Foundation, and all of you who donated this past year, for helping us purchase our very own portable digital x-ray machine! As you may know, we have been fortunate to be able to borrow an x-ray unit as needed from a generous local veterinarian, Dr. Kellar, but with additional chimpanzees on the way we knew it was time to have one of our own. Not an easy decision when you are talking about something the price of a nice new car, but we consider it a necessary investment in the health of our growing family and we’re so grateful that you all made it possible. We’d also like to thank our friends at Project V.E.T.S. for sending along some gently used radiation protection equipment to keep our staff and consulting medical professionals safe!

Human Problems

by

Earlier, Diana and I were discussing how serving meals to the Seven has changed over the years. It used to be that you would grab the first course – tomatoes, for example – and serve each chimp his or her portion until that course was done. Then you’d move on to the next course. It’s not that they never became impatient but there was at least a logical and orderly process. But the chimps have turned everything upside down. Missy now has to eat her tomatoes first. Negra, on the other hand, has to have her chow first. Meanwhile, Jamie is going to have her leeks first and that’s not a request that’s an order. It’s not just a simple matter of preference – if they don’t get their desired food first, it’s a full-on hunger strike. So now we’re just grabbing food from this bowl and that bowl amidst a frenzy of Bronx cheers and spit. Sometimes I feel like it’s my first day as a waiter in a busy restaurant. OK, Table 2 wants water with no ice, Table 6 wants a large salad but in two small bowls, Table 9 is still waiting for their entree, and wait…was it no ice or extra ice for Table 2??

I used to be able to write down exactly who ate what and how much, but now it’s all a blur. Today’s log:

Lunch:

Chimps ate food.

Perhaps it has less to do with the chimps and more to do with the natural affects of aging on the brain. But I swear, somehow the Californians are even pickier! The problem over there is that Willy B can be a bully at mealtimes and Honey B is the Slowest Eater On The Planet. The number one rule for lower-ranking chimps is to consume your food as fast as possible. But Honey B doesn’t play by anyone’s rules. And who are you calling low-ranking, anyway? By the time Willy B is done and starting to get antsy, she’s still sitting on a pile of food just licking a piece of fruit and staring into your eyes.

Of course, these fall into the category known by the chimps as “Human Problems”, which as you might guess, are of no concern to them. As it should be.

A visit from a friend

by

You’ve probably heard by now that several members of a gorilla troop at the San Diego Zoo began exhibiting respiratory symptoms and later tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This is a moment that we’ve all been fearing, and to a large extent expecting, since the pandemic began. From what we know, the gorillas’ symptoms are still mild and zoo officials are hopeful that they will fully recover. But there’s so much we still don’t know about the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman apes.

The coronavirus isn’t the first airborne pathogen transmitted by humans to threaten the health of captive apes. Historically, one of the greatest concerns for captive ape populations has been tuberculosis, which is why most facilities, including CSNW, require staff and volunteers to be tested at least annually and avoid the sanctuary when exhibiting any new respiratory symptoms. But in rare cases, even something as seemingly innocuous as the common cold can have devastating effects on other apes, as we saw in the death of an otherwise healthy chimpanzee at the Lincoln Park Zoo in 2009. Incidents like this, and the lingering unknowns surrounding COVID in great apes, have led most institutions to further strengthen the precautions they take to protect the apes in their care. In the case of the gorillas at the San Diego Zoo, there’s nothing at all to suggest that a lack of adequate precautions contributed to the transmission. But it’s a stark reminder that we cannot let our guard down too soon.

Like our colleagues, we’re still doing what we can to protect the chimps from COVID based on the best information available. We wear masks at all times and don scrubs, gloves, and boots when around the chimps and when cleaning their enclosures or handling food and enrichment. We take the chimps’ temperatures as well as our own each morning. We’ve invested in several commercial air scrubbers, which have been shown to help filter the air of large airborne particles that may contain the virus. And we rely on a mix of natural ventilation via open doors and windows and our industrial ventilation systems to maintain fresh air in the building. We’re always thinking about what more we could do but there’s just no way to isolate captive apes from their human caregivers entirely.

