Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sanctuary

An ode to Foxie

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Foxie is a unique character at the sanctuary.  She is equal parts friendship and independence, with a dash of eccentricity thrown in for good measure. She loves fresh fruit and creamy avocados and has never said no to a morning smoothie. It’s a rare sight to see Foxie without a prized (and well loved) doll close by. She protects her friends and is remarkably brave, despite her skeptical nature. Foxie’s playful energy is a contagious delight within her chimpanzee family and she brings joy to all who know her.  Cheers to Foxie Chimpanzee on this fine spring day in April!

 

There never was a finer play face! Not pictured- Burrito and his supreme tickling abilities.

Burrito Distractions

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Burrito is the best kind of distraction. This video of Burrito doing a headstand and rolling in paper is a perfect example. He can certainly entertain himself, but it’s hard to get any work done around here! He is always getting someone to play with him, human or non-human. Just ask Chad!

The weather today was amazing. And it looks like it’s only going to get better. We have been trying to take advantage of this weather, so we did a lunch forage again!

Missy was very pleased when she found a head of lettuce!

Burrito had his hands full of tomatoes and lettuce.

This was such a sweet moment, Missy giving Jody reassurance.

Jamie with a beautiful troll scarf.

This is how I found Mave this morning :).

Now I shall leave you with one last photo of sweet Negra.

Deconstructing a Display on a Fine Spring Day

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Within the past couple of days, the weather has been almost nearly perfect. Sun in the sky without a sight of a cloud. Not too hot and not too cold. Gentle breezes instead of wind gusts. This is the perfect weather for outdoor activities.

After security checks were completed, the Seven were given access to Young’s Hill first thing in the morning.

While six of the seven immediately patrolled their grounds, one decided to stay back and just enjoy the warm Spring morning.

Negra elected to go onto Young’s Hill and eat her breakfast hard-boiled egg in the sun while the others patrolled.

With the weather being so nice, we thought it would be a great day for a lunch forage outside of carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and bonus pineapple tops.

Jamie:

As you can see, Jamie won out with Fistfuls of Bell Peppers.

Missy:

Though Jamie went straight for the bell peppers, the pineapple tops were in Missy’s sights.

Negra:

Burrito:

Annie:

Foxie:

Jody:

Jody has learned, some times you have to climb the highest of heights to get the biggest reward.

The Three on the other side of the building are still settling into their new playrooms. Though it seems it’s technically no longer “settling in” as much as it is they fully moved in and have become comfortable in the new areas.

Willy B has started to use the artificial tree branches/platforms as his new lounge area.

Though Willy B, Honey B, and Mave have access to new areas, they are still fond of their old ones. For Willy B, in particular, the Courtyard is still an area he loves to venture out to.

Though he did go outside today, I was not able to get any photos. Instead I will share some of the ones I took on Sunday of his Courtyard Adventures.

When Willy B first gets access to the Courtyard, he will scan around for any nuts or food items near the boardwalk. Afterward, he seems to just take in the surroundings, some times even taking a nap on the boardwalk.

What happens next is usually when he notices he has an audience.

When Willy B notices the Group of Seven watching him for their playroom windows, he has to show them this area is his. He does this through his territorial display.

First he begins his pant hooting:

Then he becomes piloerect and moves to the nearest loudest object. In the Courtyard, this is a barrel.

Piloerection is when a chimpanzee’s hair stands on its’ ends. The best way to think of this is thinking of when you get goosebumps. Pretty similar. In fact, you can see Willy B’s “goosebumps” if you look close enough!

Once he reaches the barrel, he begins drumming it:

As the intensity and rhythm of the drumming increases, so does his pant hooting. When his display reaches its’ crescendo, he hits the drum as hard as he can in one final *BAM* and lets out a scream for all the hear:

When finished, Willy B resumes taking in the Spring sun and air, while also peeking to see if the neighbors got the message and if it riled them up.

Hint: They usually do and it usually does.

Health Care for the Bovines

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With the exception of the occasional snow flurries, we’re welcoming the arrival of spring here at the sanctuary.

For the small herd of rescued Jersey cattle that resides here, the onset of spring corresponds with green pastures for grazing and warm sunshine for sunbathing. They’re already nibbling at the carpet of new growth that has emerged from the muddy winter paddock and we’ve begun to catch them delving into the creek to eat the vegetation. Soon, we’ll open the path to the summer pastures so they can roam the hillsides on either side of the chimpanzee enclosures, grazing and napping the long days away until next winter.

The cattle grazing in the winter paddock… note that Meredith, as usual, is just a little out of step with the others!

The cattle may require less attention than the chimps, but they’re not entirely independent. In fact, they require a bit of maintenance, especially in the spring and fall. Each year, there are a few things that need to happen before the cattle can go on summer vacation.

First, we need to make sure the pasture grass is ready for cattle. Domestic cattle aren’t native here and turning the herd out to pasture too soon can damage the vegetation and terrain (and can also be harm their sensitive guts).

We also need to check the pasture fences and make sure nothing was damaged during the winter storms and freezes.

Then, we have to wean them off of the supplemental hay that we provision through the colder months.

Finally, we prefer to have their annual veterinary exams completed while they’re still hanging out in the winter paddock.

