The Domino Effect
September 9, 2024 by Ellen -
The other morning, I was turning on lights and greeting the chimps to start the morning. As I turned on lights for Gordo’s group, he jumped up and initiated a game of chase with me, and off we went! Somehow, as I was running to catch up to him in the front rooms, the fun was doubled when Rayne decided to join in our game. As we ran through their spaces, Gordo decided to take a rest, but pretty soon that quick game of chase between me and Gordo had turned into a train of chimps playing together, and I was just the third (well, fourth) wheel! Rayne, Honey B, and Terry chased each other, with Honey B grabbing at Rayne’s feet playfully as they went. Once they were done playing chase and sat down to play more, Gordo appeared again and joined in on the fun. It made me think of dominoes, as it only took that one quick game of chase with Gordo to start up a chain of play among his group. I hope you enjoy today’s video!
14 Comments
Subscribe to the Blog and
Get Notified of New Posts First!
If you like what see, be sure to subscribe. Personally written by the caregivers themselves, 365 days a year, you’ll get an insiders glimpse of all the goings on at the sanctuary. Follow us!
Raynie’s forehead looks just as dry as ever. Is she still getting lotion on it?
She is still having lotion applied to her forehead regularly, and has gotten even better at being patient with us while it is applied. It does seem to get dry again rather quickly, so it is great that she is becoming very accustomed to having it applied and patient with us while it happens.
Sounds like a lot of fun. You were totally outnumbered. I hope you had a moment or two to take a rest also.
Thankfully Honey B took over for me for a bit, so I could catch my breath! It was a great time.
Honey B has no trouble giving Terry the cold shoulder (twice!) but let Gordo in….she’s definitely got her likes and dislikes!
Thank you, its fun to watch such happy Chimps :revolving_hearts:
Chimpanzees need each other to play and share living quarters, whether in their natural habitat or in a sanctuary.
How I wish that the captive chimps who featured in the “Chimp Crazy” documentary series could reside, if not in their native equatorial Africa, then somewhere like Chimp Haven. The latest issue of the “New Yorker” has a review of the documentary. There is mention of Connie Casey who — all federal prohibitions notwithstanding — maintains a lucrative and illicit chimpanzee breeding and business. And that’s how chimps end up locked in basements in suburban St. Louis.
I feel ashamed, and aggrieved.
Many of the chumps from the first episode are living at the Center for Great Apes. They had a post about them on their page a couple of days ago.
Tobin,
I am not watching the series because I do not subscribe to that streaming service. However, I did notice that Save The Chimps posted in the last 48 hours a short video on Tonka and how he’s doing with his new family and friends, and what kind of a chimp he is. I think they did that in anticipation of some notoriety. But I’m happy that they did, because now people can contrast what they see depicted in the documentary and a life in sanctuary
Here’s the kink to the Save a Chimp video. Peta has a short, I now see, but it’s really harsh to see that tiny cage he was in in the basement.
https://youtu.be/4R6rau0-NWA?si=mRNwvIH0nK8k66sF
The domino effect. Absolutely!! I think this group of goofballs were just waiting for you to arrive and kick things off! What a fun way for everyone to start their day, including you, Ellen!
It made my day, for sure! I really loved how everyone seemed to be having such a joyful morning.
The party that never stops! I loved seeing Rayne’s chase train with Beans and Terry! You know you’re in Gordo’s good books when he wants a game of chase first thing in the morning!
To Lynne and Linda: I appreciate your corrections to my previous knowledge. I don’t have a television, so I haven’t watched the documentary. 7.5 years ago, when I first discovered the existence of the CSNW, I spent several weeks investigating the welfare of great apes, both domestically and abroad, I encountered harrowing video footage of chimpanzees at the Missouri Primate Foundation as well as in tourist traps in the S. E. U.S.
To describe what I witnessed as obscenity is sn understatement; in wake of the Travis Tragedy, I was dumbfounded that private bondage by human primates of other primates was allowed to persist.in this republic. Alas, like the Roman Empire, so too is the American Empire in the throes of desperately wicked moral decadence.
.