Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for March 2011

Problem solvers

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Being the master problem solver she is, one would probably guess that Jamie is super skilled at raisin boards. And they would be right.

Raisin boards are wooden blocks with holes drilled in them that we stuff with dried fruit (because of their size raisins usually work best, but I used dried apricot pieces and dried blueberries in the photos below). We occasionally pass these out (with small skewers or sticks) as an evening “enhanced enrichment” activity, because not only does it encourage tool use and problem solving skills, but it keeps everyone busy and entertained for quite a while. Jamie often uses a technique similar to sewing- she pokes the stick slightly through, grabs it on the other side with her teeth and pulls it the rest of the way so the raisin either skewers on her stick or just falls out. It’s pretty fascinating, actually.

Jody does occasionally use tools, but she usually just pulls the fruit out with her teeth- a method that is also quite successful.

Primate Patrol alert – Capital One

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Join Primate Patrol: www.primatepatrol.org/join

 

Capital One exploits chimpanzees (again!)

Primate Patrol has received the disappointing news that Capital One is currently running a commercial featuring a young chimpanzee “actor.” This is NOT the first time Capital One has had a chimpanzee in their advertising. Despite a growing public awareness about the ethical problems with using chimpanzee “actors” in entertainment, Capital One still chose to make another chimpanzee commercial.

Please send a polite letter to Capital One asking them not to air this commercial. Your letters can make a difference – just this year, two large companies, Dodge and Pfizer, chose to alter their commercials that featured live ape “actors” and pledged to never use primates in advertising again after hearing from concerned advocates.

Let them know that chimpanzees cannot be trained for entertainment by positive reinforcement alone, and brutal training practices in the entertainment industry are well documented. Remind them that in addition to welfare concerns, using chimpanzees in the media seriously hinders conservation efforts of free-living chimpanzees.

You may send your letter to the CEO of Capital One, Richard Fairbank at [email protected]

You can also view this alert on PETA’s action webpage.

Sample Letter to Capital One:

[Date]
Dear Mr. Fairbank:

I was extremely disappointed to hear that Capital One has chosen to air a commercial featuring a young chimpanzee. You should know that great apes used in entertainment are torn away from their mothers as infants, often repeatedly beaten during training, and then discarded when they become too strong to be managed.

Using a chimpanzee for a cheap laugh sends the message that these amazing beings are simply props. Surely you are aware that chimpanzees are endangered species in critical need of protection? You are exploiting chimpanzees for your own profits and this is an unacceptable business practice.

Please make the compassionate decision to remove the commercial from the air, and please consider to never exploit great apes for entertainment purposes again. Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]
[Your city & state]

If you send an e-mail to Capital One, please remember to BCC Primate Patrol at [email protected] for tracking purposes. Thank you!

Birthday wish for Jerry

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Here’s a special birthday wish for today: Happy 69th birthday to Jerry R. Davis from Jody and Jamie (Chimpanzee)!

We hope you are having a great birthday, Jerry!

here’s an oldie but a goodie of Jody and Jamie doing their things:

Sippin’ 2011 Thanks

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Sippin’ for the Seven was a successful ($7270!) and fun event thanks to the following:

Kristi Payne of Vintage Vine – not enough praise can be bestowed on Kristi for arranging for the wineries and general planning for the past three Sippin’ events.

Rhett Humphrey, student at Central Washington University in the wine program and intern at Vintage Vine, orchestrated the volunteers for Sippin’ this year and did an absolutely fantastic job.

Swiftwater Cellars provided the beautiful venue for the evening. The sanctuary purchased delicious and wonderfully presented food from Chef Paul Cotta of Swiftwater Cellar’s Hoist House Restaurant.

Poppoff, Inc was the Associate Sponsor for this year’s event. You may recall that this wonderful company also helped with construction of our greenhouse way back in 2009/2010.

Abbott’s Printing, our go-to printers since the beginning, continue to be generous with their sponsorships of our events and gave a nice in-kind donation of printing in support of Sippin’ 2011 at the Chimpanzee Champion level.

Matthew Wenz of Wenz Creative designed the gorgeous posters, advertising cards and tasting booklets.

Participating wineries and breweries – this is what the night was all about! Thanks to Kristi, we had some terrific wineries represented by some terrific people. Check them ALL out: Cedergreen Cellars , Chandler Reach Vineyards, 
Chateau Ste Michelle , Chinook, 
Coyote Canyon Winery, 
Elegante Cellars,
 Gamache Vintners, 
Gard Vintners, 
Gilbert Cellars, 
Heymann Winery, 
Ironhorse Brewery , Jones of Washington, Kana Winery, Kestrel Vintners, 
Martinez & Martinez Winery , Mercer Cellars, NHV – Naches Heights Vineyard , Northwest Totem Cellars, 
Old Schoolhouse Brewery, 
Roslyn Brewing Company, Saint Laurent , Saviah, 
Steppe Cellars , SuLei Cellars , Swiftwater Cellars, Syncline Winery, Thurston Wolfe, 
Two Mountain Winery, 
Upland Estates, and Waters Winery

Coal Creek provided wonderful music as a perfect backdrop to the wine tasting.

Ron Sullivan Photography captured the evening (we’ll be sharing photos soon!).

The event volunteers really outdid themselves this year. Pam Lehnert, as usual, added her decorating and set-up touches to the evening, Rozsika Steele embellished some fedoras for our raffle ticket sellers, and the following volunteers all did a wonderful and professional job of making the event run smoothly: Kevin McPhee, Emily Miltko, Christina Broussard, Amy Gonzales, Sofi Bernstein, Nicole Tuson, Jaclyn Bourdon, Erin Johnson, Charlene Cline, Dave Cline, Margie Ferguson, Kate Daugherty, Janie Gibbons, Debbie Metzler, Alison Eglin, Rozsika Steele, Ryan Steele, C.J. Radawick, Max Murrey, Jody Mooney, Jessica Grigg, Jamie Davis, Frank Pangrazi and Bev Humphrey. Thank you all

And thanks to all attendees!

I hope you’ll join us next year on February 25th for Sippin’ for the Seven 2012! This is a really fun event and a great time to find new favorites then stock up on your wine and beer for the year – we’ll give you a deal next year in the wine store and proceeds for purchases all support the sanctuary!!

Caregivers as enrichment

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Let’s face it- no matter how much we do to spice up captivity with enrichment and projects, it can still get pretty boring sometimes. We try to do what ever we can to keep the chimps entertained, including simple things like drinks from the hose. The chimps have access to water 24 hours a day, but sometimes they just seem to prefer to have us “fill them up”, so to speak, instead. Chimps have prehensile lips and a large pouch in their bottom lip, so they can hold a lot of water in there! And, as always here at CSNW, they have the choice to drink or…