Posts Tagged ‘sanctuary’
Stop Keeping Pet Chimps
By Kat West We can all agree that chimps are cute. But we also know they are wild animals and shouldn’t be kept as pets. Not everyone understands this, however. Although it’s illegal in many countries like the U.K. it is still legal in the United States. The Captive Primate Safety act aims to change…
Read MoreThe Role of “Auntie” in Female Chimps
Chimps have these ambiguous female figures too! Growing up without their mom, our orphaned lab chimps rely even more heavily on the guidance of older influences.
Older female chimps who take young female groupmates under their metaphorical wing, I call “aunties.” But really, they’re just old ladies showing young girls the ropes.
Chimp Faces: Noticing & Reading Facial Expressions
Caregiver Aide Mackenzie explains the importance of closely observing the chimps, saying, “With the chimps we have to watch very carefully to determine how they’re feeling.” Staff must develop an understanding of the chimps’ baseline body and facial expressions so they can tell when something is ‘off’.
Read MoreFrom Studying Chimps to Seeing Chimps
Studying chimps in her textbooks, India ultimately discovered, does not compare to meeting them in real life. She remembers her first day at Project Chimps clearly, because on this day she came face to face with a chimp for the first time.
Read MoreBig Girls, Little Girls, Middle Girls: Female Chimps Learn From Each Other
When chimps come to sanctuary, they may be interacting with other chimps (or chimps of the opposite sex) for the first time. They may fail to understand social norms, and feel awkward, unsure, or anxious around other chimps. These interactions can be tricky because the chimps haven’t learned lessons that mom usually instills during childhood.
Read MoreChimps Helping Chimps – Chimps Healing Chimps
Treating ex lab chimps—who have undergone countless procedures before retiring at sanctuary—is complicated. Staff at Project Chimps are highly sensitive to chimp residents who are averse to needles, mistrusting of humans, or have other hold-ups stemming from their traumatic past.
Read MoreMeet Jennifer: An Unsung Hero
Jenny isn’t one of our most famous residents, but we wanted to bring her into the spotlight. If you read on, you’ll find out why we consider Jenny a chimp hero!
Read MoreProject Harvest Fall Garden
With the crisp air and falling leaves, it’s clearly fall around here. Bundled up in our Project Chimps hoodies and clump-clumping along in our boots, we trek out to water the babies. I don’t mean the chimps but our well cared-for seedlings in Project Harvest (and sometimes the bees too) in the fall garden.
Read MoreHealth Update: Armond (November 2021)
With a case such as Armond’s, there is little we can do to reverse those decades he spent in a confined space. Despite having access to decent size enclosures at the New Iberia lab for the years leading up to his retirement to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and despite now having access to multi-story villa and multi-acre yard.
Read MoreGirl Scouts Advocate for Chimps
Meet the Girl Scouts of troop 15543. They took a tour of Project Chimps in August. They are doing their Silver Award project, the highest award a Cadette can earn, at Project Chimps. The scouts are also using what they learned on their tour to advocate for chimps. How are they doing that? Read on to find out!
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