We’ve been hearing from people all over the country, wondering how the weather is affecting us here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It’s been a pretty dramatic few days – the local area has mudslides, avalanches, and lots of flooding. But rest assured, the chimps are on high ground (literally!) and we are all safe and sound.

Burrito was born at White Sands Research Center. Just before his first birthday, he was put on a hepatitis B vaccine safety study. Then he lived in a human home (as a “pet”) for a few months. Then, he was sent to Florida, leased to a man who “perfected the ultimate animal training feat: teaching a chimpanzee to ride beside a lion on an elephant’s back.” Then, back to research. We humans did him a horrible disservice.

But, we’re working hard to make it up to him.

So, dear Burrito, this one’s for you: 

You like to spit on me. You occasionally cover me in smoothie, in fact. You bang, you kick. You are fierce, even though you have been known to squeak with glee like a baby monkey. You much prefer to play with the boys than me, but once in a while I’ll do. When you give me the chance I blow in your ear and you laugh up a storm.  You delight in chase. You veg out in front of the TV. You run, you rattle, you intimidate. You make biiiig messes. We haven’t known you long but you make us smile every single day. Here’s to fresh starts and many happy birthdays to come!

We couldn’t have provided this day for Mr. B without the many donations sent in by all of you. Thanks SO much for being a part of the family!!

Annie gulping down some spaghetti:

Burrito getting some reassurance from Keith:

Foxie running bipedally with as many oranges as she can carry:

Negra with a whole watermelon:

Jody trying to contain her excitement and quietly wander off with her watermelon:

Here’s a video of the chimps coming out for Burrito’s party. You’ll see (and hear) Burrito being very excited! I’m not sure if we’d posted video before of the bipedal behavior you’ll see in this video. He grabs the outside of his thighs and side-steps around. This is not a natural chimpanzee behavior. It may be one that he made up on his own, or it may be something he was taught to do during his years as an entertainer. He does it a lot when he’s excited about his favorite thing – FOOD!

PS. Special thanks to Shelly C for providing lots and lots of the produce!

It’s the big B’s big day!! He is such a happy guy. We had a lunchtime party consisting of presents (of course!), chestnuts, coconuts, frozen oranges and watermelon, cranberries, pomegranates, a birthday tree (since we didn’t have a holiday tree) and Burrito’s favorite meal: spaghetti! Here’s a quick video of his excitement at seeing the spaghetti! More pics and videos shortly!

People often ask about how much physical contact we have with the chimps. Very little! We never go into an enclosure with the chimps. They have each other for hugs and kisses – they don’t need us. Plus, they are so powerful that even a gentle tap could injure us. We would never put them in that sort of jeopardy. BUT, we do tickle and groom them through the fence (though our fingers never cross the plane of the fencing – we stay on our side of the fence and they stay on theirs!).  Jamie really likes to check out people’s shoes… Here’s a pic from this afternoon of her checking out my red clogs!

Once in a while we put juice, tea, and other drinks into buckets and pans outside the chimps’ enclosure. Then we give them long tubes to use as straws. It’s fun and gives them a project to work on for a little while. Here are some pics!

Jody:

Jamie and Missy (Jamie worked on the watermelon juice for about an hour, making sure she got all possible drops) :