Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for May 2014

Today is for Keri, Bob and the chimpanzees!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Keri Heniff and Bob Mark who want to celebrate their wedding day with the chimpanzees! Keri is a volunteer caregiver here at the sanctuary and is adored by the chimpanzees and humans alike and we couldn’t be happier for her and her fella on this special day! Keri and Bob shared the following message:

“We want to share this special day with all our family and friends and the chimps are part of our family, so we wanted to include them in our celebration.”

Keri and Bob, you make the world a better place just by being yourselves and we are so touched that you included the chimpanzees in your celebration. Annie and Missy seem to find something to celebrate in each day with joy and laughter and all of us here at CSNW wish the same for you both. Thank you so much for all you do and congratulations!!

Annie and Missy

Foxie’s Secret Language

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Some forms of chimp communication are universal. Chimps the world over food grunt, make play faces, and pant-hoot. While there are variations to all of these behaviors based on culture and geography, they are all part of a common chimp language.

But chimps also develop communicative behaviors all their own. My favorite example is Foxie. When Foxie adopted her first troll doll, she was extremely protective of it and became visibly upset when “Trixie,” as we named her, wound up in the hands of someone else. But over time, she began to trust us with her dolls, and at that point she actually started to use her troll dolls as a way to signify that it was time to socialize with her. While I really have no idea what is going on in Foxie’s mind, I like to think of it like this: She knows that we would never take her doll away from her, so when she hands one to us, she knows we have to stick around. You have my troll, so until I ask for it back, you’re all mine. At least that’s my guess as to how it started. Now we don’t even question it – it’s just how things work around here.

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When we come to work in the morning, Foxie passes us a troll to say hello and starts to do her playful acrobatics. And when we are locking up for the night, she often drops a troll on our heads from the loft, as a way of saying: Just five more minutes, then you can go. When she’s done with us, she asks for it back and she goes on with her day.

And it’s not just humans on the receiving end. When Foxie wants to play with Jamie, she will run up, stomp her feet, and hand a troll directly to her.

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Jamie knows that this is an invitation to a playful game of keep-away. Some of the best play bouts between Foxie and Jamie, like this one from earlier in the week, involve a troll doll (you’ll see that Jamie has it tucked into her pelvic pocket).

But sometimes Foxie goes from playful to genuinely concerned about her doll, and at that point Jamie knows to give it back immediately. No one likes to see Foxie upset.

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Who knew that a weird fad toy from the 60’s (sorry, Foxie) would become such an important part of a chimpanzee’s life?

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Green Grass

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Each year around this time, the grass on Young’s Hill turns from brown and brittle to soft and green seemingly overnight. The chimpanzees love it, and I love how at home they look out there.

Annie:

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Jody:

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Foxie and Dora…

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…and Ellie the elk spying:

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Negra:

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Burrito, enjoying the spring grass for the delicacy it is:

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Troll stroll

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It’s a beautiful spring day here at the sanctuary, not to mention a rare one without wind. It was already quite warm early this morning so we decided to do a chow forage on the hill for the chimpanzees after they were served their breakfast. Foxie and her troll friend were first out the door and they spent quite a bit of time traversing Young’s Hill in search of the chow. At first she held fast to her troll in her hand (I love her tongue sticking out here):

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But then she decided she had some ground to cover and the troll went on her back:

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It’s a good day for a stroll with one’s troll:

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Interrupted play

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Today Burrito and Foxie were wrestling and chasing and just being super playful in the greenhouse. Their laughter got to be pretty loud, and I think it caught Jamie’s attention…

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…She came out to see what was going on, and stepped right between Burrito and Foxie to interrupt their play.

This is a very boss-like thing to do in chimp society. We (lovingly) refer to Jamie as the “party police” because of instances like this.

But this time, she didn’t cease all playing—instead, she immediately started wrestling with Foxie and began to play “tug-o-troll” with her.

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Cinco de Mayo Party

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We like a good excuse for streamers, pinatas, and forages here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW. Today was no exception and, although we were mostly winging it, it appears to have done the trick quite nicely according to the chimpanzees. In particular, they seemed to be especially pleased by the whole lemon and lime forage provided by caregiver Elizabeth! Here they are enjoying a colorful greenhouse breakfast for Cinco de Mayo.

Foxie:
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Negra:
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Annie:
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Missy:
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Burrito:
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Jody:
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Jamie:
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The Day After

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Aside from working directly with and for the chimpanzees every day, the thing I love most about working for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is seeing how deeply people near and far care about the chimps – not just in the abstract, but as individuals. After decades of being treated as little more than faceless numbers, it’s incredibly heartwarming that people across the country and across the world love and appreciate Foxie for her love of troll dolls, Burrito for his epic food squeaks, and so on.

Last night’s Hoot! gala in Seattle was an amazing success and an absolute joy. People came to celebrate and support the chimps they love, or to acquaint themselves with the Cle Elum Seven for the first time. Check out the e-newsletter about the event that Diana sent out this morning here. (If you’re not yet signed up for our email list, you can do that here.) And be sure to watch the video that gala attendees saw at the event last night.

If you weren’t able to make it last night, you can still show your love for the chimps by donating here.

Today the chimpanzees are celebrating by enjoying the green grass and sunshine on Young’s Hill. After picking a couple of dandelions, Jody spent some time overseeing the unloading of the event supplies from the U-Haul.

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A million thanks to everyone who helps us continue to care for the chimps we love so much.