Posts by J.B.
Willy B and his Dipper Tube
Willy B is quite the tool-user! As you can see, enrichment doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated to be effective. It was a busy week for the block masons working on the new playrooms. You can see the walls taking shape now that the scaffolding has been taken down. Next week – fingers crossed…
Read MoreRainy Day Time to Play
The chimps weren’t about to let a little rain spoil their fun today.
Read MoreHope for Chimps and other News
Lots of news to share today. First, Diana and the chimps participated in a unique virtual event this morning hosted by Animal Protection of New Mexico and featuring Senator Tom Udall. The purpose of the event was to highlight the plight of the 39 chimpanzees forced to remain at a federal research facility in New…
Read MorePriorities
The rain pounds the metal roof above in a deafening roar. Bolts of lightning streak across an ominous sky. Thunder cracks just overhead, shaking the building to its very foundation. This could be how it all ends. Mmmmm, but this night bag… Mave’s certainly got her priorities straight. There’s some interesting research dating back to…
Read MoreTickle Therapy
It looks like today will be Burrito’s last day on restricted activity. Which is great for him, obviously, but a relief for the staff, too, because we can’t keep up with him. He’s just too playful. Thankfully, Nurse Jody took another shift this afternoon and tried to tickle him back to health. Earlier in the…
Read MoreStop Thief!
Let’s start with today’s Burrito update. Things continue to look good – he is eating, taking his meds, and playing with his caregivers constantly. As far as he’s concerned, he’s ready to go back with the group. Unfortunately for him, he needs to remain on restricted activity for another week or so. Our main concern…
Read MoreBurrito Update
We just wanted let you know that Burrito remained stable overnight and he is resting comfortably this morning. We expect his recovery to be a slow, gradual process and there may be complications along the way, but for now we are cautiously optimistic.
Read MoreA Difficult Day
Tonight, Burrito is recovering from a rattlesnake bite. We heard a commotion on Young’s Hill this morning and went out to find six of the chimps intensely alarm calling and screaming as they surrounded a large snake. Burrito unfortunately got too aggressive in pursuit of the snake and received a bite to the base of…
Read MoreCabbage for Breakfast
Volunteer and friend of the sanctuary, Krissy, recently dropped off some garden-grown cabbage for the chimps. Some of you might not consider cabbage to be breakfast food but the chimps would beg to differ. In fact, it may have been more popular than the oranges, apples, and primate chow. In addition to everything she personally…
Read MoreBronx Cheers
I remember when I first learned that adult house cats “meow” almost exclusively to humans and not to other cats. It’s still fascinating to me that in the course of domestication, not only have we selected for certain vocal tendencies in cats but they have also exploited some natural human perceptual tendencies to be able…
Read MorePlaying with Burrito
One of the highlights of each day.
Read MoreBack to normal
Last week, as he was leaving work for the day, Anthony noticed that Betsy was no longer with her group. It’s unusual for anyone in this herd to be alone, but even more so for Betsy. Diana and I joined Anthony to check on her and all three of us could see that she was…
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