Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

primate protection

In honor of World Chimpanzee Day!

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Today is World Chimpanzee Day! And this amazing day was sponsored by Erin Yuhas and her incredible colleagues at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Norwich! Erin shared this wonderful message about their generous gifts for the chimpanzees:

“Our medical office wears “Jeans for a Cause” every Friday and my cause for the month of June was your sanctuary and these special chimps. Together we raised over $300 and, in addition to sponsoring a day, we also sent the chimps many items from their wish list–including tons of blankets for nests! With all of us having worked in the medical field for many years, we can appreciate all these chimps went through in the name of science. I was happy to be able to share my knowledge of chimps and of your sanctuary with my coworkers helping to create awareness. I’m not sure my coworkers really liked my fact sheets and quiz, though! (This made us smile, Erin! 🙂 ). Thank you for all you do for these beautiful chimps and for the ones still to come!”

To everyone at Hartford Healthcare Medical Group Norwich, thank you so much for your generous hearts, your willingness to share your knowledge of, and learn more about, chimpanzees! You couldn’t have chosen a more perfect day to sponsor. Always, but especially during these uncertain times we all face, your support means the world to us, and most importantly, to the chimpanzees. From our hearts to yours, thank you!

You can learn more about this special day and hear a message from Dr. Jane Goodall here: “July 14, 1960, is the day Dr. Jane Goodall first stepped foot in what is now Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, to study wild chimpanzees. In honor of humankind’s closest living relative, World Chimpanzee Day is a celebration of chimpanzees and an opportunity to raise awareness about the vital need for worldwide participation in their care, protection, and conservation in the wild and in captivity.”

Jamie:

Jody:

Mave:

Annie, Missy, Foxie and Jody:

Honey B:

Burrito and Negra:

Willy B:

Burrito will play with you now

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If you are not already a big fan of Burrito, you should be after watching today’s video. Seriously, he has been non-stop playful lately. He’s definitely a bright light during these difficult times!

Different ways of getting around

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This post was originally about family. I was writing it in my head throughout the day. I was going to talk about how the chimpanzees at the sanctuary are really a lot like other families because they did not choose to be together, but they had to figure out their relationships and find the things they liked about each other.

More words, hopefully an interesting insight, blah, blah, blah.

Then I watched the video clips that I had taken and I was fascinated just by the way the different chimpanzees in the clips moved.

If you’ve ever been hanging out at a race to cheer on a friend or relative running, I’m sure you were surprised by the variation in the way that human beings move their bodies when they are running. There are a few people who look natural and graceful while running, but most of us are a bit on the awkward side of things when it comes to speedy locomotion. I think the same can be said for chimpanzees.

We primates will not be mistaken for cheetahs anytime soon, but we do okay getting from one place to another, and sometimes, like Missy and Burrito and Jody and Foxie in the video above, we can have fun doing it.

Bonus photo of Annie’s sporty look today:

Willy B Outdoors and Indoors

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Watch the video to see a few different sides of Willy B. You can bid on a photo of Willy B printed on metal that is available in our online auction right now. Just one week until the big virtual event!

Courage, little by little

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Willy B has gotten a lot more confident in the courtyard. He usually just marches right out there like he’s been doing it for years. He does, however, still stick to the boardwalk and usually keeps to the parts of the platform by the posts.

So today we decided to scatter pieces of food (instead of one whole piece of fruit) all over both tiers of the platform.

The photos that J.B. took today are in sequence and tell the story of Willy B’s exploration for the day. You can see he gathered the food and then ate it in his comfortable spots near the post, but still, he went to the middle of the platforms. We’ll continue to push his comfort zone in different ways so that he gets used to being on the grass too. Little by little.

The last photo in the sequence shows what a great view there is at the top of that structure. I wonder how he feels when he’s up there.

The Antidote to Stress

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In these stressful and uncertain times, what you definitely need right now is to watch this video of Mave and Honey B playing. What’s your favorite part? Mine might be the big toe to the eye…

This video is a reminder of why the chimpanzees’ relationships with one another are so important and the best type of enrichment.

Jody on a Mission

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Today was The Big Melt, or at least One Big Melt (more snow is on the way according to the forecast). The roof was dripping all day and the patches of snow on the ground seemed to grow smaller with each passing minute.

For Jamie’s group of seven, that meant time on Young’s Hill.

I was going to write out a whole narrative to go along with these sequential photos below, but I thought I’d let you all enjoy them on their own and write the narrative yourselves.

It starts with a determined Jody (as seen at the top of the hill behind the yellow bamboo in the photo at the top of this page).

Missy background, Jody foreground (hiding behind the structure)
a blurry, still determined Jody in the foreground with Missy behind her
Jody with the ice, Missy facing her

Missy in the foreground after Jody had passed, Annie in the background

I don’t know for sure, but I would bet that Jody did not share any of her ice ;).

Later in the day, we opened up the doors from the chute to the fenced-in courtyard for Willy B’s group of three. Mave approached confidently, but turned back around before getting to the end of the chute. Honey B insisted on grooming all of the humans who seemed to be standing around for no reason, and Willy B went to the top of the chute, looked down, and then went back inside to play chase with Kelsi.

So, today was not the day for the three to bravely explore their outdoor habitat, but we will keep offering them the chance.