Recently, I saw a video from a study of chimpanzee cognition in which chimps were presented with a peanut inside a clear tube that was mounted to the outside of their enclosure. Within a short amount of time, the chimp began filling the tube with water so that the nut would float to the top. Genius! So, yesterday I decided to see how these guys would handle the problem and zip-tied a couple of nut-filled bottles to the outside of the caging. Clearly, my method of attaching the bottles wasn’t quite as elaborate as the one used in the study, since the chimps could just turn them over, but it did keep them busy and entertained for quite some time!
Primate Awareness Week
This week at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, the recently formed student group called PAN (Primate Awareness Network) is hosting Primate Awareness Week. They have a variety of speakers from the primate community speaking about issues in conservation and captivity, including CSNW’s own Sarah Baeckler and JB Mulcahy. Sarah will be discussing her experiences working undercover at a Hollywood entertainment training facility and JB will tell the story of the Cle Elum Seven. If you are in the area, you should check it out!
Annie’s waist warmer
Last Saturday, while playing with Missy, Annie put a bright pink fleece head warmer around her neck and wore it like that for 2 days. On Monday, her “neck warmer” became a “waist warmer”. It is now day 5 of waist warming! Pretty fashion-forward!
Personalized gifts from friends
We have so many supporters that have been sending us so many wonderful things for the chimps. Among this long list of individuals are Diane and Syd Marcus. They have sent us countless gifts over the last 2 years, and last week, they sent a huge box of personalized presents for each of the chimps, including an amazing pair of (vegan!) cowgirl boots for Jamie, a beaded necklace for Burrito, a scarf for Annie, a troll doll for Foxie, a new pair of socks for Missy, nuts for Negra, and cereal for Jody. The chimps definitely knew something was up! Jamie, as always, was beside herself when she spotted the boots and Foxie dropped all 5 trolls that she had with her in exchange for her brand new troll, who she promptly took outside for some private time. It was a good day… Thanks so much, Diane and Syd!
Jody and Missy play
As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, Jody doesn’t play too often. But every once in a while, we’ll catch her playing with someone, which is a real treat. Even then though, it’s often a very mellow kind of play… Today, however, Missy got her going, resulting in a full-fledged play session. Notice how Jamie tries to steal their thunder towards the end… very “Jamie-like”, if you ask me. 🙂
Love a Chimpanzee Day!
Today was Love a Chimpanzee Day, which kept the chimps awfully busy!! Thanks to Monica Best for sponsoring this day in memory of her cat Ozzie.
Playful Chimps!
I think it’s possible Foxie could get anyone in the mood to play.
