Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Volunteers Needed!

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Update: Our first volunteer work parties will take place Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 starting at 10am. If you’d like to join us, please fill out the form in the link below or contact J.B. at [email protected]. Thanks!

It’s been about 11 years since a group of hard-working and dedicated volunteers helped us build Young’s Hill, the 2-acre habitat that gave the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees their first opportunity to truly step outdoors. Now it’s time to give our group of nine chimpanzees their own dedicated habitat – named The Bray in loving memory of James Douglas – and we need your help!

This spring and summer, we’ll be installing fencing and building climbing structures. If you live nearby and would like to help, fill out this form to join our construction volunteer list. More details on volunteer work parties are included on the form.

And if you aren’t able to volunteer, please consider donating so that we can keep this project moving forward and nine chimpanzees can get the chance to run, climb, and swing through their own open-air habitat.

Thank you!!

Social Studies

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It’s been about four days since the newly-integrated group of nine rescued chimps spent their first full day together. We caregivers have been closely observing with our fingers crossed that things keep going smoothly, but we’re already impressed by how well the chimpanzees have adapted to cohabitating with their former neighbors.

We have previously touched on the challenges and benefits of socializing captive chimpanzees. If things continue going well, Cy, Dora, Gordo, Lucky, Rayne and Terry will keep living with Honey B, Mave and Willy B in the newer wing of the Chimp House.  It was evident from the first introductions that these chimpanzees have some sort of affinity for one another, and our observations since then have largely reinforced those beliefs. There have been displays, disagreements, misunderstandings and (occasional) fights, but the chimpanzees have repeatedly found ways to resolve their differences through grooming, play, and a great deal of measured politeness.

Although free-ranging chimpanzee communities consist of fluid subgroups that change membership frequently, merging entire communities is not something that they naturally do. Even so, it’s clear that these nine individuals want to do exactly that. For these captive chimps, all rescued from the closed Wildlife Waystation, expanding their social network will enrich their lives in ways that puzzles and climbing structures cannot.

Our team will continue to post occasional updates and will probably produce some sort of comprehensive summary once we know more about the group’s long-term compatibility. Our daily routine currently includes all the usual chores plus additional observation and discussion, so the blogs may continue to be a bit atypical for a while.

Today’s blog post features a simple assortment of video clips we have recorded during the last couple days! Most of these are close-up shots taken “through” the caging with an 85mm lens; the steel mesh is often visible as a square vignette around each frame (always reminding us of the unusual environment these chimps reside in). Hopefully this post gives you a glimpse of current events at the sanctuary and some more excitement for the future!

Terry (right) grooms Willy B (left) in the shady Oakwood Greenhouse.
Gordo extracts raisins from a “raisin board” enrichment puzzle
Honey B perches on a firehose “vine” inside
Cy sits amid the foliage outside
Gordo literally puts his feet up in the front rooms

The Grass is Always Greener

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As caregivers arrived this morning, the sun was bright and the weather was warm. So one of our first orders of business was to conduct our security checks to let Negra’s group out onto Young’s Hill as soon as possible. As the door that leads to Young’s Hill opened, all seven filtered through, with Negra in the lead.

As I watched Negra sitting in warm sun, seemingly taking it all in, I was amazed at how green the grass was. It’s just one of those things I don’t notice as it’s happening until I see it through the view of the camera lens.

On her way in, Negra found a pine cone that she wanted to bring back to her Greenhouse.

It was at this point I knew a lunch forage was in store today. How could I not let them have a forage on such a beautiful day?

On today’s menu was sweet potatoes, mini bell peppers, carrots, and chow biscuits.

Annie:

Burrito:

Foxie:

Jamie:

Jody:

Missy:

Negra:

Jamie watching Missy tightrope walking across the firehose:

Burrito taking his chance on the firehose:

Have you ever had that feeling you’re being watching?

Oh, it’s just Burrito:

Burrito relaxing and enjoying his lunch in the privacy of the hammock:

As you read about Negra’s group enjoying their lunch forage on Young’s Hill, please don’t forget that construction is well under way to complete the outdoor habitat for the new group of nine! One way you can help us is to donate, and what better way to donate than to help with Monica and Diana’s WA GiveBIG wish? Every little bit helps ensure the construction continues to move along and helps us get closer to letting Cy’s group enjoy a forage on their own hill.

And then there were 9

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This morning Kelsi opened the last door and officially fully merged Willy B with Cy’s groups into a single group of 9. While we can’t say for sure that this is the final product of all of our intro efforts, we remain cautiously optimistic. There is plenty of socialization work left to be done. For now though, we celebrate this momentous occasion.

The new big group (Honey B not pictured):

It might be hard to see, but there are 9 chimpanzees in this photo taken of our video surveillance tv!!

Cy and Willy B:

 

 

Busy Chimp House Day!

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As Chad wrote on Sunday, this week has already proven to be busy for the entire chimp house. I think today’s blog is all about Burrito!


As an intro update, so far so good!

Mave and Terry grooming:

Cy and Willy B grooming:

Lucky:

A Glass Hoof Full

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Chad wrote yesterday about our ambitious plans for this week which will likely impact the blog in the coming days. This afternoon’s post is just a brief update on the sanctuary’s bovine residents.

Every year, the hoof trimmer swings by to give the cattle their spring “pedicures.” Bovine hooves grow continuously like human fingernails and a trained professional must trim them on an annual basis to minimize the risk of injury and disease. Dr. Erin and Sofia also take the opportunity to administer their annual vaccinations. Ideally, we try to schedule this trimming before the cattle rotate out to pasture for the summer and become even more difficult to corral in the lower paddock.

Yesterday, our friend Gates brought his specialized equipment to the sanctuary with the intent of getting all the cattle taken care of in one brief visit. Meredith bravely entered the chute first and got her hooves cleaned and trimmed, then Honey followed without issue. Nutmeg proved to be more difficult; the massive steer has actually grown too tall and wide for the hydraulic device that Gates uses to safely restrain the cattle. Betsy also missed her appointment after declining to get into the pen altogether. Because of these challenges, we’ll have to schedule a follow-up visit once we’ve made some adjustments to our setup.

Meredith waits in the squeeze after getting her hooves trimmed
Nutmeg waits for his appointment with the trimmer

Importantly, all of the cattle look just as healthy- if not healthier- than when they arrived (which isn’t bad for a bunch of reality TV stars from California). Evidently, life in the mountains has been quite good for them, and we’re happy to have them mowing the sanctuary lawn.

After the hoof trim event, the crew took a walk around the property to discuss our fencing and grazing plan for this year. It was exciting to see the more secluded areas where the cattle will be spending their summer!

J.B., Erin, Diana and Sofia walk through the upper pasture

 

Please Excuse the Interruption

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To our supportive blog followers and lovers of the sanctuary:

We are always ever so grateful for all the love and support you have given us throughout the years and want to thank you for following along and interacting with us through the blog. As you all know, we have been in the process of integrating Cy’s group and Willy B’s group over the past several months. Our friend and colleague, Jen Feuerstein, will return tomorrow to help us with progressing even further into the integration process this week. During this time, we are going to be extremely busy monitoring the process as the chimpanzees come together and work on their relationships with one another. We will still be posting the daily blog, but please forgive us if at times this week it seems it is abbreviated or posted a little later in the day. We hope you understand. We will be back on a regular schedule soon!

As we prepare for the week ahead, please enjoy these photos from today!

Willy B:

Honey B:

Mave:

Cy:

Lucky:

Gordo:

Dora:

Rayne:

Terry: