Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Archives for November 2016

A chimp family stroll

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We are being gifted with a stretch of incredibly spring-like weather. The mornings start out damp, foggy and cold, but by the afternoon it’s warm, bright and sunny. The humans decided we needed a walk around Young’s Hill as much as Jamie did so we all decided to join her. The sight of a group of their caregivers always gets the chimps excited and often all or most of them will join us. This also gets our resident wild elk friend excited and she decided to tag along as well (though I am pretty sure the chimps attempted to un-invite her). You know, just a chimp family stroll in our own wonderful world at the sanctuary (missing Keri and Elizabeth who are home recovering from colds, and Negra and Foxie who were nesting in the sun).

We all hold so much gratitude in our hearts for this most special and magical of places and all who make it possible. A sanctuary to so many, non-human and human alike.

Anna, Diana, Yuri, Ellie and JB:

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Missy and Annie (L) and Ellie and JB waiting for the others to join us:

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Missy, Burrito and Jody suggested Ellie walk elsewhere at which point she ran to catch up with the humans:

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On a second lap around the hill, Jamie decided to check out the happenings in the neighborhood atop her beloved Twister:

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From blue cement floors below, to blue skies above

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Just over eight years ago, the Cle Elum 7 were living in the windowless basement of the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania. Their entire world consisted of four attached 6×6 cages.

Here’s a little perspective on just exactly what that meant for the chimpanzees:
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Take a moment and imagine only being able to climb as high as that cage ceiling or walk as far as the beginning of one wall to the end of the other. It’s truly inconceivable.

A huge part of sanctuary means providing a new multidimensional expansive world for the chimpanzees to enjoy.

When Missy climbed to to the tallest structure on Young’s Hill this morning, she was around 20 feet in the air with an unimpeded view of a lush green valley and rolling mountains. The sun could warm her back and the breeze could tickle her skin. She had 2 acres of grassy hill to run and play on, with several comfortable indoor areas to nap and groom in.

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What a difference 8 years can make.

Part joy. Part magic. All Foxie.

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Last week you may recall that I captured Foxie snuggled up napping on the heated floor with her dolls, Kate and Alana (Dora’s friends 🙂 ). I also promised there were A WHOLE LOT of photos of that scene to follow. So here goes…

When Foxie plays she often likes to lie on her back in a tiny chimpanzee ball repeatedly tucking her arms and legs into herself and then kicking and flailing them about as she snorts and laughs. On this day, after she woke up she rolled over and decided to engage her dolls in her play session (JB wrote a fantastic blog post on Friday about chimps and imaginary play). What ensued was part joy, part magic, and all Foxie:

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Missy deigns to play with a caregiver

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Missy is a chimps’ chimp. She much prefers the company of her chimpanzee family to that of any of her caregivers. Once in awhile she honors us with some attention, but she is hilariously aloof in most of her interactions with humans. On the rare occasion that she plays with a caregiver, she typically has a “I’m a little embarrassed for you right now” look on her face. Which, of course, makes her all the more charming.

Tea & Play

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Today’s enrichment theme was “tea party” so we took that literally and made two types of tea for the chimps to enjoy after we had finished cleaning their castle.

Post-tea time was spent on important things like diving into the nesting position, staring at a troll doll, and some lazy play with friends. Watch the video with sound.

Who can resist being thoroughly charmed by these chimpanzees?

 

Today is for Chaela!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Glen Rinzler in honor of Chaela Ferguson! Glen has been a supporter and friend of the chimpanzees since they arrived to their sanctuary home and we are so happy to celebrate Chaela with him today.

Glen, thank you so much for your continued friendship of the chimps and for all you do to ensure their lives are overflowing with love, respect, adventure, joy, and family. We’re so happy that you chose to include them as you honor Chaela today!

Chaela, we hope you have a beautiful day! May it be full of all that brings you joy, just as you’ve helped provide the chimpanzees!

Jamie and Foxie play wrestling over a troll. Those play faces!:

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Imaginary Play

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Chimpanzees have rich imaginary lives. Chimps who use American Sign Language have been observed signing to inanimate objects and engaging them as if they were live social partners. For example, a chimpanzee named Dar was once seen signing “tickle” to a stuffed bear that he was playing with. I personally recall (and will never, ever forget) watching a chimpanzee named Moja don a curly blonde wig and look at herself in the mirror while signing “pretty” to her reflection.

Foxie was never taught sign language, but language isn’t a requirement for imaginary play.

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Nor is imaginary play limited to chimpanzees raised in human environments. In the wild, young chimpanzees have been seen carrying sticks as rudimentary dolls and caring for them as if they were their own offspring. Are they simply expressing a desire to be more grown up? Could it be an instinctual form of practice to prepare them for motherhood? Whatever the motivation, it is probably not much different than our own.

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What’s so interesting about Foxie is that the objects of her imaginary play are often not chimpanzee-like at all. Foxie is occasionally given chimpanzee dolls but she rejects them in favor of Troll dolls or Dora the Explorer dolls. And when she plays with Dora, she treats her more as a human than as a chimp. Note how she stands Dora bipedally (on two legs) instead of quadrupedally like a chimpanzee, even though Dora would stand upright just as well on all fours.

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We can never truly know what a chimpanzee is thinking, but we certainly know that they are thinking. And imaginary play gives us a tantalizing peek into what those thoughts might be.

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