Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
Today’s sponsor-a-day is from the Tacoma chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. The ladies collected tons of enrichment for the chimps’ Cinco de Mayo party. Thanks so much ladies!
Here’s to a fun fiesta for Negra, Missy and all of the seven!
We have a couple of small bamboo plants that we have been keeping in the human area of the greenhouse, and we’ve discovered that the chimps, especially Annie, love it just as much as grass! Annie will make raspberry sounds and point to it, just begging for us to give her more!
The other day she discovered that not only is it fun to eat:
…but it’s also fun to watch yourself eat it:
I can’t wait to see this girl on Young’s Hill!
Annie and Missy just play, play, play:
In the chimp world, when you are the boss, it means you can get away with a lot– well, everything. As the leader of the Cle Elum Seven, Jamie lets her feelings be known. When she doesn’t like something someone did, or the way they did it, it can lead to a fight (or a screaming match, which seems to be more common these days). So, to succeed as a member of the group, you must learn how to be a good politician, which first and foremost means how to be submissive to the (wo)man. As the least dominant member of the group, Annie is excellent at this. She is constantly referencing the other members of the group to make sure everyone is okay with whatever it is she is doing. Foxie is somewhere in the middle of the dominance hierarchy but tends to get away with a lot. She is the peacekeeper of the group and has a very close friendship with Jamie, but she still has to tread lightly, none the less.
Enrichment comes in many shapes and sizes. We give the chimps gum from time to time, because not only is it good for the chimps’ teeth (we try to stick to Spry Brand gum, which has Xylitol in it- a natural sweetener that is also good for your teeth), but it gives them something interesting to do. Some of the chimps choose to just swallow their gum right away, but others like to chew and even play with their gum.
Burrito:
Missy, “stretching out” her enrichment:
Today’s sponsor-a-day is from Monica Best. Monica has named this day “Love a Chimpanzee Day” in memory of her cat, Ozzie. You may remember last years’ Love a Chimpanzee Day celebration. Monica sent so much good stuff for the chimps- it was so much fun! Well, she’s done it again and we have an exciting day ahead of us! Thanks so much, Monica!
Here’s a photo of Burrito in his Valentine’s Day love nest:
