Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
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Often times, while cleaning, we hear the joyful sound of chimpanzee laughter. How are we to continue when, nearby, chimpanzees are tickling, biting, poking, kissing, wrestling and pinching each other into hysterics!?
Today was one of those days!
Spend some time with Annie and Burrito and you’ll be sure to have a smile on your face!
Yesterday, I caught Foxie, Annie, and Negra each in the portrait studio (front room 4). For those who may not know, front room 4 always has exquisite lighting for taking portraits. However, the true test is if the chimps will sit there long enough for you to run and grab the camera before they leave! Luckily, all the girls stuck around long enough to snag a few pictures.
I love being able to capture portraits of the chimps because it’s a snapshot of their personality.
Foxie can be sweet, silly, and serious all in one sitting:
Negra’s series captured her excitment of chow:
And often in Annie’s photos it captures her shy but curious side:
It’s moments like these that remind me how lucky we are to witness the beauty and individuality of these chimps. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to share these moments with all of you.
Today was a busy day in the chimp house followed by our biweekly staff meetings so I was short on time but I did put together a ‘zen moment’ video of Jamie’s group enjoying baked sweet potato for dinner the other day, enjoy!
Some chimps love to play with their human friends. Think Burrito, Cy, Terry. Others are less interested in human interaction, for different reasons.
Annie and Gordo are two of these chimps.
I don’t often get to interact with Annie. She tends to be a nervous chimp, and it seems like she is a little uncomfortable about interactions at the mesh caging. Most of my interactions with Annie have happened with a window between us. I jump at these opportunities!
Gordo likes to play chase with his human friends. But you have to be paying attention to his cues, because they are quite subtle. On this occasion, Diana had been playing with Willy B (another chimp that engages less often with caregivers) and Gordo wanted to play, too. So I attempted to entertain Gordo. Unfortunately, he wasn’t into it. I tried a few different methods, with little success. Until I tried, what I like to call, “I’m gonna get you” (one of Burrito’s favorite games!). Gordo loved it, and laughed so hard Diana could hear him throughout the building!
I hope you enjoy today’s video of me with Annie and Gordo, playing on their terms!
A recent study added to vast knowledge we know about chimpanzees. One area in chimpanzee studies that keeps surprising us is their use of tools. A recent study added to what we know about chimpanzee tool use. The study conducted by Dr. Alejandra Pascual-Garrido and team at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania; the same area Jane Goodall first observed chimpanzees using tools to complete a task.
The task at hand? Fishing for termites. What Dr. Pascual-Garrido and fellow researchers determined that chimpanzees don’t just use any ol’ stick lying around. Their tool is carefully selected based on what the chimpanzee wants to accomplish. For instance, with termite fishing, chimpanzees were found to use certain sticks/stems based on their qualities and features. Since termite mounds are a series of long, winding tunnels, the chimpanzees will use tools that are more flexible to better weave through the tunnels to find the colony.
If you are an avid blog follower, then you know we have a handful of chimp residents here who use tools for various things. Whether its a stick Jamie picked out that is sturdy enough to groom caregivers’ boots, or Honey B ripping the bamboo out of the ground in her greenhouses and cutting it down to size, we have some pretty amazingly intelligent chimpanzees. A few years back we found some chimps who found new use for these long, plastic straws they are given as enrichment.
One new use that had the entire blog following rolling in laughter was Annie’s use of the straw to siphon Jamie’s smoothie right out of her hands. Well, seems like someone found this use and decided to try to get Negra’s morning juice supplements as she was drinking it… TWICE! On two separate occasions!
Be sure to watch the video to find out who!
We all had an adventure on this walk the other day!
It was fun to join the chimpanzees getting caught in the rain.
It reminded me of the very first heavy rain that the Cle Elum Seven experienced. Thanks to this blog, you can learn more about that experience here: Rainstorm Bravery
The photo of Missy in the doorway, watching the rain is still one of my favorites:
As Sabrina mentioned in yesterday’s blog, the weather has warmed up here, the sun is out, and we are thrilled about it! This warm weather has me dreaming of the day the panels come off of the greenhouses, and reminiscing on sweet moments shared with the chimpanzees last spring and summer. It is not quite warm enough to take down the panels yet, as they have an important job of retaining heat when we need to heat the greenhouses and the temperatures are not consistently warm enough yet to put away our winter heaters. In today’s blog video, I’m sharing videos I didn’t get a chance to share with you all last spring and summer of what we have to look forward to!
