Annie

Positive Reinforcement Training

August 6, 2015 by Elizabeth

A few months ago, we began a positive reinforcement training (PRT) program with the chimpanzees. (Read JB’s thorough description in this blog post.) Our ultimate goal with this program is to give the chimps the opportunity to participate in their own medical care, and to make it a positive experience for them. By teaching them to present certain body parts for inspection, for example, we will be better able to check on and treat wounds.

We started by teaching the chimps to touch a “target.” A target can be just about any object – we use PVC pipes with colored tape on the end. When a chimp touches the target, the caregiver who’s working with them presses a clicker (click = “good job”) and then rewards the chimp with a small piece of fruit or other treat. Once a chimp has learned this “targeting” behavior, we move on to asking for different body parts. The routine is the same – when a chimp presents the body part we’ve asked for, they hear a click and get a treat.

When we started this program in April, we invited Gail Laule from Active Environments to spend several days at the sanctuary training the staff on these positive reinforcement techniques. This week, Gail has returned to check up on our progress. Here are some photos from today’s sessions.

Jamie presenting her shoulder to Diana:

Jody opening her mouth while working with me (Elizabeth):

Annie presenting her back (Anna and Negra are on the right):

Negra “targeting” with Anna:

Negra presenting her shoulder:

Participation in this program is totally optional. The great thing about PRT, though, is that the chimps want to participate. It’s a win-win. It’s enriching for them (and for their bellies!) and the cooperative behaviors they learn are going to improve their lives by allowing us to give them the best care possible.

Happy Birthday, Doug!

August 3, 2015 by Katelyn

Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Natasha Yankoffski in honor of Doug Engmann! Natasha is a long-time friend and supporter of the chimpanzees who also works to help rescue and rehabilitate sick and injured marine mammals. Natasha shared this lovely message about today:

“August 3rd is my boss’ birthday. He is a very kind, caring & generous individual who is very supportive of my passion for wildlife conservation. I wanted to give him a unique holiday present and what better way to honor his caring spirit than to ensure that your wonderful chimps live their days in a safe, happy & fun environment (with lots of good things to eat!).”

Natasha, thank you so much for being such a wonderful advocate for not only the chimpanzees, but all animals. We truly appreciate your desire to make a difference in the chimpanzees’ lives as you honor Doug today.

Doug, thank you for your support of wildlife conservation and the passion of those who advocate on behalf of so many special beings. We hope you have the best birthday yet and a day full of celebration and joy. You sound like a wonderfully special being yourself and all of us here at CSNW send birthday pant-hoots your way! Happy Birthday!!

Annie enjoying pea tendrils and corn on the cob (and lips 🙂 ):

We are so fortunate to have two people sponsoring this day of sanctuary for the chimpanzees so please tune in later this morning to help us celebrate with our second sponsor! The chimpanzees have the best friends!

An afternoon in the greenhouse

July 22, 2015 by Katelyn

Grooming is an important part of chimpanzee culture and whether in the wild or captivity, chimpanzees spend a lot of their time engaged in this behavior. If you think about it, so do we humans! Chimpanzees will groom each other or themselves to remove dirt and debris, attend to wounds, during times of relaxation, and most importantly to build and maintain bonds with one another. Grooming is key to social interactions and is often used by chimpanzees to gain support and remain in good standing not only in the community, but with higher ranking chimps.

The chimp house was very quiet this afternoon before lunch so I went to check on everyone and found several people grooming Jamie, as she basked in her role as the boss lady. (Clockwise: Jamie, Burrito, Foxie and Jody):

Jamie being groomed by Burrito in background:

Jody appointed herself the paparazzi police and immediately positioned herself next to me, at the ready to poke the camera should I continue to take photos of the boss. Though she eventually decided it was more fun to play a game of tickle (a rare Jody happening!):

Lunch service arrived and after a lot of excitement everyone headed up to the top of the greenhouse. (L to R) Foxie, Annie, Jamie, Negra (barely visible in between the blue chairs) and Jody:

Each of the chimpanzees has their way of attempting to gain the server’s attention, especially when they see something they really want (or want more of). Because Jamie is the most dominant in the hierarchy we typically offer things to her first. And she has no problem gesturing if she wants us to serve something other than what’s being offered at the moment for something she prefers on the tray. She will also let us know if there is a particular piece, or color, of fruit or vegetable she wants. For example, she will ask for red peppers over green if she sees them in the bowl and she refuses carrots that aren’t peeled. She will even gesture for us to return any offending carrots to the kitchen for peeling.

