Negra doesn’t hang out with her human friends all too often, so when she’s in the mood to play (or to even just sit next to you), it’s a real treat. Lately, however I think she has been more interactive than usual, both with her human caregivers and with the other chimps. This morning while we were cleaning the playroom, I caught her casually spying on me through a mirror. At first I just greeted her with a head nod and she enthusiastically head nodded back, so I started dancing for her (Negra loves it when her caregivers dance and often bobs her head and moves with us a bit when we do). I think she was definitely enriched.
Animal Welfare
Slurp, slurp, slurp
Yesterday Jackie and I set up a great enrichment project for the chimps. We filled buckets with some snow and added a little juice for flavor, and then we put the buckets outside the caging and gave the chimps straws to use as tools. Everyone had their own way of trying to get the most out of the buckets. Eventually all the snow completely melted and the buckets were dry, but we certainly found a way for this project to last longer than just juice in buckets.
Happy Birthday to Doreen and Donna Hughes!
Donna Hughes sponsored today in celebration of her and her twin sister Doreen’s birthday. Doreen and Donna have been enthusiastic supporters of the chimpanzees since early on, and while they love all of the Cle Elum Seven, they have a special fondness for Foxie. They currently sponsor her through our Chimpanzee Pal program, and they even have their own troll doll collection!
Here’s Foxie with part of her collection:
We hope you have a joyous birthday, Doreen and Donna!
A cold snack
I know we’ve had a lot of posts about the snow lately, but I just couldn’t resist posting this adorable video from yesterday.
Jamie as chimpanzee
Jamie has always been the most human-like of the Cle Elum Seven. She often does human-like things (files her nails, ties shoelaces, sews); she’s always very interested in any cleaning, maintenance, or construction the humans around her might be doing; and sometimes she even seems to prefer the company of her human caregivers to that of the other chimpanzees. None of this is unusual for a chimpanzee who has grown up in a captive situation.
But on Young’s Hill, Jamie is all chimpanzee. Something about the wide open spaces or the natural surroundings seems to bring out a different side of her.
Chasing deer:
Hunting squirrels:
.
Fishing for treats on the treat rock:
Leading her friends on a walk:
Blanket fort fun
This morning we put a bunch of barrels together and made a blanket fort, with all the toys inside of the fort. Not surprisingly, Jamie was interested in checking things out.
Portraits of happy chimps under blue skies
I still get goose-bumpy when I see the chimps out on the hill, especially with the sun on their backs and blue skies overhead. I just can’t imagine how amazing it must feel for them. What a difference a few years can make!
Foxie:
Annie:
Jody:
