Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Keri

Back to a few older favorites

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Many of you have probably already seen yesterday’s blog of Foxie with her new doll. Watching the video again, I’m reminded of a question I am often asked regarding how long Foxie carries the same doll before she picks a new one. The answer is, it varies. Sometimes she carries the same doll for days in a row, bringing it with her on walks on Young’s Hill and sleeping with it in hand. Other times, it seems she goes back and forth between which doll(s) she likes best; leaving one behind only to come back to it later in the day. And still, at other times, her fascination in a particular doll is short lived. Luckily, Foxie has a plethora of dolls to choose from each and every day.

This morning, she had the same “new” doll she was given yesterday, but by this afternoon, she was back to holding a few of her older favorites.

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Climbing to new heights

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It’s always great to share a story when one of the chimpanzees does something that we have not seen before. What is even better, is when we capture pictures or video footage of it!

This morning, we spread fruit (apples and peaches) throughout Young’s Hill, as part of the chimps’ breakfast. For those of you new to the blog, Young’s Hill is the chimps’ 2 acre outdoor enclosure, with open skies overhead. On the hill, are a variety of wooden structures (Twister, Carlene’s Tower & Jamie’s Lookout to name a few) and bridges, fire hoses and tire swings for the chimps to climb and sit on. There is also Negra’s cabin, built with the Queen herself in mind.

We threw some of the cut up fruit on top of Negra’s cabin, with Missy in mind. She is the chimp most likely to climb that structure. But, today some of the other chimps beat her to it, one of which, most of us do not think we have ever seen climb to the top.

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In all honesty, climbing isn’t exactly one of Burrito’s strong points. He can be a little awkward and doesn’t exhibit the most grace when climbing. But, when I stop to think about it, it’s not something he grew up doing or was taught how to do. Having spent decades in a cage the size of a bathroom stall, there isn’t much space or need for climbing to get from one place to another.

We’re just happy to see Burrito expanding his horizons to include climbing Negra’s cabin…perhaps, peaches and apples were the motivating factors 🙂

It’s a Burrito thing

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On any given day, Burrito usually has some sort of enrichment object that he carries around with him. Some days it’s a wooden toy…

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Last week, it was a plastic toy bucket….

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and a toothbrush…

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Today, it’s a white and green scrub brush.

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Both Foxie and Jamie have their “thing” (dolls and boots, respectively). Burrito has his toys. And, when he’s feeling playful, he will put the toy in his mouth and bite it. This is often accompanied by a quick nod of his head and a foot stomp directed toward one of his human caregivers. It’s Burrito’s invitation to play a game of chase and it’s pretty hard to resist!

Chimps back on Young’s Hill After Recent Fire

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To say that yesterday was filled with “excitement” would be an understatement. If you have not already heard the news, there was a fire on a neighboring property that started yesterday. The firefighters were on it right away and all of the safety measures we have at the sanctuary to deal with wildfires were enacted immediately. Fortunately, the fire was much smaller and slower moving than the Taylor Bridge fire of 2012, that burned through part of the sanctuary property.

Today, everyone is safe now that the fire is contained, the smoke has cleared and the temperature is just right. So, we decided to celebrate with a lunch forage on Young’s Hill. Everyone went out to gather food, soak up the sunshine and climb the various structures to look around.

Annie (left), Jody (center) and Burrito (right)
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Burrito (foreground) and Jamie (background)
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Foxie (left) and Missy (right)
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Missy searched high and low to find the “hidden” food…
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…including corn on the cob.
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Jody with red onions in her mouth.
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Annie with a mouth full of primate chow.
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Burrito
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Jamie
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Foxie brought her Dora the Explorer doll onto the hill.
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Negra posted up and ate her corn on the cob.
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We’re so thankful to all the firefighters that work so hard to protect our community, to our dedicated staff and volunteers, and for all of the well wishes from supporters around the world!!! Thank you all so much for caring and sending us your loving thoughts! We’re forever grateful!

Playing with a caregiver, Foxie style

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Foxie gets pretty excited when she sees a new troll or Dora the Explorer doll. Today, thanks to our generous supporters, Foxie had a plethora of troll dolls to choose from. Instead of giving them to her one troll at a time, this morning we thought it would be fun to put them all into one container and wait to see which one(s) she would choose.

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Turns out, she grabbed one with bright red hair first (you can just see a little tuft of the red-haired doll’s hair sticking up on the left hand side in the the above photo) but quickly went back for another when Jamie took it away.

Jody showed some interest in the dolls as well.
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When I walked out to the Greenhouse a little while later, I saw Foxie and staff caregiver Katelyn playing….
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She had chosen a new doll (with yellow hair) to pass back and forth to Katelyn.

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Year Seven

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Continuing the trip down memory lane in celebration of the sanctuary’s 8th anniversary, today is all about the Cle Elum Seven’s seventh year of sanctuary.

The seventh year of sanctuary would include moving the veterinary clinic under the newly constructed pole barn…

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…adding a new climbing structure to Young’s Hill. It would be the tallest structure built on the hill to date. It is comprised of two climbing towers (Carlene’s Tower and Jamie’s Lookout), which are connected by a swinging bridge…

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Jamie’s Lookout
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Carlene’s Tower
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…and perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the seventh year of sanctuary has been the addition of Positive Reinforcement Training (click on the link to read JB’s description of PRT at the sanctuary.) I think Diana summed it up the best; “Our ultimate goal with this program is to give the chimps the opportunity to participate in their own medical care, and to make it a positive experience for them.” The information gained from these training sessions is critical to providing the best care possible for the chimps.

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Click on the link to read more about Negra’s progress in the PRT program.
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The chimps also had some new visitors on Young’s Hill this year, including Hank the Hawk and Bernard the Eagle.

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And here are some more highlights from the seventh year of sanctuary.

Thanks to the handy work (destruction) of whom we can only guess was responsible (most likely Jamie), the chimps got a new and improved bridge in the Playroom.

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Foxie flips

Jamie enjoys Young’s Hill after hours.
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Burrito doing what he does best, being a big kid.

And Jody doing what she loves, foraging for plants on Young’s Hill.
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Annie’s increased independence.
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Jody

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Now that the temperatures have warmed up, JB has taken many of the plexiglass panels off the sides of the Greenhouse. This allows for the breeze to flow through the Greenhouse, helping to keep it at a comfortable temperature for the chimps. It also allows for us to take photos of the chimps from different angles.

We try to represent each of the chimps on the blog equally, but the reality is, some of the chimps would rather stay out of the spotlight. Jody is one of those chimps. So, with that in mind, I tried to focus on capturing photos of her to share on today’s blog.

Here she is in the Greenhouse, eating alfalfa cubes before dozing off for a quick afternoon nap.
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And, this is one of my new favorites of her, sitting in Negra’s cabin on Young’s Hill, eating some of the lunch we had set out for a forage.
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Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Negra’s birthday and the 8th anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to CSNW!!