Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Rayne

Field Notes: Welcome

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Happy Tuesday, everybody! I just wanted welcome everybody to a new series we will be offering: Field Notes. As the research coordinator here, I try to stay on top of knowing all the different scientific articles released every month in various publications and try to figure if any of the new research can be utilized by us to help our mission to provide lifelong care for rescued chimpanzees.

The goal of this series is kind of twofold. First, we hope that you’ll be able to learn about chimpanzees and the new and exciting behavioral research going on both in the wild and captivity. Second, we hope this will give you just a little insight on how some decisions are made here.

I don’t want to set any expectations for this series, so as of now there is no set schedule on the frequency of this. It could be weekly. It could be bi-weekly. Heck. It could even be monthly. So instead of waiting for it week-to-week, let’s just say it’s a nice little surprise when they make the blog. Plus, the articles are released at the beginning of every month and not every release has chimpanzee related articles.

I’m excited about this series and hope you all are as well! I hope this series serves a purpose for you. I hope you are able to learn something new and gain a better understanding of these amazing people.

Now, here are some photos from Sunday I was able to snap while Cy and crew were enjoying a lunch forage on the Bray:

Cy

Rayne

George

Cool as a cucumber!
Sorry for the blown-out photo. During this forage, I put out some jackpots, usually some whole fruits and veggies. The one I put on the escher escaped everyone, even Rayne’s eagle eyes. Luckily enough, George realized I was trying to communicate something to the passersby. Though it looks like it here, George actually didn’t notice it. I asked him to come down and tried to walk him to a spot where he would see it. I pointed up, he turned around, looked up, and immediately looked back at me with a silent excited scream. Seen below.

George eating his prize apple as he looks upon The Bray!

PRT Breakthrough

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One of the of the trainings we’ve been working on frequently with the chimps is getting ECG (electrocardiogram) from the chimps while awake using the KardiaMobile. To accomplish this the chimps needs to put one fingers on each of the metal electrodes and their heart rhythm is recorded to your smartphone, you can read about it more in depth here.

Well, one resident had a breakthrough recently, in the beginning of this training Rayne would always try to use her toes rather than her fingers, and later progressed to one toe and one finger, as pictured below:

But Rayne just recently got her first ever ECG reading using two fingers!

Here are her results! This a great start to getting regular readings to help monitor Rayne’s heart health throughout her life:

In other sanctuary happenings, Bruce has become quite the social butterfly around here!

Bruce with caregiver Krissy:

With caregiver Sabrina

With caregiver Anna’s daughter, Luna

With caregiver Ellen

I’ll Gladly Pay You Next Tuesday For A Pass Today

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The funny thing about life is that things can change at the drop of a hat. Today I had planned to write a blog about just some of the things caregivers see throughout the day and the thought process on how certain decisions are made. That will have to wait for another day because time really got away from me today because of some very distracting chimpanzees who want to play and groom. So hopefully these photos will do for now.

Terry and Gordo:

Gordo (right) inspects Terry (left) after a brief conflict in their group. Grooming, particularly after a fight, is important to reaffirm friendships and trust, especially between two conflicting parties. Though Terry and Gordo weren’t conflicting parties during this one, Gordo is still showing Terry that he can trust him.

Rayne:

Like Gordo, Rayne loves things to sit in/on. Boxes. Benches. Discarded chowbags. Just as long as it’s not the actual floor unless she absolutely has to. Yesterday, when I was moseying about on that side of the building, Rayne wanted to groom with me. Usually at this point she’ll look around to find the closest box or item to sit on. I was a tad bit surprised when she grabbed the heavy duty giant ball. I was even more surprised when she decided to take the most challenging, yet direct, route to get where I was sitting. Trees. Bamboo bushes. Logs. She pushed right on through!

Annie:

This is how I found Annie in the morning. Enjoying a peaceful Spring morning at the top of her Greenhouse.

Mave:

Mave. What can I say about the lovely Mavis? Actually, I can say this. As I was typing that, we heard whimpering coming from her side of the building. When I walked back there, she wanted a lot of reassurance. I asked her what she saw. She started to walk toward the chute but stopped short of going in. When I pointed to the Chute and asked her if it was out there, she began alarm calling. Caregiver Amanda and I went out and started to look around. And lo and behold, gopher snake! So, thank you, Mave, for making us aware there was an intruder inside the fence!

Lucky:

Lucky is wondering where her dinner is. Truly. This is about 2 minutes before their dinner was rolled out.

Photogenic Chimpanzees

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When I arrived at the sanctuary this morning, I was determined to get as many photos as I could before our weekly staff meeting/training began. One, because a lot of you just love seeing photos of the chimps and their daily adventures. Two, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could get as many photos of as many chimps as I could. Granted, as some of you are aware, trying to get photos of some of them is almost impossible because either they come running up and get too close to the caging to get a photo, or they are in those few spots around the sanctuary where it is impossible to get a photo. Looking at you George, Cy, Dora, and Mave.

So please enjoy the product of this self challenge!

Burrito at breakfast:

I had to get these photos using all the sneakiness I could before he came down

Rayne during lunch today:

Gordo doing a little self-grooming:

Willy B also self-grooming:

It’s imperative to watch the neighbors when you’re done grooming

Foxie and Moana go for a walk around Young’s Hill:

Sweet Lucky:

Missy at breakfast:

Terry waiting for a caregiver grooming partner after lunch:

Just noting that I did indeed get photos of Jamie and Annie, but they were a one shot scenario where the photo didn’t come out. Honey B was busy doing Honey B things on the Bray and in the Chute. She was just to fast/busy for me to get a photo. And Negra said no in her own Negra way by burying her face in her nest when the camera was raised. I obey all of the Queen’s demands.

For me, I would consider getting photos of half the chimps today was a success. Maybe in the near future I will try again.

Rage Baiting

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Chimpanzees are prolific tool users. In the wild, chimpanzees have been documented fishing for termites, ants, and algae. Since we are kind of low on those fishing items, the fish for other things. For instance, as you’ll see in you video, Willy B likes to fish for attention from his neighbors. Though you’ll see Willy B doing most of the work, or lack thereof, we are sure he wasn’t the one who thought of this concept. The one most likely who started this activity is:

Honey B!

Though he didn’t start this behavior, I’m sure Willy B appreciates adding another chaos maker to his repertoire.

The Plum Tree Bandit

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Someone had been stealing branches from the ornamental plum tree we planted last year at the bottom of the Bray. Our forensics team scoured the ground around the tree for footprints, hoping for a hit off our database, but there were none. The list of suspects was long.

Honey B had the motive.

Willy B had the means.

George was seen in the vicinity on multiple occasions.

And wouldn’t you know, Gordo couldn’t provide an alibi for last Saturday.

One thing was clear—we were dealing with a pro.

My guess is that this tree, kindly donated by volunteer Patti (and destroyed by Rayne), is not long for this world. So I figured I should get some photos while it’s in bloom.

Here’s Mave and Willy B grooming.

And Mave returning from a walk.

Mave invited me for our usual Monday afternoon walk to the top of the Bray today. This has become one of those little rituals that I look forward to each week. But later in the afternoon, I saw that she had set off again all by herself. The only thing better than being included is knowing that she has developed the confidence to do it alone.