Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
If you are watching with sound, you can hear that I was unable to contain my laughter at one point. Nevertheless, I attempted to frame Burrito’s silliness in the most educational way possible ;). Thanks to Krissy for the brand new Jolly Ball that she made sure Burrito had today!
We stuffed cabbage and a few nuts in each of those red ball puzzles.
Please learn more about our enrichment by perusing the Enrichment Database!
Annie is the second oldest chimpanzee at the sanctuary. She will turn 50 years old in September! She is low-ranking in her group, as she is very timid. She doesn’t want to upset Jamie, the alpha, by stepping out of line.
Annie’s best friend is Missy, but she also is often near Burrito. Although, Burrito is her shadow when she is swelling so that’s not necessarily her choice to be near him 24/7. Annie is a calm, quiet female chimpanzee but very sensitive. She hates drama and conflicts with her group members, although conflicts are perfectly normal in chimpanzee society.
Annie loves all foods and eats just about anything. She is one of the least-picky eaters we have around here!
One of my favorite things about Annie is how she bipedally walks through the grass. She bends her long-arms so the grass doesn’t touch her and then uses her arms to help move her along. It makes me laugh just about every time.
Annie makes bird-sounds with her mouth and hand when she is resting peacefully.
Annie isn’t super human-oriented, but she is very sweet to her caregivers and will offer them a kiss from time-to-time or a gentle hand touch.
Annie:
Kelsi and Cy:
Raspberries are growing! Jamie’s favorite time of year.
Terry:
Terry and Willy B:
This week one of our newest volunteers Rylie came out to the Sanctuary to bring our garden beds back to life! During her orientation, Rylie noticed the beds were growing weeds so she reached out to us to ask if she could clean them up and plant some veggies for the chimps. Needless to say, we were thrilled she wanted to take this on!
Rylie worked with Diana to figure out what to plant. They wanted to come up with veggies that the chimps love to eat but also knew it was getting late in the season to start planting so had to pick items that were quick to mature. She took some impressive before and after photos for today’s blog.
In Bed 1, Rylie decided to put in 4 tomato plants (Missy’s favorite!). The bed already had lavender, lemon balm, catnip, and oregano growing in it – all of which are tomato companion plants. These herbs help to repel all sorts of pests that damage tomato plants. For example, catnip repels rodents and oregano deters aphids. Pollinators, such as bees, are attracted to both lemon balm and lavender. Pollinators help to promote healthy growth of tomato plants. Lemon balm is also known to enhance the flavor of the actual tomatoes! Pretty cool, right?
Before:
After:
In Bed 2, marigolds, potatoes, red onions, beets, and carrots were planted. This bed in particular had very dense soil. Root vegetables can help loosen up dense soil with their deep tap roots. Some veggies, like carrots and beets, are better at this than others. Marigolds were chosen for this bed because they serve as a companion plant to all 4 of these veggies, helping to repel pests, attract beneficial insects, and fight disease.
Before:
After:
In Bed 3, baby watermelons, sunflowers and sweet peppers were planted. Sunflowers are companion plants for both watermelon and peppers, helping to protect and enhance the crops. The soil in this bed was also quite compact so Rylie is hoping the deep roots of the sunflowers will help break it up. Peppers and watermelon inherently do well together because one grows up and one sprawls out. They are both sun lovers so these growth habits give each a chance to soak up all the sun they need to thrive.
Before:
After:
For all the beds, Rylie amended the existing soil with a pH balanced garden soil. For each plant or seed or set, she added earth worm castings to the hole before placing the plant/seed/set in. Earth worm castings are the end product of a worm’s digestion and they are extremely beneficial to the soil. Castings are rich in nutrients in a form that plants can easily digest. They also help soil retain water and can improve soil tilth over time. A whole lot of magic in such tiny granules.
A HUGE thank you to Rylie for tackling all the gardening! We can’t wait to see these fruits and veggies grow throughout the summer and of course, it will such an awesome day when we can feed our chimps some home grown produce!
