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.
