Studies have found that adult chimpanzees (like adult humans) don’t play as frequently as young chimps. Annie and Missy have been too busy playing to read those studies.
Archives for March 2010
Today in honor of Chris
Happy Birthday, Chris! Thank you for sponsoring today for your birthday. What a great gift for the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees!
check out the Sponsor-a-Day calendar on our Donate page.
Peace and earthquakes
A little while ago I was out in the greenhouse and snapped this picture of Jamie sleeping. I love seeing the chimps asleep – they look so peaceful. And it’s especially great to see Jamie looking peaceful since she’s always so serious and busy!
About 10 minutes later, I was sitting at my computer and the chimp house shook dramatically. Earthquake! Jackie and I looked at each other at the same time that the chimps all started alarm calling. We went to make sure everyone was ok (and the building as well) and to give the chimps some reassurance. Everyone’s fine! But the chimps were rattled and I don’t think Jamie will be taking another nap this afternoon!
Window Play
The fundraiser for the new windows has all of us here at CSNW so excited! The thought of having 6 new cageless windows by the end of this year makes us so happy. Imagine spending 30+ years looking only through bars and then finally being able to see the world clearly! I think that having some caging is nice, because it provides places for the chimps to climb and brachiate. Particularly for chimpanzees like the Cle Elum Seven, who spent decades in small lab cages, the ability to move freely around their environment must be amazing.
However, having all those new cageless windows will bring a ton of light into the playroom and is also a unique form of enrichment for the chimps. The chimpanzees definitely seem to love spending time at the cageless window. Perhaps one reason is that it provides opportunities for them to interact with their caregivers in new ways. As you can see from the video below, the glass allows the chimps to get closer to their caregivers than they can through the bars and interact with us in ways that would not be safe through caging.
Beyond trolls
What Sanctuary Means to Negra
Yesterday, we sent out a letter from Sarah to e-news subscribers about what sanctuary means for Negra and asking people to contribute to our anniversary fundraising. Share the letter by emailing it to friends, sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc. You can do all of that from the letter posted on our site here.
Be sure to sign up for our e-newsletter if you aren’t already. If you think you’ve signed up before and are still not receiving newsletters, email me.
The anniversary fundraising is off to a solid start. I’ve heard from a few more people with great fundraising ideas. I’m very excited! Margaret has already set up a Firstgiving page. She’s giving a card featuring a painting she has done of one of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees for donations of just $30. Keep the ideas and support coming and together let’s give Negra a little more sunshine.
Burrito in the greenhouse
Although the girls have been spending the majority of the daylight hours playing, grooming, nesting, and resting in the greenhouse since it was completed, Burrito has been much more hesitant to go out. He usually has the indoors to himself during the day while everyone else enjoys the 75 degree weather outside. Even the lure of food hasn’t been enough to tempt him outside for more than a couple of very nervous minutes (and everybody knows how much Burrito loves food!).
He’s making remarkable progress, though. In the last few days, he has begun to come out into the greenhouse for a few minutes at a time (even with no food incentive). This morning, he spent about 20 minutes in the sun grooming Jody and playing with his human friends. I don’t think I can express how happy we all are to see him gaining so much confidence!
