Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Burrito

Mirroring Fun

by

Recently we posted about Burrito’s love of food. It is true that Burrito brings a certain enthusiasm to each meal but I would say that this is just as true of many of the activities that Burrito engages in. Burrito brings a level of energy and vivacity to play as much as, if not more so than, he does to the dinner table.

It was a quiet afternoon here at the sanctuary and a few caregivers spent quality time enriching the lives of the chimpanzees as creatively as they could manage. In this video you’ll see me playing with Burrito and may notice I have a fairly distinct tendency to employ “mirroring” behaviors. Mirroring, mimicking your social partner in language and behavior, often occurs subconsciously during interactions. The next time you’re interacting with someone see if you can catch yourself in a mirroring moment. I find it can be fascinating to observe! Also, it seems to work out pretty well when entertaining chimpanzee friends.

In gratitude

by

As the Office Manager and a Caregiver for CSNW, I have the wonderful opportunity to not only work with all of you, our amazing supporters, but to see the direct results of all of your contributions toward caring for the chimpanzees. Each and every one of you play a part in this. Whether it is through donations, volunteering your time, sending troll dolls, cowgirl boots, and a myriad of other enrichment items, following the blog, “liking” us on Facebook, participating in our events and campaigns, sharing your love for the chimpanzees and helping to educate others, or just sending us good thoughts, it all counts, it all makes a difference. You add to the collective consciousness of how special the chimpanzees are and what issues both captive and free-living chimps are facing. You are helping to create hope for their future. And you renew my faith in the human spirit every day.

Because of each of you, the chimps are able to have good friends…

web Burrito hug Foxie 2 IMG_3258

good food…

web Burrito watermelon food eat forage outdoor area IMG_4707

and choices.

web_Jamie_wear_troll_scarf_recorder_in_mouth_enrichment_PR_ek_IMG_0664

Thank you for enabling us to do the work that we do and most importantly for providing the chimpanzees with a home full of the joys, comforts, and love they so deserve. We couldn’t do it without all of you. On behalf of all of the primates here at CSNW, thank you and please know how much each of you are appreciated!

 

 

 

Play Bows

by

Play bows are one of my favorite behaviors in a chimpanzee’s repertoire. They’re used to initiate play, and they’re almost always effective. This short video was taken a few years ago. You’ll see Foxie use a play bow to get Negra to play with her.

These photos were taken this afternoon in the greenhouse when Burrito was trying to get me to put the camera down and play with him. We see Burrito’s play bow frequently, and it’s almost always directed at his human friends. He presses his belly to the ground and drums his hands repeatedly. As soon as we respond, he springs up and runs off so we can chase him.

web_Burrito_play_bow_toy_enrichment_in_mouth_GH_ek_IMG_0684

web_Burrito_play_bow_GH_ek_IMG_0691

web_Burrito_play_bow_toy_enrichment_in_mouth_GH_ek_IMG_0692

web_Burrito_play_bow_toy_enrichment_in_mouth_look_at_camera_GH_ek_IMG_0693

Celebrating Freedom

by

The Cle Elum Seven are celebrating freedom today! Not long ago, they spent their holidays in lab cages. Today they foraged on Young’s Hill, lounged in the warm greenhouse, and played with friends.

We kicked off the day with a party in the greenhouse this morning. Volunteer caregivers Denice and Patti brought food and decorations. Fruit smoothie was set out in tiny plastic shot glasses, and we put out paper trays of apples, grapes, berries, and melon.

Burrito:

web_Burrito_hold_fire_hose_pinata_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0110

Negra:

web_Negra_blanket_streamer_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0098

Jody:

web_Jody_streamer_dispenser_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0132

Annie:

web_Annie_sit_blanket_nest_platform_inspect_slinky_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0168

Missy:

web_Missy_hold_paper_tray_grape_food_in_mouth_look_up_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0115

Jamie:

web_Jamie_sit_windowsill_inspect_pinata_4th_of_July_party_GH_ek_IMG_0174

Later we served a special holiday lunch of vegan hot dogs, dill pickles, and bell peppers stuffed with pasta salad. We do our best to keep the chimpanzees healthy by limiting their diet almost entirely to fresh produce, but we thought we’d splurge a little today.

Everyone gathered as Patti got ready to serve:

web_Missy_Negra_Jody_Jamie_Foxie_Burrito_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0269

Foxie:

web_Foxie_cling_to_caging_hotdog_in_mouth_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0242

Negra:

web_Negra_hold_hotdog_look_at_camera_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0219

Annie:

web_Annie_served_stuffed_pepper_caregiver_Patti_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0261

web_Annie_sit_in_doorway_hold_hotdog_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0235

Missy:

web_Missy_close_up_eat_stuffed_pepper_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0256

Burrito:

web_Burrito_cling_to_caging_drooped_lip_hold_hotdog_lunch_4th_of_July_GH_ek_IMG_0231

Thanks again to Jody Maxey for thinking of the chimps and sponsoring today. Happy 4th, everyone!

Snow-cones

by

We appear to be on the downside of our heat wave here in Cle Elum (at least for today), but it’s still too hot for the chimpanzees to get excited about doing very much.  They haven’t even been spending much time in the greenhouse, preferring the comfort of the cooler playroom.  So today we decided to break out the snow cone machine and filled paper cups with shaved ice, berries, and coconut water.  This, the chimpanzees got pretty excited about and there were pant hoots and food squeaks galore.  (Some of these may have even come from the staff and volunteers).  After everyone collected their snow-cones it became very quiet with the exception of a lot of slurping!

Foxie enjoying her snow-cone (with Negra in the background).

web_foxie_eat_snow_cone_PR_dm_IMG_0052

Burrito was still excited in this photo (you can tell because his hair is pilo-erect, which means standing on end).

web_burrito_eat_snow_cone_PR_dm_IMG_0067

Too hot

by

Cle Elum is in the middle of a heatwave, and the high temperatures are sapping everyone’s energy (we couldn’t even convince Jamie to walk around Young’s Hill with us, and that’s usually a many-times-a-day activity). I think Burrito speaks for all of us in these photos taken in the greenhouse this afternoon.

web_Burrito_lie_on_back_leg_up_hold_toy_gh_ek_IMG_9930

web_Burrito_lie_on_back_hold_toy_enrichment_look_at_camera_gh_ek_IMG_9917

web_Burrito_yawn_lie_on_back_hold_toy_enrichment_gh_ek_IMG_9918

web_Burrito_yawn_toy_enrichment_lie_on_back_gh_ek_IMG_9920

web_Burrito_lie_on_back_eyes_closed_hold_toy_enrichment_gh_ek_IMG_9921