Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for December 2017

Keeping Traditions

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This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Judy and Thom Nash in honor of their family! Judy shared this beautiful message about their gift:

“Last year we sponsored a day as our gift to our four grown daughters and grandchildren and want to continue that tradition. We believe it’s extremely important to care for our earth and all inhabitants. These seven chimps have found a special place in my heart and I feel ashamed as humans that we treated them so horrible. I am eternally grateful for the sanctuary and the wonderful people that take special care of these seven beautiful beings.”

Judy and Thom, this is such a lovely, heartfelt day of sanctuary in honor of your daughters and grandchildren and the chimps! Thank you for holding the chimps in your hearts and for making a lasting difference in their lives. Happiest of holidays and winter seasons to you and your family from all of the primates at CSNW!

On this first day of winter we’ve had happily nowhere near the snow we had last year yet (knock on wood), but chimp family snowdays are nevertheless a sight to behold. Here are Jamie and Missy ingeniously avoiding the snow from last year:

Jamie:

Missy:


Jody bringing in a snow treat:

Jody holding snow 2

Jamie and Annie improving upon the humans’ shoveling skills:

Foxie and Burrito:

Of course, snowdays call for plenty of warm tea and cozy nests:

Negra:

Jungle Day

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In celebration of today’s winter solstice, we threw a jungle party for the chimpanzees. Why? Because we can!

After the food, the highlight of the party was the giant stuffed animals collected and sent to us by some good friends of the chimps. Stuffed animals this large are a rarity around here – most of the chimps are more interested in destroying them than playing with them. Burrito, however, is a big fan.

Enrichment comes in many forms

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We provide the chimpanzees at the sanctuary with a wide variety of enrichment to enhance their daily lives. The great thing about enrichment is how flexible it is!

Some enrichment (and often the most popular kind) involves food…
A forage helps exercise the chimps’ bodies and minds:

Negra

Enrichment can also have nothing to do with food…
A daily rotation of toys and other objects give the chimps new things to play with and look at each day.

Burrito

Jamie

Enrichment can be large and permanent!

Jamie on top of “Negra’s Cabin.” Missy, Annie, and Jody below.

Enrichment can be tough and durable…

Jody shakes a peanut out of a a boomer ball.

Or naturally sourced…

Annie licks peanut butter off a pine cone.

Negra nests in fresh straw.

While some enrichment might require a bit of money and assembly time to create…

Missy uses a tool in the treat rock to find peanut butter

Jody and Missy explore the towers on Young’s Hill

Other types of enrichment can be quickly created from recycled materials!

Hanging food stuffed in paper towel rolls is a free enrichment puzzle!
Jamie looks for peanut butter smears on a magazine.

Making enrichment for chimpanzees relies on a little bit of imagination and creativity. If you know someone who works with primates and would like to share ideas with us, please feel free to direct them to our enrichment database!

Neighborhood watch

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Not a lot slips by the Cle Elum 7. Whether it’s a snake out on Young’s Hill, or a stranger pulling into the parking lot, the chimps are very in tune with even the slightest change to their surroundings. Luckily, there are a lot of vantage points for them to keep an eye on things.

Many of the outdoor structures are just right for spying on the goings on around the property.

Jamie on Twister:

Foxie (and doll) on one of the towers:
foxie and the landscape

Sometimes all the chimps need for a better view is to make themselves a little bit taller!
Jody:

Missy loves to check out changes to the garden through the barn doors:

Negra seems to really enjoy watching the train and other activities in the valley below the sanctuary. She is quick to alarm call to the other chimpanzees if something seems amiss.

This morning, JB wore some new bright orange safety gear while he worked around the property. This newly dressed caregiver must have been pretty interesting because at one point, we caught at least 4 chimps all watching him curiously.
Here are Jody and Annie keeping tabs on his location.

A model chimpanzee

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Foxie has been incredibly playful ALL day. She is a joyful spirit, but for whatever the reason she’s been exceptionally exuberant and happy today. I caught her in our so called portrait studio this afternoon and she graciously allowed me to take some photos. But not without adding her signature Foxie Flair to each one. Every time I would put the camera down and look at her she’d smile at me, nod her head and laugh, and as soon as I’d bring the camera up she strike another pose. She’s pretty spectacular.

Rain or Shine

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Nothing stops Jamie from doing what she loves. Though the weather could have been better today… Jamie kept a good attitude and didn’t let a little rain stop her! Jamie encouraged the care staff and volunteers to join her; as for the chimps, only one chimp endured the outdoors with Jamie and that was Burrito. However, he did not join again after the first time…

Jamie doing a perimeter check in the rain:

Jamie at the last leg of the walk getting ready to start running:

Meanwhile, the chimps inside napped or quietly played. The chimps were hard to find today so I tried to capture what I could without disturbing their peaceful day!

Burrito playing by himself:

Negra getting cozy:

The Infinite Loop of Happiness

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One of the biggest lessons I have learned about taking care of chimpanzees in a sanctuary setting is that there is no “one size fits all” approach to care. There are, however, very important things that we can offer as caregivers and sanctuary managers, and they include a knowledge of chimpanzees as a species, lots of different options, encouragement, patience, and a willingness to treat the chimpanzees as the individuals who they are.

We learn what they need and want by getting to know who they are, and they continue to surprise us by growing into their more autonomous lives at the sanctuary in different ways; ways we never would have predicted.

I see the job of the humans as facilitators of the chimpanzees’ own discoveries into what makes them most happy and satisfied. We then observe and learn, delighting in the witnessing of the chimps’ discoveries, and that feeds into the next choices that we present. It’s like an infinite loop of happiness. And you are part of it too. When I think about it, many, perhaps even most, of the blog posts that we share with you are about this process.

I’ve talked to several people in the last couple of months who say things like, “The sanctuary’s blog posts are the highlight of my day. They make me so happy!” That, in turn, makes me happy, creating another loop.

It’s a very special experience to share the lives of these chimpanzees with you, and learning about the impact it has on your lives makes it infinitely more special.

This is what I was thinking about when I was out walking with Jamie and Missy this morning and I saw that Burrito had come outside to join them. Today, he was carrying a small orange scrub brush in his mouth.

burrito walking

 

I was thinking about how it wasn’t that long ago that having Burrito join in a walk around the hill was a new experience for all of us, but now it’s a regular occurrence.

Burrito standing

 

I was thinking about J.B. telling me last night that Burrito got his attention in the middle of the day yesterday to do a perimeter walk – just the guys! – with boss Jamie remaining in the chimp house.

Burrito standing

 

All of this is not to paint a portrait of everyone happy all of the time, of course. All of us, Burrito included, have our moments of sadness, anxiety, anger, etc., but these infinite loops of happiness are always running in the background of our lives, and that makes the not-so-great moments dull and fade maybe just a little bit quicker.