Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Last week our local fire department came to visit the chimps! Theses firefighters must know the way to Jamie and Foxie’s heart, because they came bearing gifts of boots and troll dolls! We are so appreciative of our first responders, not only for the work they do but also for taking the time to learn about the chimps that we so love! As you will see in the video, Foxie approved of them and the troll dolls!
Foxie’s new dolls:
Look at those TOES!
Bonus photo of little Honey B:
When Jamie is in a good mood, the sun breaks through the clouds, the flowers begin to bloom, and the birds sing a joyful chorus. Happy Good Mood Jamie Day to each and every one of you.
Everything fun happens around the watering hole or should I say, Gatorade pool! The chimps had a nice, quiet, and relaxing day. I think they may be resting up for the big fourth of July celebration tomorrow! Make sure to tune in for all the fun tomorrow!
Before I go, here are some bonus photos 🙂
Burrito:
Miss Mave:
Rayne’s toes, waiting for smoothie:
Negra enjoying her pudding cup:
Today we celebrate three years since the Lucky Six arrived! I truly can not imagine life without them. Each one of these chimps brings so much life to this sanctuary. When I think about the day that they arrived, the day was so full of excitement. We had done it, we had reached our goal of expanding the building to take in more chimps to provide another chance of security and a life of choice. The Lucky Six have grown so much in their 3 years here. We have watched chimps like Gordo grow confidence and comfortably with things that are unfamiliar. We have watched the group of six become a group of nine, which has provided them with more social opportunity. Watching chimps like Dora become a social butterfly and Rayne being able to use one of her best strengths, her social savvyness, to help her group navigate and build friendships! We watched all of J.B.’s hard work paid off to build the Bray, their 2 acre outdoor habitat. To be able to watch Rayne walk outside like she had done this everyday of her life was certainly one of the many highlights of my career! I could go on and on about how amazing they are, but I think that when it comes down to it we are just so lucky to have them and we are all the better for knowing them!
Cy:
Gordo:
Terry:
Dora:
Rayne:
Lucky:
Research has shown that chimpanzees utilize a wide variety of gestures to communicate with one another and that the meanings of these gestures are often understood by people with no training in chimpanzee behavior, suggesting the possibility of a universal ape vocabulary.
As Dr. Catherine Hobaiter states, “They target them to a specific recipient, and they do that with a specific goal in mind. Several gestures are very similar to those of humans: having your palm up is a begging gesture and pushing away with your hand means “go away,” she says.
With all due respect to Dr. Hobatier, I think she misses some of the more subtle nuances in each of these examples, so allow me (and Mave and Dora) so translate further:
Mave: I love you Dora. You know, I don’t say that enough. I love you. And I would do anything for you.
Dora: Gee, thanks Mave.
Mave: Would you do anything for me?
Dora: I guess so, sure.
Mave Can I have your fennel, then?
Dora: Get lost! You already had one!
Mave. But I love you.
Dora: I know, thanks.
Mave: Anytime, friend. So, about that fennel…
Dora. I’m outta here…
During one of our donor visits, Jamie spotted a pair of cowboy boots she adored! The thing about wearing boots Jamie likes is that you might be walking out in your socks! Our very kind donor was gracious enough to part with her boots so Jamie could add them to her collection. To say Jamie was excited would be an understatement. When Jamie received her new boots, she wanted Diana to take a spin in them before we gave them to her officially. Obviously, if they did a walk around the Hill, they also needed to be groomed. At the end of the night, Jamie had her dinner on a barrel with her nighttime enrichment (peanut butter pine cones) and her new boots! She was a very happy lady 🙂
Jamie looking at her cowboy boots:
Jamie and Diana taking the boots around Young’s Hill:
Honey B has a whole lot of personality! You will often hear us refer to Honey B as a busy body, spunky, spontaneous, or mischievous. You never quite know what she is up to, even when you try to follow her on the cameras. It’s hard to keep up with her, always on the move or inspecting something. Though her moods change all throughout the hours, boring is never how I would describe her day. The other morning I found her greeting every single person in her group. It felt like she was doing crowd work as a politician, even Gordo received a very warm greeting from her! While she schmoozed the crowd, some of her group mates looked confused and tensed for a moment when she nudged or touched their shoulder, but as Honey gave them a breathy greeting, they were not going to question her behavior! Later, there was some displaying, so she joined in and screamed at all the boys, screaming and chasing Cy and Terry but later she was found laughing and playing with both of them.
In the afternoon, everyone received peanut butter magazines. Gordo got his and Honey B decided to join him out on the Bray and watch him do his afternoon enrichment. When we looked over at Gordo he seemed very hesitant that Honey B was following him outside, but he just pretend like she always did this. Eventually, Honey B left to get her own and you could tell Gordo took a big exhale :).
Just now, as caregiver Sabrina passed out kongs, Honey B was breathy panting and so excited, but as soon has Willy B came up to her she gave him a threatening look that seemed to warn “grab these and see what happens to you” like of look. Which personally, I would never want to experience! Though Honey B might keep us on our toes, she is a lot of fun to be around, and I wouldn’t have it any other way :).
