Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for January 2019

Annie

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I have been watching a change with Annie. As many of you may know, Annie is not one of the highest ranking chimps in the group. However, it seems like she knows how to play her cards. She knows exactly when to steal food, something that could get her in trouble with the other chimps. She has to be brave, play it smart, and wait for the perfect moment. Burrito can sometimes get a little too excited, and carried away. She hasn’t been afraid to call him out lately either! Annie has even been more people oriented recently as well. Maybe even a little flirty with some of our male volunteers! She is normally known to spend a lot of time with her chimp friends like Missy, so this new interest in people is very fun to watch. If you’re lucky enough to be the one getting to hangout with her it just makes your heart happy. She is getting bolder all the time, and I think you can see the confidence on her face.

Missy:

Jody wadging her chow bag:

Jamie found a few good magazines and cuddled up into her nest:

Jamie holding her blanket in her pelvic pocket:

A Picture Worth…

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I had the hardest time decided what to do for the blog today. There were many moments worthy of sharing and even more thoughts floating around my head. I could have written a novel.

Instead, I decided to  let the two images below speak for themselves. What do you see?

Burrito:

Negra:

Lord Byron’s poem “She Walks in Beauty” came to mind with the photo of Negra.

P.S. The “featured” image above of Annie’s profile reminded me of a Victorian cameo. I’m not sure why the chimpanzees brought to mind the 1800s today.

Grooming Party

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In the afternoon, the chimps can often be found gathered together in grooming parties. At CSNW, these parties usually take place on elevated platforms or, as you can see here, in a corner of the playroom loft. Though grooming partners change from day to day and even minute to minute, over time you can observe stable patterns of affiliation – what we would rightly call friendships. Grooming can also be viewed as a form of currency to be used strategically – I do a favor for you by grooming you, and at some point you can pay me back by sharing food, being less aggressive toward me, etc.

Based on research conducted by former CWU student and CSNW intern Jake Funkhouser, we know that Jamie and Negra are the least likely to be involved in these grooming sessions. Negra’s lack of interest in grooming shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that she is less social overall than the others. But Jamie? Shouldn’t the boss get groomed the most?

It may have something to do with the fact that Jamie directs much of her grooming behavior towards the staff and volunteers, which is not unusual in chimps raised by humans. But we can’t discount the face of Jamie that led us to think of her as the boss in the first place – she is a bit of a bully. And it may just be that while aggressiveness will win you an extra piece of fruit now and then, it won’t win you a lot of friends.

The heart of the social network, as Jake discovered, was Jody. She had strong affiliative relationships with the other chimps and was most often the recipient of grooming. As you can see in this video, Burrito and Foxie are engaged in reciprocal grooming, but Annie is happy to groom Jody without receiving anything in return (well, at least not at this time). This is quite the privilege.

Knowing this changes how we see the group, and it will inform the way we approach integrating other chimps. There’s certainly a lot going on in these quiet moments.

Just because she can

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The chimps often use straws for drinking things that aren’t within reach (such as evening food puzzle drink buckets that we set outside their enclosures).

Sometimes they like to improvise and use straws, just because they can (not because it’s necessary). Annie for instance, likes to bring her own straw along to drink her morning smoothie (that we usually serve straight to her lips from the cup). Here’s Jamie making an interesting tool use choice.

Glacial archaeology

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Last week melted the majority of the snow covering the sanctuary, but we’ve had a couple of cold and dry days this week. The chimps seem unfazed by the drop in temperature and have still been eager to explore Young’s Hill each morning (albeit at a slightly faster pace). As the chimpanzees wrapped up their morning adventures, Foxie uncovered a lone Strawberry Shortcake doll that must have spent a great deal of this winter covered in snow. Being the responsible doll owner that she is, she gingerly took her buried treasure back to the warm playroom to thaw out.

Behind the Scenes

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Morning is the busiest time at the sanctuary. Here’s a photo tour of the first few hours of the day today.

Coming up the driveway to the sanctuary, you can see (L-R) the trailer that houses our mobile medical clinic (which will soon be replaced with a stationary medical clinic in the new expansion), the enrichment shed for storing extra toys and blankets for the chimps, the gate to the chimp house, and the barn, which is now used to store hay and straw for the cattle. Young’s Hill, the chimps’ two-acre outdoor habitat, is out of frame to the far left.

For the chimps’ safety and privacy, the sanctuary is not open to the public.

Today staff member Anna is Lead Caregiver.

The first order of the day is to greet the chimps and work through a brief morning checklist. (That’s Annie in the background.)

Meanwhile, volunteer Linda starts preparing breakfast.

This is usually how we find Negra first thing in the morning: huddled in a pile of blankets in her favorite spot on the playroom catwalk.

And this is usually how we find Burrito: working up into his morning display.

Anna checks the day’s enrichment for safety before it’s given to the chimps.

Anna and intern Rose check some doors and locks in preparation for entering the greenhouse for cleaning:

Linda, Rose, and intern Sofia start in the greenhouse…

…while Anna brings out a basket of clean enrichment and blankets.

These guys are the true MVPs of the sanctuary. They run every hour of the day.

When greenhouse cleaning is done, Anna gives the chimps access to the greenhouse, and Linda starts serving breakfast in the front rooms while Anna closes off the playroom for cleaning.

Burrito and Annie (if you look closely you can see a tiny Jody behind them in the greenhouse):

After some more door and lock checks, it’s time to clean the playroom.

Enrichment gets a thorough cleaning, too.

While Linda, Rose, and Sofia get started in there, Anna starts the trek up the hill for her Young’s Hill perimeter check…

…and back down the other side.

Once she determines that the hill is secure, she unlocks and opens the door.

Missy, Foxie, and Annie can’t wait to get out and explore a little.

Some chimps preferred to remain in the warm front rooms.

After playroom cleaning, Anna double-checks some locks…

…and then gives the chimps access to the playroom and closes off the front rooms for cleaning.

Jamie found a new book on predators that she was captivated by.

In the kitchen, the volunteers start preparing tonight’s evening enrichment (peanut butter pinecones) and lunch.

After some checks to make sure the front rooms are chimp-free, Anna unlocks them for the next round of cleaning…

Icy days, flying pigs and bonobos

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Yesterday we had freezing fog rolling through the sanctuary all day and overnight the sanctuary turned into an icy wonderland. With a wind chill of 20 degrees it’s remained enchanting, if not frigid, but that hasn’t stopped several of the chimpanzees from a quick run around Young’s Hill. But most of the chimps have been enjoying their day indoors, playing constant games of chase and making huge blanket nests.

And boss lady, Jamie, has no problem finding indoor activities to keep her busy in between her frosty runs. She began by taking an after breakfast nap complete with yawns and choosing to wear a hot pink sock with flying pigs in capes on it. Naturally.

We put out a forage of purple cabbage and dried oranges, but Jamie was most interested in what might have been hidden in her kitchenette. And we just love that giant caterpillar:

She later discovered a surprise pair of new boots:

And then she finally settled back into her nest for some reading about her cousins, the Bonobos. Jamie is utterly fascinated by the books she has been given about bonobos, even more so than her chimpanzee books. She spends ages looking at them over and over: