Annie

Picture of contentment

October 8, 2014 by Katelyn

It’s been a pretty quiet day in the chimp house today. We are having some incredibly beautiful autumn days and everyone seems to be enjoying them in their own way. Jamie has, of course, been busy walking Young’s Hill with all her available caregivers and almost everyone else has joined her for a lap or two, or to collect some bamboo for munching and nesting. But for the most part, there is a lot of resting, relaxing, and napping going on.

Earlier this afternoon I found beautiful Annie, dozing contentedly on her own from the top platform of the greenhouse as she gazed out at Young’s Hill (in between blowing an occasional raspberry at me):

Best of today

October 6, 2014 by Keri

There were so many good photos of each of the chimpanzees that I had to share them all on today’s blog. It’s really hard to pick a favorite.

Annie’s beauty is beyond words.

Missy actually sat still long enough for us to get a few photos.

Foxie enjoyed her pears at breakfast. Perhaps they taste better by the mouthful.

Burrito spent part of the afternoon playing with his wooden blocks and his own arm.

Jamie took a moment to pose for the camera before going for a walk on Young’s Hill.

Jody took some time to groom herself and ponder her surroundings.

Negra in her favorite nesting spot on the catwalk.

Point A to Point B

September 28, 2014 by Keri

What is the quickest way to get from point A to point B?

Well, for Missy chimpanzee, that means taking the tight rope walk across the fire hose railing to get to the platform on top of the climbing structure.

Once she made it to the top platform, she took a moment to look out over the valley.

In the first picture, Annie and Foxie were also on the climbing structure. If you look close enough, you can see the blue hair of Foxie’s troll doll lying on Foxie’s back.

Annie (bottom left), Foxie (top left), Missy (far right).

Summer Lovin’

September 25, 2014 by Elizabeth

Participants in our summer online auction were invited to donate toward an epic end-of-summer party for the chimpanzees, and they stepped up in a big way. Despite today’s not so summery weather here in Cle Elum, we threw the summer party to end all summer parties.

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed toward today’s party, and to everyone who helps make the chimps’ lives as happy as possible!

Lips

September 22, 2014 by Keri

I’ve recently been asked about how we receive kisses from the chimpanzees. The simple answer is that the chimpanzees extend their lips through the wire caging toward us and we put the back of our hand up towards their lips. But, words can only describe so much; pictures actually show it. So, today I tried to capture that through photos, but none of the chimps offered kisses to me (perhaps because I had the camera in hand?). So, I had to resort to the next best way of showing how the chimpanzees extend their prehensile lips towards us to give us a kiss. Meal time is the perfect opportunity to capture the chimpanzees extending their lips through the wire caging.

In the following photos, volunteer caregiver Becca served breakfast to the chimps this morning. On the menu were red pears and oranges, along with a watermelon, banana and protein powder smoothie. Each of the chimpanzees are also given fiber pills and vitamins every morning. You will notice in the following pictures that Becca’s fingers never penetrate the caging. For safety reasons, we consider the caging to be a barrier between our space and that of the chimpanzees, therefore we never stick our fingers into the enclosures.

Annie takes her fiber pill at breakfast.

Annie getting her share of the breakfast smoothie.

Burrito uses his lips to slurp his smoothie.

Jamie uses her lips to take her fiber pill.

Missy

Jody’s lips are pretty impressive. She seems to have the furthest “reach” with them. What do you think?

Jody taking her vitamins.

It’s a forage kind of day

September 14, 2014 by Keri

Today we put out a breakfast forage in the Greenhouse and a lunch forage on Young’s Hill.

Annie enjoyed the tangerines, while Burrito pretty much enjoyed every single morsel of food he could find at breakfast.

Jamie loved her tomatoes!

Missy was the first one to find the small sugar pumpkin (part of today’s lunch forage on Young’s Hill) on top of the wooden platform and quickly brought it to the Greenhouse.

Jody was quick to take over Missy’s find. She proceeded to bring the treat into the Playroom to enjoy.

Then it was Negra’s turn.

Jody and Annie were nearby in case Negra decided to share. Here Jody can be seen peering toward Negra.

Annie’s 40th

September 10, 2014 by Debbie

We celebrated Annie’s 40th birthday today! Her exact birthday is unknown since she was captured in the wild, but her records indicate that she was born sometime in 1974, and today is the day we picked to celebrate it. Annie certainly doesn’t act 40 at all! She’s still very young at heart—she shows her playful side daily when wrestling with Missy or running around Young’s Hill.

We wanted to celebrate her special day with some of her favorites—green grass, beets, green onions, piñatas, buckets of water, shovels, and chow! Thanks to some supplies Lisa Stuverud brought us we had a fun colorful party with new enrichment, too. We set up a breakfast forage first, and then volunteer Becca served Annie’s favorite veggies at lunch.

Here’s the party setup: