Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Recovery and Reunion

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I’ve never seen a chimpanzee sleep so soundly and for so long as Burrito did after his dental procedure yesterday. He slept from mid afternoon yesterday straight through to this morning.

Burrito sleeping in recover room

J.B. and I decided to leave the playroom empty so that Burrito could have a peaceful rest without the girls disturbing him, They spent the day in the greenhouse and Young’s Hill. Around 7:00 last night I opened up a couple of the front rooms for the girls for the night, leaving one empty as a buffer between him and them.

Even with the noise of operating doors, Burrito continued to sleep soundly. Burrito’s position in Front Room One meant that the girls couldn’t see him. They sure did try, though. I had taken the photo above of him sleeping, so I decided to show that to whoever wanted to take a look. Jamie stared at it for a very long time – I’ve only seen her look at photos that long when they are of herself.

Jamie seemed reassured that Burrito was okay, and made her nest up on the bench in Front Room Three, with Foxie bedding down next to her. Negra was very eager to make a nest. She chose a spot on the floor in Front Room Three and used most of the blankets that were in that room, so I handed out more. Jody made her nest on the lower bench in Front Room Four, which allowed her to see down the hallway.

When Missy and Annie went back out to the greenhouse after trying to see Burrito, I went out to see what they were up to. It turns out they had decided to camp out on the top of the structure of the greenhouse.

Here’s Missy making her nest at the top of the structure:

Missy nesting in the greenhouse

 

And here she is, all covered up and ready for sleep:

Missy covered in sheet

 

I handed out more blankets to Annie, and she made her bed next to Missy:

Annie nesting

Annie nesting

 

When I went back a few hours later, Burrito was still sleeping, and either Missy or Annie had moved into the upper bench in Front Room Four. I didn’t want to disturb sleeping chimpanzees, so I don’t know who it was, but either Annie or Missy had a nice sleep out in the greenhouse, which was probably a first for an overnight!

This morning, Burrito was much more alert – all that sleep served him well!

He was anxious to get back with the group, but we wanted him to rest up some more, which was probably good because the ladies had a fight this afternoon, so it was just as well that he stayed out of that.

As is the routine after a fight, grooming commenced. Here is Missy, Jody, and Foxie:

grooming after a fight

 

Burrito was back to his usual self by the late afternoon:

Burrito holding toy

Burrito holding toy to mouth

Burrito with toy in mouth

 

By the time dinner came around, everyone was insisting that they be reunited. And so they were.

 

In the photo below, Burrito is standing bipedally and Foxie, Negra, Jody, and Missy are all rushing to greet him.

Jody and Foxie and Negra greeting Burrito

 

Foxie was particularly enthusiastic with her greeting:

Foxie greeting Burrito

 

And here’s Mr. B doing what he loves most – eating. He’ll be on a soft food diet for a few days, so there will probably be many more baked sweet potatoes in his future:

Burrito eating baked sweet potato

 

Burrito in Recovery

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Today was Burrito’s big dentist’s appointment. A month ago, after we noticed he had fractured a lower canine tooth, he had an initial exam to help determine the course of action and his ability to withstand anesthesia. You can read about that exam in this blog post written by J.B.

The echocardiogram from his first procedure showed some cardiac disease, as expected, and confirmed that the treatment we have had him on for the last three years was appropriate.

Today, we owe a debt of gratitude to the chimps’ local veterinarian Erin Zamzow and tech Amanda Carner, veterinary dental surgeon Loic Legendre, his intern Adriana Regalado and veterinary technician Barbara Boyle, nurse anesthetist Kurt Smudzinski, CSNW volunteer Rebecca Smudzinksi, and the staff and volunteers who came as support crew. And we are so grateful to everyone who helped us fundraise for the clinic, allowing the chimpanzees to receive medical treatment at home.

One thing that we’ve learned about Burrito with these past two procedures is that he can tolerate A LOT of sedative and anesthetic drugs. Once he was finally completely sedated, he was in the skilled hands of the veterinarian team. The canine tooth that was recently fractured was extracted, and a front tooth that had been broken for some time was also pulled after reviewing x-rays taken on the spot.

Burrito tooth extraction

Right now, he has a whole circle of compassionate people watching over him (we feel your concern and caring too!)

compassion circle

Based on his quick bouncing back last time, we have no doubt that he’ll be back to his usual self, toy in mouth, with the girls in no time… just with two fewer teeth.

Burrito with toy in mouth

Burrito with blue stick in mouth

Burrtio with toy in mouth

Burrito with block in mouth on YH

If you’d like to add your support for Burrito and crew, we have a wishlist full of a variety of needed things that you can gift to the sanctuary, and / or you can make a donation in Mr. B’s honor. Thank you for all of your support!

 

Chimpanzee Tool Use and Jamie’s Smartness

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We all know by now that chimpanzees are really smart. And, if you are familiar with Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, you know that boss Jamie chimpanzee often shows off her intellect. Sometimes she even impresses those of us in the know, however.

Case in point: the other day I was doing a perimeter walk with Jamie and she turned back to gather two big tumbleweeds. At first I wasn’t sure what she was doing – she doesn’t usually pick up tumbleweeds on our walks. Plus they were rather awkward to carry. They kept slipping out of her hand as they scraped against the ground, but, each time, she would pick them back up and continue the walk.

Jamie gathering tumbleweed

At one point she stood up bipedally and put one of the tumbleweeds in her mouth for easier carrying. She also took a good long look at the boots I was wearing, and I became clued in to her plans.

Jamie bipedal with tumbleweed

When the walk was complete, I met her and her tumbleweeds in the greenhouse. Jamie pulled up the big black tub to sit on.

Jamie altering tumble weed

And then she proceeded to alter one of the tumbleweeds to her liking:

Once she was satisfied with her tool, she pushed it through the caging and began to groom the boot I was wearing (which, of course, she had picked out prior to our walk).

Jamie grooming boot

Imagine the forethought that it took for her to go through the process of seeing an unruly tumbleweed well before the walk was finished to the grooming session that she imagined would happen minutes later. She’s one smart cookie!

Night owl

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Chimpanzees spend a lot of time in their nests. In the wild, they tend to bed down at dusk and remain there for about 12 hours until the sun rises again. On average, they sleep for 9 to 10 hours, waking now and again throughout the night and even calling to group members in other trees but rarely leaving their nests.

Here at the sanctuary, most of the chimps follow a similar 12-hour nesting pattern, even though the length of each day here in Central Washington changes drastically with the seasons. On a typical day, the chimps eat dinner at 4:30 and get their evening food puzzles at 5:00. When they are done eating, they begin to make their nests indoors, and almost everyone is in bed by the time we’re wrapping up our workday at 5:30. This is true even in the summer when it stays light outside until 10:00!

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Once the chimps are inside for the night, we close off Young’s Hill for security reasons. But if any of the chimps choose to stay outside, two staff members stay at the chimp house until the chimps choose to come back in.

Jamie, as you may have heard, is not like the other chimps. She needs very little sleep, and she has no interest in lying awake in her nest for hours counting sheep. So, being the clever chimp that she is, she figured out that all she has to do is stay outside after dinner or even sit in the doorway to Young’s Hill and, just like that, she has two companions for the rest of the evening.

When she keeps her caregivers here late, she usually does three of four purposeful walks around Young’s Hill, much like her daytime patrols. But eventually, even she grows tired of the walks and it becomes obvious that she’s just killing time to keep her human friends around a bit longer.

On our last walk last night at 8pm, she made a point of climbing every structure on the hill.

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She crossed every fire hose bridge.

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Finally, she sat quietly at the highest point on the hill and took in the view.

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When she decided that she’d had enough, she climbed down and returned to the chimp house.

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Even Jamie needs to sleep eventually. Which is good, because her caregivers do too.

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Fun on the 4th

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What a day! The chimpanzees had a terrific 4th of July, starting with a party in the morning, set up by caregiver volunteers Patti and Connie and new staff member Anna.

Here are just a few party photo selections.

Burrito licking a smoothie shot glass clean:

Burrito with shot glass

Jamie managed to get both of the piñatas:

Jamie rocket wreckage

Jamie with star pinata

 

But she shared with Missy:

Missy with star pinata

 

After we finished cleaning the playroom, Patti and Connie put some ice and pomegranate juice in the pool. Jamie dragged the pool around with her as she foraged for the kale that was also thrown about the room, then she and Jody settled in for some ice eating, with other chimps coming by once in a while. Jamie would pick up the ice with her hands, put it in her mouth, dry off her hands, then repeat.

Jamie eating ice and drying her hand

 

Today was our first summer visit day, led by J.B., so we put out a forage on the hill for lunch that included pea shoots from the sanctuary garden, harvested by caregiver volunteer Denice who dropped by just to say hello and do a little gardening. The pea shoots were a hit, as was the corn. It was another hot day, so most of the chimps gathered food from the hill and brought it in to the cooler greenhouse for leisurely snacking.

 

Jody:

Jody carry pea tendrils

 

Annie:

Annie eating corn and pea tendrils

Annie eat corn and pea tendrils

It wasn’t long before Jamie wanted to go back out on the hill to explore and look for more food, and she asked me to tag along after I put on her new pair of favorite boots.

She explored the hill as though it were an obstacle course, definitely appreciating the freedom she is able to have in her sanctuary home:

Jamie walking on fire hose bridge

 

This is the new shaky bridge that connects the two towers:

Jamie walking across the new tower shaky bridge

 

Meanwhile, Burrito took a nap in the playroom:

Burrito sleeping

 

Dinner included a pretty special treat for everyone – Field Roast frankfurters!

 

Foxie:

Foxie with hot dog

 

Jody:

Jody with Field Roast frankfurter

 

Missy:

Missy eat Field Roast frankfurter

 

I didn’t get any good photos of Negra today, but maybe that’s okay, since she was the star of yesterday’s blog post.

 

We hope you all have a great and safe 4th of July!

 

Negra braves the heat

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It’s difficult to catch Missy in an action shot because she moves so fast.

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It’s even harder to catch Negra in an action shot because…well, she’s just not very active. But even temperatures in the high 90’s couldn’t stop Negra from parkouring her way through Young’s Hill, troll in hand, to grab some broccoli and cauliflower during today’s lunch forage.

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Foxie has been holding on to a new troll with its purple hair still intact. She treasures these while they last (Jamie and Jody usually rip the hair out).

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Speaking of hair, a lot of people have trouble telling Annie and Foxie apart, so here’s a good side-by-side shot to help you out. Annie looks like someone just rubbed a balloon on her head. Not unlike a troll doll, come to think of it.

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And Burrito has been showing off a bit more of his physique, thanks to his recent exam. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t build muscle on a diet of fruits and vegetables. Your results may vary, however, unless you also stick to Burrito’s daily workout routine that includes leaping, swinging, and banging on everything in sight as you terrify everyone around you in a formidable dominance display and then running for your life as six angry girls chase after you.

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