Foxie blows incessantly loud raspberries, Negra claps and sometimes clacks her teeth on the caging, Annie blows raspberries and stomps her feet, Missy shakes her head vigorously, and Jody just positions herself in front of the server. If someone is being served something she wants more of, she will just move in front of them or reach across to take it from the less dominant chimps. (This is all part of a normal chimp hierarchical society.) And then there’s Burrito who shakes, rattles and rolls, with a soundtrack of raspberries for pretty much everything on the menu. Just so we don’t forget he’s there…

Annie above and Burrito below (hair standing on end with excitement):

Missy pulls up a chair for her lunch:

On the other side of the caging was their server today, Whitney, one of our volunteer caregivers extraordinaire, getting a workout. Chimpanzees make for a rowdy lunch crowd.

Burrito:

Foxie decided to eat her lunch with me and made her way back to me with each serving to sit in the sun as I took photos next to her.

First course: tomatoes!

Back again with the second course: green peppers!

And finishing up the meal with primate chow in to-go bags:

Burrito, very pilo (hair on end), is often high arousal during mealtimes. Food is just very exciting if you’re Mr. B:

Jamie headed back inside with her chow to make an lunch nest:

You are the tomato of my eye

July 16, 2015 by Katelyn

To say that Missy loves tomatoes is an understatement. When she sees them offered at a meal she shakes her head vigorously, hold out her hand and follows the server relentlessly. She has no problem inserting herself in front of anyone lower in the hierarchy to make sure she receives the maximum amount possible.

Missy, and all the chimpanzees, have been watching their garden grow with increasingly impatience. Missy is very focused on the cherry tomatoes planted right outside one of the playroom windows and they are just starting to ripen. And I know this because Missy wasted no time in letting me know. When she saw me today she immediately ran to the window by the tomatoes, swung back and forth from the caging in excitement, and occasionally looked over her shoulder at me and gestured toward the tomatoes.

Then when it seemed I was a little slow to catch her drift (humans!), she threw herself onto the caging and shook it with all her might:

Here she throws me an outstretched arm to further plead her case:

The chimpanzees’ garden helps supplement the wonderful food donations we receive, but it also provides visual and edible enrichment for the chimpanzees. It’s a wonderful thing for them to look forward to and to be able to request something they see, freshly ripened and still warm from the sun. Thanks largely to volunteer caregiver, Denice, the chimps’ garden is really taking off. This year it’s full of onions, scallions, beets, cherry tomatoes, and carrots to name a few.

But for Missy, her eye is on these little guys:

Of course, it didn’t take long for boss lady, Jamie, and everyone else to catch on so staff caregiver, Anna, served up a mid-afternoon garden snack. Here Anna serves Burrito a cherry tomato as Jamie looks on:

Burrito was very anxious for a green onion, but with Jamie lurking next to him, he was reluctant to take it before receiving the green light from her. So he sat very, very still, hair standing on end (pilo-erect) and waited patiently for her to pass by before taking it from Anna:

Eventually, the boss gave her OK, but let him know she was watching. Here you can see her hovering over him as he munches his onion:

Annie loves, loves, loves green onions:

Missy:

Jamie keeping a very close eye on Anna, making sure she is serving things correctly during her training:

I love that the chimpanzees have so many things to look forward to with each passing season.

