Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

animal protection

Negra

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It’s been so exciting to watch the chimps enjoy the greenhouse these past few days. Today was completely overcast, with temperatures in the upper 30’s for most of the day. Even so, it’s about 60 degrees in the greenhouse, and the chimps have been out there all day.

Even Negra has abandoned her usual spot on the play room catwalk to make nests outside. This is more than we could have hoped for.

web Negra greenhouse nest 1_MG_5521

Negra greenhouse nest 2_MG_5548

In fact, the greenhouse has created a new problem for us. As I write this, at 5:30, I am waiting for Jamie to come back inside so I can close the door for the night (the greenhouse does get cold at night). But she doesn’t seem to care how late I have to stay 🙂 What a good problem to have!

LUSH in store events

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Hope to see some regular supporters and make some new friends at the Sunday, February 28th in store events at LUSH Westlake and LUSH Bellevue. See LUSH’s flyer below for details.

If you can’t make it out, you can always support LUSH and their charity pot program by buying through their online store.

Chimp Eblast from Lush

Annie and Missy

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Annie and Missy have such a strange relationship. They are nearly inseparable, but when Missy decides to groom or play with someone else, Annie appears to be jealous. Its very predictable – if you see Missy playing with another chimpanzee, you can bet that Annie is watching her every move from a distance. Sometimes Annie will sit back on her butt and tap her heels on the floor, which is a behavior she often displays when she is anxious. And while Missy likes to interact with the other chimps, Annie mostly keeps to herself when Missy is not around.

Today I was taking photos of Missy and Jamie grooming and playing together outside:

Jamie Missy groom platform OA resized_MG_5374

Jamie Missy play blanket brachiate OA resized_MG_5382

And sure enough, there was Annie in the doorway, keeping an eye on things:

Annie doorway to OA resized_MG_5368

Tool use

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Chimpanzees are famous for their ability to use tools, but some individuals are more skilled than others. We know that human talent is a combination of genetics, early life experience, and practice, and the same is true with chimpanzees, I believe.

Jamie loves using tools. She could spend all day working on a project. I don’t think she’s as interested in the end result as she is in the process. Sometimes, when we are serving food, we accidentally drop a few pieces on the floor outside the enclosure. Jamie will spend the rest of the mealtime working to get those pieces, even though her caregivers are still giving out food.

Burrito, on the other hand, is just not a tool user. He has very limited patience, and he doesn’t seem to get that same flash of insight that spurs chimpanzees like Jamie to go fetch an appropriate tool. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is less intelligent. Most of the time, begging humans for help works just fine. But it does give you an idea why Burrito is not the alpha that he would like to be – Jamie is always one step ahead of him!

Op-ed in Seattle Times

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CSNW’s Executive Director, Sarah Baeckler, along with colleague and friend of the Cle Elum Seven, Debra Durham, just had an op-ed published in the Seattle Times. Please read the guest column, about the Great Ape Protection Act, here. Nice job, Sarah and Debra!