Yesterday, Keri shared some photos from the chimpanzees’ Easter party. We didn’t get a ton of video footage of the party, but I thought I’d share a few clips. Enjoy!
Animal Welfare
The Art of Grooming
Grooming is a standard activity here at the sanctuary. Usually, the chimpanzees groom one another. Some of the chimps enjoy being groomed by their caregivers. Jamie, though, likes to be the one doing the grooming. For safety reasons, the chimps don’t have the same level of physical access to their caregivers as they do to one another, so when Jamie wants to groom a caregiver she grabs a tool.
Jamie is fascinated by humans and often uses her tool to explore as much of us as she can. She removes dirt from the bottom of our shoes, checks our fingernails, and tries to remove buttons from our clothes or undo zippers or velcro. She pays special attention to any wounds, scars, or tattoos.
Jamie’s Weakness
Jamie does not exhibit vulnerability often. She is in complete command of herself and everyone else at all times, and what she sometimes lacks in confidence she makes up for in bluster. In her relationships with humans and other chimps, she rarely lets her guard down.
But Jamie has one weakness: men. Men make Jamie as close to googly-eyed as she ever gets. Our personnel at the sanctuary have always skewed heavily female. Out of our six staff members, one is male. Out of our 42 current chimp house volunteers, five are male (which is the most we’ve ever had at one time). Jamie’s behavior around these male volunteers would be recognizable to anyone who’s ever had a crush.
This morning volunteer Yuri was here and Jamie split her time between staring at him and trying to get his attention. Here she is trying to catch a glimpse of him working in the kitchen:
Missy’s Green Pepper Play
The chimpanzees have had many bell peppers donated from a local grocery store lately, so today we did an exciting whole pepper forage on the hill!
Missy made a play for two of the peppers:
Jody made an attempt to force a turnover:
But Missy drove to the end zone:
Once the play was complete, she checked for injuries:
And then sat back and enjoyed her touchdown:
This post was inspired by one of the new personalized stones that is part of the Dr. Mel Richardson Memorial Walkway!
Thanks Jordan Hill!
The Luck o’ the Cle Elum Seven
The Cle Elum Seven may not head to the pubs on St. Patrick’s Day, but they still know how to have a good time. We had a breakfast party in the greenhouse this morning with fruit smoothie in plastic shot glasses with lime garnishes, peanuts, and chow. The main event, though, was undoubtedly the whole green apples. The chimpanzees find whole fruit infinitely more exciting than the same amount of fruit cut into pieces. We put this morning’s apples inside socks and hung them around the greenhouse. The chimps were beside themselves. Here are a few highlights from the celebration.
Jamie went after the “apple socks” with a laser focus. She had some trouble carrying all her treasures, so she made good use of her opposable toes.
Foxie with a lime wedge:
and getting the last drops from a cup of smoothie:
Negra held onto her apple for awhile before eating it:
Burrito with an apple and searching for more:
and enjoying smoothie:
and more smoothie:
Annie thought there must be food inside this big green plastic egg that volunteer Alex brought:
Alas, there wasn’t.
But she consoled herself with some smoothie.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
A place in the sun
It’s a beautiful bright blue sky kind of day at the sanctuary, but the wind is biting and cold. In between quick ventures onto Young’s Hill, the chimpanzees have each spent their day finding a variety of warm places in the sun to enjoy.
Annie running up the hill to check the tire swing for ice which she happily found and ran back to the greenhouse to enjoy – and that’s Foxie and Dora on the side:
Jody has been making daily trips up the hill to check for the wild greens which haven’t started to come up yet. She did come back with what looked suspiciusly like a young bamboo shoot though.
Here’s Foxie sporting a grimace in response to the cold wind as she quickly heads back inside with her Dora dolls:
Back in the south facing window of the greenhouse, Foxie warms up with the sun on her face:
Missy joins Foxie in the sunny spot:
Burrito having an after lunch rest in the greenhouse:
There are three levels in the greenhouse and with each one the heat increases significantly. The chimps often like to pile together at the very top where they can bake in the sun. Foxie and Dora are kicked back in the heat:
Beautiful Missy decided to make a nest on the catwalk in the playroom in the south-facing windows:
The chimpanzees weren’t the only ones looking for a warm spot in the sun today:
I wasn’t able to capture any photos of the Queen and the Boss, but Negra has spent most of the day in “happy baby” pose in her nest, holding her feet and luxuriating in the glaring sun. And in between brisk walks, Jamie has also spent most of the day in a warm nest out of view. 🙂
Happy Birthday, Meg!
Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Seneca, Edan, & Gavin Konturas in honor of Meg Konturas for her birthday! They shared the following message about today:
“On her birthday, Meg wanted her gifts to be the chimpanzees’ gifts.”
This is so lovely! Seneca, Edan and Gavin, thank you so much for not only honoring Meg’s birthday wishes, but for giving the chimpanzees the gift of sanctuary!
And Meg, happiest of birthdays to you!! It is so kind of you to request that your gifts be to make the chimps’ lives better! What a compassionate way to celebrate life. We are honored to celebrate with you here today and happy birthday hoots from all of us, chimpanzee and human alike! And if you need any party ideas, the chimps just so happen to be Master Partiers…
Jamie:
Burrito:
Annie:
Jamie:
