Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Sanctuary

She’s Back… Again?

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This morning Negra was reunited with her group! Everyone was so excited to welcome her back. Jody, Missy, and Foxie gave her warm greetings and immediately went to check out how she was healing! Negra was able to spend the morning sitting out on Young’s Hill and napping in her favorite spot in the green house. Unfortunately, in the early afternoon between the chimp nurses and Burrito displaying and scaring Negra, some of her external sutures were not holding up too well. We decided to isolate her again until Dr. Erin could come take a look. So Negra spent the afternoon watching Lord of the Dance, nesting, and having her caregivers dance for her as well ;).

Negra finally back on the Hill this morning:

Negra enjoying Lord of the Dance:

Gratitude with Attitude

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In today’s blog, we caregivers wish to express some heartfelt appreciation on behalf of the sanctuary residents. Our good friend Jenara Miller sponsored today, May 31, in honor of Carrie Miller’s birthday. Carrie is a dedicated and generous supporter of the sanctuary and we’re excited to celebrate their birthday here on the blog!

To accompany our best wishes, we’ve included some new photos of their beloved chimpanzee pals (below).

Missy
Honey B
Dora hooting in the Oakwood Greenhouse
Lucky
Honey B
Cy watching one of the caregivers drive away from his vantage in the Riverview Greenhouse

Playtime with Dora and Honey B Part II

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This may seem redundant since Diana had posted a video only a couple of weeks ago of Dora and Honey B playing, but I had to share this play session between the two from yesterday. It just makes me happy knowing that these two are now back together after being separated years ago. It’s almost like they are trying to make up for lost time.

Since this is a semi-repeat, here are some bonus photos!

Honey B up close and personal:

Terry grooming Dora:

Meredith enjoying the green grass of their new pasture:

Sunday Rest & Relaxation

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Happy Sunday, everyone! Here at the sanctuary, it is cloudy and in the low 50’s (before adding in the *aggressive* wind that hits every spring). This means that it has been the perfect day for some much needed R&R… and the chimps have been vibing. Us humans have been enjoying it too – the last few weeks have been so busy, with the integration of the 9 and Negra’s procedure, that we have all been operating under some level of stress.

Today, though, both humans and chimps seem content to go through the day calmly and intentionally. We have been checking things off our daily tasks while the chimps enjoy time together or with the staff. It has been so nice to walk through the chimp house and hear breathy laughter coming from some of the chimps playing or teeth clacking from some serious grooming sessions (looking at you, Willy B). It seems that we all needed some R&R and we are more than happy to soak it in!

Lucky taking a moment for herself in the Oakwood Greenhouse this afternoon. Her brother, Cy, was nearby and they seemed to just be enjoying each others company.

Willy B (read: Chaos Coordinator) about to catch some shut eye after lunch in the Front Rooms.

Terry enjoying a quiet moment in the Oakwood Greenhouse after breakfast. That floof is something else!

Cy watching Terry as Terry watched me take pictures of him (Terry)… make sense?

Burrito taking a nap in-between play sessions.

Annie enjoying the quiet in the warmth of the greenhouse.

Negra is still healing up great and enjoying her mini-staycation, complete with movies on demand, food puzzles, and dancing caregivers.

BONUS PHOTO: Dora from the other day- not in rest or relaxation mode- but in full play mode. The photo from my phone is a bit grainy, but I thought the moment between her and the slinky was too great not to share.

Hope you are able to have some rest and relaxation today, too!

(And knock on wood… I don’t want to jinx the quiet chimp house. 🙂 )

Mave’s 33rd Birthday

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Today, Mave celebrated her 33rd birthday! We’re so grateful to both Paulette Wrisley and Kenneth Reiter for sponsoring this day her her honor (in addition to Melissa Reed, whose sponsor post came earlier in the day).

One of the challenges of keeping the peace in a new group is to make things exciting for them, but not too exciting. Forages have a way of bringing out the competitive spirit in some chimps, if you know what I mean (see: B., William). So the key today was to ensure that Mave got some of her favorite foods without causing any unnecessary drama. And it was a success! We kept the forage fairly low-key and then made sure that everyone got at least one coconut and one mango. Honey B brought home the award for best coconut cracker, while Willy B had to watch some of the other chimps smash theirs open before figuring it out.

While Mave loved the food, her real present was the one thing money can’t buy, which she already received just recently – Dora! It seems that Mave has always wanted a Dora of her own, and now she has one. For her own birthday, Dora may want to ask for some personal space 🙂

Happy Birthday to an amazing chimpanzee.

Sanctuary’s Sprouting Seeds

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In their natural habitat, chimpanzees help maintain their ecosystem by helping with the dispersal of seeds. They disperse seeds by either ingesting the fruit or nut and later depositing the seeds elsewhere in their feces, or wadging the seed or nut and leaving it somewhere else in their habitat. Once the chimpanzee leaves the seeds via droppings or wadge, it germinates and a new generation of fruit tree can begin to grow. It is one of the many upon many of reasons protecting wild chimpanzee populations is important. It helps maintain the natural ecosystem.

Seed dispersal can also occur in captivity. Last summer, we had noticed a couple of pumpkin plants growing in the Oakwood Greenhouse. This year is no different. In fact, this years seems like there is more of a variety of plants growing throughout the sanctuary. Some of them can be attributed to the night bags the chimpanzees receive at dinner, while others are a bit more curious. They are sometimes part of the ingredients we use for the chimpanzees’ morning smoothie, and the only way they could have started to grow is by the chimpanzees passing them.

Here are some of the plants growing in the greenhouses (currently):

Pumpkin Plants

In the Riverview Greenhouse.
The biggest one so far is hidden behind bamboo in the Riverview Greenhouse.

Elderberry

Elderberry is sometimes added to the morning smoothies. This seedling is starting to grow in the Riverview Greenhouse.

Blackberry

Blackberries are also sometimes added to the morning smoothies. And this seedling started to grow in an area Jamie’s group is know to defecate.

Sunflower

Notice the pumpkin plant starting to sprout at the root of this sunflower in Burrito’s greenhouse.
In the Oakwood Greenhouse.

It also appears that growing is not exclusive to the greenhouses:

A sunflower sprout growing on one of the artificial leaves in the Marmot Playroom.
And another growing under the door in the Mezzanine.

Though these plants probably won’t grow to their full potential since the chimpanzees will probably root them out at some point, we can only hope they are left untouched and can start growing some fruits/veggies.

Here are some of the seed dispersers today!

Jamie:

Honey B:

Gordo:

Foxie:

Mave and Rayne:

And some photos of our recovering Queen Negra:

Negra has been receiving frequent visits from her group mates all throughout the day. This was during Foxie’s visit.

Negra seems to not mind this set up. She has been staying out of the family politics, been covered in blankets, receiving a lot of attention from the human caregivers…

And yes, Hawaiian rolls!