New views, new perspectives
May 28, 2015 by Katelyn -
What an amazing day we’ve had here at the sanctuary! Everyone worked so hard to complete the chimpanzees’ new structure on Young’s Hill early and even had it ready in time for a chimpanzee inspection and lunch forage.
The chimps were SO excited as we opened the raceway to the hill, pant-hooting, food grunting, and hugging each other in excitement and reassurance. Everyone filed out and quickly made their way to the top of the hill to check things out. Surprisingly, Missy wasn’t the first person on the structure, but she wasn’t far behind Jody, Annie, and Jamie who led the way. And just to warn you, you may have to look a little harder to see the chimps in some of these photos, but we hope it gives you an idea of their new perspective on things!
The new structure is the highest on the hill at about 16 feet high and the chimps’ view is incredible! Annie was one of the first to go up and take it in. She looks so small!:
Annie looking below the tower:
Jody was fearless and explored the entire structure with confidence and her new found athletic skills (she is on the shaky bridge as Annie watches from the platform):
Burrito foraged in the gorgeous new bamboo below the structure initially:
But it wasn’t long before he joined Annie and Missy (walking on the hand railing, naturally) up top:
Jamie on the bridge:
As we’ve previously written on the blog, it wasn’t that long ago that Foxie wouldn’t have felt comfortable exploring this new structure right away. She initially foraged and assessed the situation from below with her troll. But it didn’t take her long to climb right up and explore:
Never one to take the easy way, Missy climbs one of the posts:
Those six small, black, specks on the structure are all of the chimps except Negra. This view is from the top of Young’s Hill looking toward the chimp house and the roof in the lower left hand corner is the barn:
It took a bit for Negra to decide to leave her comfy nest and venture onto the hill to see what all the excitement was about. Being the clever woman she is, she chose to enjoy the forage closer to the greenhouse, which really was pretty smart given that she had it to herself. This was one of the only sightings of the Queen as she disappeared in the tall grass and shade:
And you can probably guess who the speck of a fearless woman in the following photos is…Missy, of course, had to test out tightrope options. After all, why be boring and take the bridge between the towers when you can walk across on the fire hose? (Honestly, I think we all had to remind ourselves today that even though we shuddered seeing them so far off the ground, they were doing what chimps are meant to do!):
Her best friend, Annie, waiting to greet her at the other end:
If you look closely, that tiny looking chimp walking on the hand railing of the tower is the boss lady, Jamie:
Jamie takes in the view of her kingdom:
In two weeks time we will be celebrating not only Negra’s birthday (June 13th), but the chimpanzees’ 7th year in sanctuary. It’s hard to believe how far they’ve come since they arrived. The ghosts of themselves they arrived as, the fears, anxieties, and uncertainties they carried, are shadows of who they’ve become. Shadows that grower fainter by the day. We are profoundly thankful to all of you who have made this possible for the chimpanzees and can’t wait to share all that lies ahead with you.
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What a great day for the chimps! Love all the pictures.
WOW what a day this was!! 16 feet above the earth and a view that goes on forever!!! (I think I would be scared to death to stand at the top of that structure!). And Annie, all-on-her-own-leading-the-way-first-to-climb-up-Annie! WOW! She is a new person isn’t she?! Today she was brave beyond my wildest dreams. It is so wonderful seeing Burrito, Foxie and everyone exploring, adventuring, and enjoying the thrill of their new horizons. This was the best post, I am smiling from ear to ear.
THIS is sanctuary. Thank you CSNW for giving these 7 chimpanzees the gift of being a chimpanzee.
what a great playground ! I know our chimps are going to enjoy this every day for many years! Thanks for all your hard work Keith & whoever else was involved.
My heart overflows with gratitude and happiness!
So wonderful to see these beautiful 7 enjoying life. Well done you! You should all be so proud.
This looks awesome! I am soooo happy for those chimps and what you do for them 🙂 BTW, you made me laugh – I think you “shuddered” instead of “shuttered” (you didn’t feel like a window shutter!) ha, ha. Thanks for all the good work you do 🙂
How exciting! The chimps’ freedom has soared to new heights. Congrats to you and the chimps. They dearly deserve it. Thank you for the pictures, I smiled more and more with each of them. To see them at the observing their wide world, what a thrill.
How exciting! The chimps’ freedom has soared to new heights. Congrats to you and the chimps. They dearly deserve it. Thank you for the pictures, I smiled more and more with each of them. To see them at the top observing their wide world, what a thrill.
Wonderful Pictures! The chimps have many fun days ahead!
Thank you for all the photos. They are so important for those of us following the chimps’ lives.
Just spectacular to see them so outgoing and really being chimps.
Thank you to all the builders..what a great job.
The chimpanzees must have loved seeing MORE! And what a lot of beautiful MORE there is to see! Missy’s athleticism is amazing and heart-stopping.
Well done to everyone. The chimps received a wonderful enhancement to their space.
I am looking to seeing Pics of the Chimps enjoying climbing to the top of Youngs Hill this summer.
I am looking to seeing Pics of the Chimps enjoying climbing to the top of Youngs Hill this summer.
What an amazing view. They are so lucky.