Sheena's Update

Our favorite sanctuary veteran and your bestie Sheena is having a great year so far. She’s been spending lots of quality time with her friend Betsy grooming in the forest and eating their carrots together. Sheena is always a good friend to the older chimps, as well as the timid or more reserved ones.

You know Sheena, she’s a smarty pants! So positive reinforcement training is one of her strengths. She is so close to being at a maintenance level on all her basic behaviors, like presenting different parts of her body to her care team, which are a core part of her positive reinforcement training and allow her to participate fully in her medical care to keep her healthy.

Sheena has always been a chimp who likes to take her time with new things — she can get a little frustrated when something unfamiliar comes along — but lately she has been showing a new willingness to try, and it is really clicking for her.

The biggest breakthrough this season has been presenting her back to her trainer, a behavior that is more challenging than it might sound. With “back,” she has to trust the process completely, and because she is deaf, her trainer uses a tactile bridge to communicate with her so she knows she did a great job and earned her snacks, even when her back is turned.

During a recent Dr. Seuss themed enrichment day, Sheena was enthralled with her “reading material.” After an incredible 20 years at sanctuary, Sheena is thriving and showing up for herself every single day. Because of you, Sheena has been living her best life — thank you for being her best friend.