Chimpanzee motion

Compared to humans, chimpanzees have a tall and narrow pelvis, flat feet (not arched) and a differently shaped backbone. In short, a chimp’s skeletal structure is ideal for quadrupedal locomotion and when they are on the ground, they generally use all four limbs to get from one place to another. This is not to say…

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Holiday wishes

Many of you may know we kicked off an extremely exciting fundraising campaign on Giving Tuesday this year. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, we are all so grateful! On top of this goal, we are starting to think about setting up our new Phase 1 building with all the…

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Negra savors her breakfast

Breakfast (and all the fruit that comes with it) is the most exciting meal of the day at the sanctuary. Make sure to turn your volume up to hear some serious orange slice slurping (you can also catch Jody eating in the background).

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Four different Foxies

Every now and then, it’s fun to dig in the vaults of never before seen photos to see what’s hiding in there. Today I found that I had a lot of photos of Foxie, and in each picture she was holding a different doll. Above you will see her with Strawberry Shortcake. Here she is…

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Mixing up the menu

The chimpanzees eat a diet consisting of primarily fresh produce. For added protein, they eat a variety of nuts, seeds, primate chow and soy protein powder (in their a.m. smoothies). A few years ago, caregiver Debbie was able to bring some hard boiled eggs from her free range chicken friends for the chimps to enjoy.…

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Eagle eyes

It always amazes us just how observant Jamie really is. Nothing gets by her, especially when it’s related to one of her favorite things on the planet, new boots! This morning I opened the door to Young’s Hill and Jamie took off for her first perimeter fence patrol of the day. She made it halfway…

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Thanksgiving 2018!

Today’s menu: Stuffed pumpkins with quinoa and lentils, cranberries, dinner rolls, sparkling cider and green beans. With an additional side of mini pumpkin! A special shout out to volunteer Patti for driving over a snowy mountain pass to help pull off the meal and intern Emily for all her hard work cleaning enclosures on a…

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Savoring

Negra is probably the slowest eater in the bunch. When she loves something on the menu, she hoards as much of it as she can, and then sits down to eat it in tiny little satisfying bites. If there is something she really wants to eat, and we are serving other less appealing items first,…

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Mornings

Take a behind the scenes peek at what a typical morning at the sanctuary looks like.

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The puzzle master

These Jamie-approved Drop Down Puzzles are one of our latest additions to our Chimpanzee Enrichment Database!

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Betsy, Nutmeg, Honey and Meredith stretch their legs

Last weekend we welcomed our new bovine friends to the sanctuary. They’ve been staying in a smaller corral while we fixed up their home and this afternoon we let them go out and explore their new pasture. After being a little tentative at first, they kicked up their heels and got acquainted with their surroundings.

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Magnificent Missy!

Missy was made to use her muscles! She is full of potential energy. One spark from a friend can send her into a flurry of chase, tightrope walking, foot grabbing or bouncy play. This morning I caught her just before she launched into a gallop. The calm before the storm.

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