One of the most difficult changes we had to make as a result of the pandemic, both for the staff and the chimps, was suspending our intern and volunteer program. Only two volunteers, Patti and Lisa, were able to meet our strict criteria for COVID precautions in their lives outside of the sanctuary, and we and the chimps are incredibly lucky to have them. But the chimps are missing many of their other friends.

Thankfully, spring-like weather has made socially distanced walks around the hill possible all winter long for our other local volunteer caregivers. And now, with our new building, we have several locations where the chimps’ friends can visit with them through glass without sharing the same air space. Long-time staff member turned volunteer, Elizabeth, came by this afternoon to see her chimp friends. Everyone was so excited to see her – Burrito even did his happy dance.

As COVID continues to challenge us all, we’re thankful for bright moments like these.

Honey B eagerly waits in the medical enclosure for Elizabeth to enter the new building
Honey B always gazes directly into your eyes
Mave saves her gazing for special occasions
The gang of seven heads out on a walk with an old friend
Burrito and Elizabeth walk off into the sunset

Tracks

by

The chimps did some phenomenally interesting things today. Unfortunately, these moments rarely overlapped with the times when I had the camera nearby.

As lunch passed and the afternoon rolled on, I needed to get some content for the blog but was still uninspired. At moments like that, I usually decide to grab the camera and take a walk.

Over the past week or so, the sanctuary has received a lot of snow. However, the weekend’s medley of rain, sunshine and freezing temperatures quickly converted the snow into a patchwork mosaic of slush, mud and ice. The surface provided poor footing as I slogged up the hill from the Chimp House, but I soon realized it was preserving my boot prints with almost perfect detail. Sure enough, as I passed the electrified barriers of Young’s Hill and crossed into the cattle pasture, I began to see tracks left behind by all sorts of critters. There were countless rodent trails furrowing their way through the grassy fence-lines, but I was distracted by the signs of larger animals.

The bobcat prints were easily noticeable and went just about everywhere. Katelyn also saw some bobcat tracks while patrolling a couple of weeks ago. They look like a domestic cat’s paw print, but larger and awesome-r. Much like other felines, though, they slink from cover to cover while hunting and thus leave a meandering track behind them. They’re not incredibly social animals so the numerous trails were almost surely created by only one or two individuals traveling alone. (FYI, Katelyn is a better tracker than I am. I had to text her recently to confirm that I had found goose tracks in the pasture, which were way bigger than I expected them to be).

I also found some coyote prints which reflected the purposeful demeanor that is typical of wild canines. The individual who created these prints seems to have loped through in a hurry last night, surveying the landscape with its ears, eyes and nose without breaking stride. Although roughly equal in size to the paws of an average domestic dog, the coyote prints are easily distinguished by their overall shape and the negative space between the toe pads. Also, unlike dogs, coyotes don’t continuously veer off-course to investigate every last scent. The only creatures who have time for that kind of aimless curiosity are those cared for by humans.

Of course, as far as large-bodied mammals go, mule deer are responsible for 99% of our wildlife encounters at the sanctuary. Their tracks were also ubiquitous, often crossing over the paths of other animals and obscuring their prints.

 

In the following image, you can see the coyote tracks going left, parallel to the creek, while the deer seemed to have gone right, trudging straight across the ravine.

Even with all of the tracks left behind by wild animals, it’s still only a “drop in the bucket” compared to all of the trodden earth left behind by the sanctuary’s cattle and the horses that live next door. You can see that the neighbor’s horses have been using the energy company’s access road quite frequently.

Of course, the walk ended with a view of the new chimp enclosures being built. The following image shows the framework of the new greenhouses and the exterior façade of the new playrooms.

One chimp who will be residing in that wing of the building, Willy B, did not leave any tracks in the snow today. Instead, he preferred to look down at the snow with what appeared to be confusion, annoyance, and/or wonder. It didn’t help that he seemed to have lost track of a walnut somewhere in the slush-covered outdoor courtyard.