Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

Annie’s 40th

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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:
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I love this photo — you can see the juice from the tangerine spraying to the side! Good shot by Elizabeth.
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Annie with a mouthful of chow (she loves to wadge chow!)
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Annie loves green grass, so we picked some for her and included bunches of it in their breakfast forage:
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Some of her favorite veggies are green onions and beets:
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The other chimps enjoyed the party too! Burrito the charmer practically posed during the forage for this photo:
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Everyone loved the fruit! Here’s Jamie:
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Jody:
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Foxie:
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Missy loved the green grass:
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And Jody ended up getting the piñatas (there was a Dora the Explorer piñata too, but that was torn up before we could snap a photo!)
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Foxie got a new troll and some knuckle rubs from Diana, which made her laugh:
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And Negra spent a lot of time in hard-to-see spots during the day, but I did get this picture of her beautiful relaxed face:
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Happy 40th Birthday, Annie!

Cowboy Party

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What’s one way to make seven chimpanzees awfully happy? Throw a spontaneous party. Supporter Lisa Stuverud sent us a box of decorations and enrichment for a cowboy party (and of course we already had dozens of cowboy boots thanks to Jamie’s obsession), so we had everything we needed for a good time.

Jamie was the first into the greenhouse, and she was throwing back her first drink before most of the others even made it out the door.

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She checked high and low for hidden treats. Here she’s getting ready to use a fire hose to swing up into one of the windowsills where we often hide food:

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Foxie sampling the pomegranate juice:

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Annie:

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Negra went through several of these boot bags filled with shredded paper searching for sunflower seeds.

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Jody:

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Missy:

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Burrito’s strategy was simple: to find as many pieces of chow as one man could hold.

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Thanks, Lisa, for making the chimps’ day!

Easy To Please

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Caring for captive chimpanzees can be a challenge. They are intelligent and curious, and they get bored easily. We’ve written before on this blog about how much effort it takes to keep the boss Jamie happy and enriched.

Burrito, though, is remarkably easy to please. He has few demands, and the ones he has are simple. He yearns for a full belly (the fuller, the better) and friends to play with. Luckily, we’re all about good food and good friends here, so Burrito is a pretty content man.

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During a break between cleaning this morning, I went out to the greenhouse to see what the chimps were up to. As soon as Burrito saw me, he stomped his foot loudly on the platform to invite me to play a game of chase. I was more than happy to oblige.

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Everyone Loves Tomatoes

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There’s no denying Missy’s love of tomatoes, as Diana mentioned in her blog post recently, but today, all of the chimpanzees showed their love for Missy’s favorite food.

As soon as caregiver Katelyn walked into the garden, Missy was quick to get in position for Katelyn to serve her.

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Jamie quickly joined Missy at the window directly above where the plants are growing to get her share.

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Foxie realized what was happening and joined Missy and Jamie.

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It quickly became apparent to Katelyn that there was not enough room left in the window for the other chimpanzees. So, she moved over to the barn doors to serve the tomatoes. It didn’t take long for Negra, who was sleeping on the catwalk right above the window overlooking the plants, to climb down to get some tomatoes as well.

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Jody approached the barn doors to join in on the tomato fun with Negra on her left and Foxie on her right.

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As soon as Burrito and Annie realized Katelyn was serving tomatoes by the barn doors, they quickly joined the party. But, somehow they managed to avoid the camera and I am left with no photographic evidence of them eating any of the tomatoes (although I promise you, I saw tomatoes in their mouths).

Happy Birthday, Becca!

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored by Lars Foster-Jorgensen in honor of his fiancee, Becca Hine’s, birthday! Becca makes weekly trips across the pass from Seattle to dedicate her time and care for the chimpanzees and is currently in training as a volunteer caregiver. She is even choosing to spend her birthday here caring for the chimpanzees! (While this may sound like all fun and games, though it is in part, it’s also a lot of cleaning and very hard work).

Lars shared the following message for Becca:

“Happy Birthday to Level 3 volunteer, Becca Hines! Her dedication to primate care and conservation is inspiring. and we wish her a happy day with the CSNW Seven!”

Lars, thanks so much for including the chimpanzees in Becca’s special day! And Becca, from all of the primates here at CSNW, we hope you have an amazingly happy day! Thank you so much for all you do for us and we’re so happy to have you as part of the team. May all your wishes come true.

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Night Bag Noises

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Nightbags, or night bags, are the post dinner treat for the chimpanzees here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Jamie, Jody, Missy, Annie, Negra, Foxie and Burrito all love these nut-filled bags and each has a preferred practice for how to get the most out of these small but delectable treats.

The sound of the chimpanzees crunching on nuts and seeds is, in my opinion, the sound of satisfaction and a job well done. No other noise is more evocative to me of hope, love, home, and sanctuary. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Listen for yourself and decide.

Burrito and Negra

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We often talk about Annie and Missy’s friendship, Foxie’s ability to get her friend Jamie to relax, and Burrito’s reliance on Foxie for reassurance when times are tense and their goofy play sessions when times are relaxed.

There are several close relationships among the chimpanzees. One that we haven’t talked about much is that between Burrito, the youngest chimpanzee, and Negra, the oldest.

Negra seems to give Burrito respect as the one male of the troop, perhaps more respect than some of the other ladies show him (ahem, Jamie).

Burrito and Negra often go to each when there’s something exciting going on, like setting up for a party, and they are frequent grooming partners too.

Today, as you can see from the photos below, they spent several minutes grooming one another after Negra was a bit concerned over a noise she heard.

Negra made a “pout face” as a reaction to the noise (which was a bird calling). This looks similar to when chimpanzees trumpet their lips to pant-hoot, but a pout face is used during times of concern, distress, or frustration:

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Then Negra approached Burrito to be groomed, which can be a form of asking for reassurance:

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Later, she reciprocated the grooming:

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Burrito and Negra groom each other

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Living in a social group of others who understand their wants and needs is one of the most important aspects of sanctuary life for the chimpanzees, and we understand that they need to turn to one another, not to us humans, for their deepest and most important relationships.