Today is in honor of Andrea

July 16, 2015 by Katelyn

This day of sanctuary was sponsored by Juliette Brush-Hoover in honor of her sister Andrea. Juliette shared this beautiful and touching message about today:

“Andrea was my younger sister who left this world way before her time. She was beautiful, hilarious, generous and creative. She loved to help people. And she loved monkeys. I know that chimps are technically apes but I don’t think this distinction would have mattered to Andrea. In memory of my sister’s birthday I am making this special donation to Chimp Sanctuary NW. Knowing the chimps will have a special day full of treats and surprises seems a fitting tribute to my fun loving sister.”

Juliette, we are so honored that you would think of the chimpanzees in remembering Andrea and celebrating her life today. We will be holding Andrea and you in our thoughts today, grateful for all the compassion you both hold and seeing her kind spirit carrying on in the world.

It sounds like Andrea may have had some things in common with fun-loving Foxie, shown here with sweet, Annie (left):

Foraging Strategies

July 12, 2015 by Keri

There was quite a bit of excitement around today’s forage on Young’s Hill. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about raw kale, tomatoes, lemon wedges, carrots and primate chow? Once they saw what was on the menu, all seven chimpanzees headed out to the Greenhouse and anxiously awaited for us to open the door to give them access to the hill. As soon as I opened the door, Jamie lead the way. But, it was Foxie who stayed out the longest.

There seems to be a variety of strategies these chimps use to forage, as you will see in the photos below. Some of the chimps will eat the food items as they find them, while others seem to prefer to gather as much as they can before heading back to the Greenhouse to feast. Take Jody, for instance. Today she gathered so much food in her mouth and both of her hands that she has to walk upright (bipedally) in order to hold onto everything as she made her way back to the Greenhouse. And Missy went for the food items that were up high (on top of the various structures). And then there is Foxie, who took her time eating each piece of food as she found it.

Annie

Burrito

Foxie

Jamie’s strategy was to put all her lemon wedges in her mouth in order to keep her hands free.

Jody

Look at her cheeks; they are completely full!

Missy

Negra

The light of Annie

July 7, 2015 by Katelyn

Annie’s inner light is shining through. It’s taken a long time for all those layers of anxiety and fear to fade, let go of the hold they had on her when she first arrived. After three decades in biomedical research, any of us would have difficulty seeing the world through a different lens.

When Annie first arrived, she often had anxiety attacks during which she would throw herself on the ground, flail about and scream. Sometimes it was seemingly an over-stimulated response to a high arousal situation, or a misunderstanding with one of the other chimps. Sometimes it was often difficult to tell what, if anything outside of her own mind, precipitated her distress. These events still occur from time to time, but much less frequently.

And until the last year or so, Annie never left her best friend, Missy’s, side. She became extremely anxious if Missy happened to go off to explore the hill, or decided to engage in a play session with any of the other chimps. The first year that the chimps had access to Young’s Hill, Missy would bound outside to explore while Annie watched anxiously from the greenhouse, rocking back and forth in the doorway until Missy returned. Heartbreaking doesn’t adequately describe what it felt like to watch her in distress in these moments. To be unable to reassure her, knowing she had to find her peace and calm in her own way and time, was difficult to say the least. But as the chimpanzees continually show us, provided with a caring, respectful and loving environment in which to heal, they are capable of finding their way back to themselves. One step at a time, one day at a time, sometimes one minute at a time.

It was around this time last year that our hearts swelled with joy over finding Annie peacefully sleeping in the greenhouse on her own. Now it’s an increasingly regular occurrence. Just a few days ago Annie was alarmed by something she saw outside and led the way out onto Young’s Hill, her hair standing on end and swaggering bi-pedally. She rushed out without hesitation or thought of who might serve as back-up as she courageously went to protect her home. And the others followed her lead! And just today during lunch when Jody, who holds a more dominant position in the group than Annie, attempted to take some of Annie’s lunch (as is normal chimpanzee hierarchical behavior) Annie turned her back to Jody and held fast to what she wanted, despite Jody’s displeasure.

Yep, Annie is shining through all that darkness of the past, brighter, steadier and stronger with each passing day. And what a beautiful gift it is to witness.