Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

A Day of Love

by

We have two sponsor-a-days for this last day of 2016!

The first is a Christmas contribution from Jim and Kim Horton’s family in honor of Vicki Fagerlee, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother (Grams).

Vicki was the winning bidder of the sought-after behind-the-scenes visit and volunteer opportunity that we had in our end of summer online auction. She flew over several states to make the trip, and we had the best day at the end of September telling her stories about the chimpanzees while she prepared their food and enrichment and got to know more about how the sanctuary runs and the personality of the chimpanzees.

Jim and Kim said this, “Her visit there this year was a treasure and she has a special place in her heart for Chimps! We chose New Year’s Eve as day of sponsorship to help the Chimps ring in the New Year! All the best in 2017 and beyond!”

Big thanks to Vicki for sharing her love of the chimpanzees with her family and to them for honoring her with a day of sanctuary.

Vicki, your support has put a smile on all of our faces, and your donations this year have truly helped to ring in the new year with hopeful plans for the future. Thank you!

Negra close-up

 

 

Negra takes play very seriously

by

Negra, the grumpy 43-year-old Queen of the Cle Elum Seven, plays differently than the other chimps. Usually, she plays at one quarter speed. You can often see her playing gently with Missy in the loft or greenhouse while they are waiting for breakfast. Missy does her best to play at Negra’s pace, and the look on her face indicates that she is more excited about the very idea that she got the sleepy old lady to play than she is about the game itself. Look everybody, Negra is playing!

Negra and Missy playing

But when Negra is feeling really playful, she is a different animal altogether. There’s no smiling. No laughing, either. And all the hitting and wrestling that chimpanzees usually tone down and smooth over when playing is dished out with full force. She slaps her playmates. She headbutts them. She slams them into the wall. She grabs them by the feet and refuses to let go.

Missy and Foxie are well acquainted with Negra’s style of play, but it often comes as a surprise to the other chimps. At these times, they look more like hostages than playmates. At one point in this video, Jody turns to the camera, seemingly hoping that someone will step in to save her. But alas, there’s nothing we can do. Playtime isn’t over until Negra says so.

Chimpanzee Displays: Causing a Ruckus

by

J.B. shared a slo mo video of Jamie displaying yesterday (her slowed down vocalization sounds pretty intimidating!).

In keeping with the theme, below is a video of all seven chimpanzees taking part in displaying earlier today.

If you are interested in this sort of thing, you might also find this video that shows and explains a conflict among the chimpanzees, a fascinating watch.

 
Missy pant-hooting

 

Slo Mo Dominance Display

by

What’s more terrifying than a chimpanzee dominance display? A dominance display in slow motion.

The chimps have been crazy all day. Burrito can become very sexually aroused when the girls have their swellings, particularly when all three girls who cycle are in estrus at the same time. But because he was raised by humans (like most entertainment and research chimpanzees), he doesn’t exhibit normal sexual behavior. The result is a lot of tension, a lot of frustration, and a whole lot of chaos.

Jamie stepped out of the playroom during the afternoon to release some of that tension in the form of a dominance display. Displays are partly under conscious control and partly not. In this case, it seemed clear to me that Jamie climbed to the top of the platform with the intention of displaying. But at the same time she wasn’t fully in control of the display. We often liken displays in this way to sneezes. You know when you have to sneeze but you just can’t? And you can’t do anything else until the sensation either dissipates or culminates in a sneeze? That’s what displays can seem like for chimpanzees. Jamie stood on that platform for three minutes, rocking back and forth, softly pant hooting, and then repositioning and hooting some more, until she finally got everything out in a two-second display. When she was finished, she went about her business as if nothing had happened.

I think we’ll all be a lot happier in a few days when Burrito can start to focus on other things…