Bonus! Jamie had intern Ilmi put on a pair of her white studded fashion boots for a walk around Young’s Hill today:
If you’re living locally and wish to volunteer at the sanctuary, just like Rylie and Ilmi, check out our website to learn more about our volunteer program!
Today we celebrate three years since the Lucky Six arrived! I truly can not imagine life without them. Each one of these chimps brings so much life to this sanctuary. When I think about the day that they arrived, the day was so full of excitement. We had done it, we had reached our goal of expanding the building to take in more chimps to provide another chance of security and a life of choice. The Lucky Six have grown so much in their 3 years here. We have watched chimps like Gordo grow confidence and comfortably with things that are unfamiliar. We have watched the group of six become a group of nine, which has provided them with more social opportunity. Watching chimps like Dora become a social butterfly and Rayne being able to use one of her best strengths, her social savvyness, to help her group navigate and build friendships! We watched all of J.B.’s hard work paid off to build the Bray, their 2 acre outdoor habitat. To be able to watch Rayne walk outside like she had done this everyday of her life was certainly one of the many highlights of my career! I could go on and on about how amazing they are, but I think that when it comes down to it we are just so lucky to have them and we are all the better for knowing them!
Cy:
Gordo:
Terry:
Dora:
Rayne:
Lucky:
There are many stereotypes out there about chimpanzees. Anytime I tell someone that I work with chimps, it is almost a guarantee they bring up something about bananas or poop-throwing in their response. Today, I am weighing in on these stereotypes!
Bananas
Do chimpanzees love bananas? Yes. Do chimpanzees love bananas more than every other food? No. Do chimpanzees only eat bananas? No.
Chimpanzees love bananas, but they love fruits in general! We serve the chimps at CSNW a variety of fruits and veggies and they all individually have their favorite foods. While bananas are a well-liked fruit, apples, pears, melon, or oranges, are equally as liked. I’m not entirely sure why we as a society have latched on to the pairing of primates and bananas, but it shows up in movies, greeting cards, toys, etc. Weigh in below on where you think this stereotype originated!
Foxie eats banana:
Honey B eats banana:
Poop-throwing
I have worked at two ape sanctuaries and out of about 90 apes (orangutans and chimpanzees), only three chimpanzees threw feces. As you may or may not know, Jamie is our only poop-thrower at CSNW. And one is plenttttttttty. Chimpanzees don’t normally throw feces in the wild, but it is seen in captive settings. There are other primates, such as howler monkeys, that are known for throwing feces.
Jamie throws feces at new staff members or volunteers, when they are doing something that she doesn’t want them be doing (whether that be playing with Burrito, scrubbing toys, or simply existing). She doesn’t throw feces as much at her long-time human friends, such as J.B., Diana, or Kelsi, so her newer friends get the brunt of it.
I don’t want you to think less of Jamie because she throws feces. Instead, think about it from the perspective of her trying to control an environment that is run by humans.
Jamie:
What other stereotypes are out there about chimpanzees? Let me know!
Research has shown that chimpanzees utilize a wide variety of gestures to communicate with one another and that the meanings of these gestures are often understood by people with no training in chimpanzee behavior, suggesting the possibility of a universal ape vocabulary.
As Dr. Catherine Hobaiter states, “They target them to a specific recipient, and they do that with a specific goal in mind. Several gestures are very similar to those of humans: having your palm up is a begging gesture and pushing away with your hand means “go away,” she says.
With all due respect to Dr. Hobatier, I think she misses some of the more subtle nuances in each of these examples, so allow me (and Mave and Dora) so translate further:
Mave: I love you Dora. You know, I don’t say that enough. I love you. And I would do anything for you.
Dora: Gee, thanks Mave.
Mave: Would you do anything for me?
Dora: I guess so, sure.
Mave Can I have your fennel, then?
Dora: Get lost! You already had one!
Mave. But I love you.
Dora: I know, thanks.
Mave: Anytime, friend. So, about that fennel…
Dora. I’m outta here…
