Chateau Group 1
Is there such thing as “too much napping”?
Napping is a daily routine for chimpanzees. Every day is different depending on their activities. By observing their napping behaviors, we are able to understand the chimps a bit better.
Read MoreThe Art of Nest Building
Just like humans decorating a bedroom, chimps create their own spaces too. Each chimp has a specific preference when creating their nests. Knowing this helps us understand unique qualities among chimps and their habits.
Read MorePositive Reinforcement Training – PRT with an EKG
If you know anything about chimps, you know you can’t make a chimp do anything it doesn’t want to do! If you need to, for example, listen to Kareem’s heartbeat with a stethoscope, that is absolutely not happening unless Kareem wants you to. This is where Positive Reinforcement Training, or PRT, comes into play.
Read MoreNails Do Grow Back
A chimp that is playing and having a good time builds excitement levels that reach a certain threshold where it sometimes becomes aggressive behavior. Play then turns into chimps smacking each other. They are so strong that when their hands come down for a smack, they may nick each other. Sometimes a bigger wound can occur – like a fingernail might get pulled off.
Read MoreChimps Leo & Ray’s Excellent Adventure
The day started out routinely, with our team checking on the
chimps, feeding their breakfast and cleaning their enclosures. But then the radios start squawking as the chatter between caregivers becomes an excited cacophony.
The message finally became clear: “Leo is outside!”
Chimpanzee Caregiver Samantha Jones recounts the story of former research chimps Leo and Ray’s brave first steps into the forest at Project Chimps.
Read MoreWorking fast and furious to help chimps
It was a warm spring morning and Christy Jellets was waste deep in muddy water. The dirty liquid roiled around her as she worked, hands well below the surface and out of sight, to repair a clogged culvert at Project Chimps.
While her team members were busy welding chimpanzee enclosures and clearing fallen brush, Christy noticed a job that needed immediate attention. So she jumped in…
Read MoreThe 2010s: Our Legacy for Research Chimps
As we swing our way into the second Roaring 20s, we look back at the accomplishments made for captive research chimpanzees in the 2010s.
In 2010, the European Union banned testing on great apes, a full five years before the United States would follow suit, making the U.S. the last country in the so-called “developed world” to end testing on chimpanzees.
Read MoreMoving Day: A New Chateau for Research Chimps
We recently finished the construction of The Chateau and invited the chimps to move in. We all held our breath to see what they would think of their new digs…
Read MoreProject Chimps Sanctuary Opens New “Chateau” for Retired Research Chimpanzees
Forty former research chimpanzees will have a new home in permanent sanctuary as Project Chimps announced the completion of its fifth and largest chimpanzee house, called “The Chateau.” Fourteen former research chimps moved into the new residence, led by 220-pound “gentle giant,” Kareem.
Read MoreChimpanzee Wiggles
Former research chimpanzee Harriett has a special ability that she shares with some human primates. Learn what it is and how she got her nickname from Chimpanzee Caregiver Supervisor Holly Soubiea.
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