If there’s one thing you should know about Rayne, it’s that she is patient and persistent; she doesn’t give up easily. Recently, the chimps all got coconuts for lunch, and once Rayne finished her own, she set her sights on Cy’s.
Rayne
World Chimpanzee Day 2026
Happy World Chimpanzee Day, everybody!
World Chimpanzee Day is celebrated every July 14th to honor the day Dr. Jane Goodall first stepped foot in the Gombe forest to begin her studies of one of our closest living relatives. That landing in Tanzania marked the beginning of what has been an incredible adventure in our knowledge and understanding of chimpanzees.
One aspect of her studies I will kind of focus on today is the her method of naming the chimpanzees within the Gombe chimpanzee communities. Before her studies, it was common practice to not name the individuals she was studying. The old thought process behind that was to separate feeling and emotion from the study as to not get attached to them. Please remember it was a different time and the mentality wasn’t what it is today. We had to work up to where we are today in our way of thinking, and Dr. Goodall had a role in that shift.
I could not imagine working here and not seeing them as individuals. It’s unfathomable to me to think they each wouldn’t have their own likes and dislikes, or run through a gauntlet of emotions in the split of a second. They aren’t just mindless creatures you can just throw food and water at and call it a day. They are highly intelligent and need the proper care the reflects so. Hence why chimpanzees, or any primate for that matter, are not and should not be pets among a plethora of other ethical reasons.
So this World Chimpanzee Day, please become that advocate for them! Preach about the perils the face in the wild like poaching and deforestation! Donate to your favorite sanctuary! Politely inform people when the dreaded “I want a pet chimpanzee” comes up in conversation! Advocate! Advocate! Advocate!
Here are some photos from today!
A Morning with Dora
We followed Dora for part of her morning this week. It was a relaxing time for grooming, admiring ourselves and finally a nap after all that activity, enjoy!
Field Notes: A Laughing Matter
Welcome to the first installment of “Field Notes,” a blog where we share some of the more recent research articles.
In today’s edition, we will go over a sound that can be heard throughout the Chimp House on those perfect days: laughter!
Recently, researchers from Warwick University and Portsmouth University, both based in the United Kingdom, analyzed recordings of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans living in zoos in the Germany and Malaysia. Researchers also analyzed the laughing patterns of human children as a comparison to the apes’ laughter.
The recordings were taken when the apes laughed during periods of play with a caregiver whom they know fairly well and tickled by their familiar human.
The research found all apes, including humans, have a rhythmic pattern to their laughter with humans being the only found (so far) to alter their laugh based on the context of the situation invoking the laugh. Researchers found the speed of the laughter, which is the part I found interesting, changed from species-to-species. Not only did the speed of the laughter change based on species, but it also fell nicely in line with the theory of when scientists predict each species branched out on the evolutionary tree. The theory is orangutans were the first to be stabilized as their own species, followed by gorillas, followed by chimpanzees and bonobos, and finally humans. Orangutans were found to have the slowest laughing rate, followed by gorillas, followed by chimpanzees and bonobos, followed by humans.
Here in the Chimp House, laughter is the greatest sound a caregiver can hear, and I’ve heard my share. For me, the two laughs that stick out are Honey B’s and, you guessed it, Burrito’s laugh.
It’s still hard for me to believe there was a period when Burrito did not laugh! Back in 2021, Diana wrote about Burrito’s laugh, or lack thereof, when he first arrived at the sanctuary in 2008. To me, Burrito has such a distinct laugh that can be picked out anywhere in the sanctuary. My favorite is when you get him really going and his laugh comes from his belly. That is usually my goal when I play with him; to get him to that specific laugh that cannot be contained no matter how hard he tries.
Honey B’s laugh stands out to me because she only has one volume: LOUD!
As someone who studies language, both chimp and human, it was neat seeing the patterns of laughing kind of fit nicely in the evolutionary process of apes. If you had the ape evolutionary branch in front of you, you can sort of guesstimate where on the branch human speech started to develop.
With that, I will leave you with this very precious video of Burrito laughing while playing with our dearly missed Jody.
And a last minute photo of Rayne!
Open Wide: Endoscope Training
Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) is an important part of how we care for the chimpanzees at CSNW. It allows us to work together to accomplish a variety of goals, from daily shifting to access their spaces for cleaning, emergency recall when there is danger present (for example a rattlesnake in their outdoor enclosure), regular monitoring of chronic health conditions (for example utilizing the Kardia Mobile to obtain ekg readings) as well as acute injuries (obtaining an x-ray on a hand or foot, or presenting a wounded body part for inspection and cleaning), and much more all while rewarding the chimps for their cooperation with something that is motivating for them. In today’s blog video, see what the chimps have been learning lately, and make your guess as to who will be the star student!
Five Years of the Lucky 6!
Today marks 5 years since the Lucky 6 arrived at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Can you believe it? Personally, I can’t imagine this sanctuary without them. One of the biggest joys of working for a sanctuary is watching the chimps flourish in it. From watching Rayne walk out onto the Bray for the first time, like she had done it every day of her life to small things like learning unique traits about each and everyone of them, like Cy finding a love for People magazine or Gordo’s love for boxes & being poked playfully with a spoon by his caregivers. Terry’s gorilla chest thumps to intimidate Jamie’s group, but in reality Terry is gentle by nature and kind-hearted. Dora has a very quiet demeanor, but if you watch closely she can be a social butterfly within her close friends. And for Lucky a friendship is not always given freely, but if you earning it, you have a friend for life.
I think I can speak for everyone at the sanctuary when I say it has been an honor and a privilege to know each and everyone of them.
Windows
There are several windows around the sanctuary; find out who’s looking at who!