We’re gradually working our way down that checklist. Even though the pastures aren’t quite ready yet and we’re still giving the bovines a bale of hay each morning, we were able to do their annual exams last week.

To facilitate these procedures, we closed the cattle in the Bud Box and then did a quick exam on each individual before letting them back out into the larger paddock. Dr. Erin led the exams as J.B. and I took notes and provided a little extra muscle (although even the two of us are relatively useless when the rowdy patient weighs over a thousand pounds).

The routine exams consisted of full body check-ups, hoof inspections, annual vaccinations, and follow-up diagnostics related to any minor health issues that caregivers had previously documented (e.g. Meredith’s brief “ain’t doin’ right” in January). As usual, Dr. Erin worked quickly; even the tamest of domestic cattle don’t particularly enjoy being confined and restrained for very long, which can cause them to grow fractious in a hurry.

Fortunately, we successfully completed the essential tasks and the cattle resumed their normal routine almost immediately. In addition to our meticulous documentation of the exam procedures and findings, we also managed to take some quick snapshots to share with you all.

Nutmeg assists Dr. Erin
Honey waits patiently in the chute
Dr. Erin rewards Honey with some scratches
Dr. Erin cleans Nutmeg’s ears as we hold him steady with a halter

We’re happy to report that everyone looked great and seems to be in prime physical condition. (Nutmeg, especially, is the epitome of health and oozes masculine confidence. If you’re not yet convinced, check out some of our past blogs about him. You’ll be in awe of this majestic lad.)

Betsy
Honey

Now, the cattle only need their annual hoof trims and a little more growth in the pastures before they can resume their summer landscaping duties!

The Eternal Moment

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Negra was kind enough to let me take photos of her while she thought about lunch, got impatient about lunch, shouted at the kitchen staff about lunch, became overwhelmed at the sight of lunch, turned giddy in anticipation of eating lunch, and – at long last – ate lunch. It was a harrowing 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

A side note: I thought this would be a good opportunity to educate our readership about the somewhat arcane primatological term bed shoulder, which is a trait exhibited by a small number of apes that roll out of bed just before meals. Often accompanied by bed head unless cranial pelage is lacking.

New map

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This week Willy B, Mave and Honey B were more than happy to demo our two new indoor playrooms. Today they have continued to explore, relax and play in the new sun-filled spaces. It’s been a delight watching them zoom (Honey B), stomp (Willy B) or shuffle (Mave) from one enclosure to the next. For the humans, it’s also been a learning experience as we practice shifting and cleaning under a new set of circumstances.

For those unfamiliar with captive chimpanzees (and their strength and unpredictability), caregivers never enter an enclosure at the same time that the chimpanzees are occupying that space (the one exception being during an anesthetic medical event) . We ask the chimpanzees to shift from one space to another so we can secure and lock doors (using a remote operating system). We make sure all the remote controlled “chimpanzee” doors are securely in place and the chimps are identified out of the space before we unlock the “human” doors to enter and clean safely.

There are several new remote operating chimpanzee doors that have been installed to connect old areas to new areas, new areas together, and new rooms to future spaces.  If that sounds a little confusing, that’s because it definitely can be overwhelming! We take safety very seriously so we are always reporting and double checking each other’s shifting plans.

JB presented us with a new updated map this week:

And we did a little training to practice and orient ourselves with our new system:

Here’s Diana practicing operating the new hydraulic door “L” :

All these new doors mean more choices and opportunities for our chimpanzee friends. Seeing them boldly take on their new space makes all the training and yes… even a little bit of human stress… all the more worth it!

Willy B spying on the humans from his view in Playroom 3
Mave heading up the stairs in Playroom 2
Today, Mave and Willy B ate lunch next to each other in Playroom 3
Mave (left) Willy B (right)
Meanwhile, Honey B fulfilled her dream of eating as far away from her group mates as possible. She took her lunch to go and headed out door G which connects Playroom 2 to Front Room 5 and then through door F which gives her access to the outdoor Chute. Honey B prefers a quiet private lunch!
Honey B

 

 

Playroom Fun!

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What a day! Yesterday, Honey B, Willy B, and Mave received access to one of their new playrooms, Playroom 3, and today they received access to Playroom 2! They have been waiting so patiently for these spaces and the day has finally come. It is a true joy to watch these three chimps explore all the room surrounding them. I really thought Honey B would be the crazy adventurous one, but yesterday Mave surprised all of us by climbing and testing everything out. However, once Honey B got comfortable and more confident she was investigating everything. True comfort for Honey B is making a paper nest.

The Seven always know everything, even if they can’t get a clear visual on what is happening. Yesterday the Seven ran out onto Young’s Hill to try and spy on Honey B, Willy B, and Mave getting access to their new playroom. Even at the furthest point of the building the seven can see everything. And today was no different. Playroom 2 is closer to the Hill and you can bet the Seven or at least Jamie was out there watching! We also had construction for the two new green houses going on too. So Jamie was pretty busy managing people and chimps ;).

This is the view from Playroom 2. Pretty amazing, right?

This photo isn’t the best. However, this photo shows you the pure joy on Mave’s face. She looks so happy and content in her new playrooms. This is what sanctuary is all about :).

Mavis <3

Willy B and Mave have really been loving the leaves on the new tree structure!