Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary for primates.

chimp enrichment

Structural Enrichment

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I have occasionally heard the word “enrichment” defined as items that are given to animals once their basic needs have been met.

In contrast, I think of enrichment as an entire philosophy, not just something extra that we do when our other work is done. For these chimpanzees and all other captive animals, enrichment is a basic need. Although survival would be possible without enrichment, thriving would not. Here at the sanctuary, every aspect of our daily routine, from meal preparation to cleaning, is done with the ultimate goal of keeping the chimpanzees happy and healthy. There is no easy way to group items or activities into “enrichment” or “not enrichment.” We just enrich everything.

In addition to distributing troll dolls, cowboy boots and slinkies, our team designs and builds new structures for the chimpanzees. The way in which we design and furnish the facility is considerate of the chimpanzee’s physical and emotional needs, and we often add or change components of the enclosures to keep the surroundings interesting and functional for the chimps. A great example is the network of firehose “vines” that transects the Playroom, Greenhouse, Hill, and new wing of enclosures. The video posted above shows how Jamie gets to use the firehose however she wants, giving her a greater degree of choice in addition to the obvious security and stability that such additions provide.

We’re also excited to share a photo of a new firehose hammock, modeled by Level III volunteer and CWU graduate student Chad. Several volunteers and interns helped staff and contractors to furnish the chimpanzee areas of the Phase 1 expansion with benches, firehose, hammocks, and ladders. The new hammock is hanging in the upstairs mezzanine enclosure, and will hopefully be enjoyed by the sanctuary’s newest residents once they arrive!

Pitter-Patter

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Today was all about hustle.

It began with few solid hours of continuous serving, shifting, checking, cleaning, and enriching. The morning team of volunteers (Keri, Jon and Miranda) made sure that tasks got done swiftly and thoroughly. The Playroom was scrubbed and disinfected, the meals were prepared and served, and the laundry was washed and dried. The vibe was contagious. Enthusiasm was in the air.

Level III Volunteer Erin J.

People went back and forth like worker bees droning around a hive. It was honestly a bit difficult to keep track of all the humans going from place to place, carrying out tasks and coordinating with each other. The staff spent the day furnishing the new chimp areas and attending meetings, Dr. Erin swung by for a visit, volunteer Lizz stopped by to serve the chimps’ lunch, volunteer Erin came in to prepare dinner and enrichment, and the whole team even found time to prepare some firehose for enrichment projects. Everyone was on a mission.

The new wing of enclosures, currently nearing completion!

The bustle around the Chimp House continued through the afternoon and well past the chimps’ dinner, so I felt relieved when the chimpanzees allowed me to close off Young’s Hill, turn off the lights in the Playroom, and begin locking the Chimp House doors for the night.

My relief was short-lived, however, because Jamie wanted something. There she was, an ape silhouette behind the Playroom caging, gesturing at me to bring her something. I checked to see if she wanted boots, then books, then books about boots. She insisted on having something else.

I sat down near the caging and gave her a long plastic tool which she used to groom my shoelaces, inspect my tattoos, and poke at my freckles. She was entertained for a couple of minutes, but the diversion subsided and she began to demand something else. I took off one of my Timberlane hiking boots and managed to wiggle my foot halfway into a woman’s leather cowboy boot, which she seemed to find unimpressive. I even reached for a children’s book about monkeys jumping on a bed and read it aloud, showing Jamie the pictures as I went. I altered the story to make it about Jamie going to bed while I locked up the building and went home. She was not amused.

Jamie using a tool to groom my boot.

We caregivers always work in teams, and I soon had to ask caregiver Katelyn for help with appeasing Jamie. We rummaged around the kitchen and enrichment bins, trying to see the Chimp House from Jamie’s perspective and identify the object of her desire. Boots? Nope. Dolls? Meh. Another grooming tool? (-_-). Troll scarves? Closer. A raspberry? Close enough.

Katelyn drops enrichment into the chute for Jamie.

With Jamie (temporarily) satisfied by the tiny red raspberry, we quickly said “goodnight” and retreated from view.

There aren’t many captive chimps who demand as much from their caregivers as Jamie does. This weekend was fast-paced and full of activity, so it’s only fitting that Jamie gave us a little extra work on Sunday evening. We’ll see what she has on the itinerary for tomorrow.

Jamie grooming another chimp this morning.

Dining Out

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It’s almost like summer officially arrived today. The sun felt stronger this morning, and the grass on the hill looked considerably more golden than it did they day before. On this side of the Cascades, the Northwest is drying out. Although we have blue skies and warm weather ahead, we also have to contend with an arid and dusty landscape until the snows arrive later this year. It will be a sad day when the last raspberry is picked and the chimps will have to wait until next summer for more.

The chimpanzees are dealing with the annual desiccation of Young’s Hill in their own way. Today’s lunch of nuts and veggies was spread across the habitat, motivating them to spill out of the Greenhouse and forage. The prairie grass was extra crispy underfoot, causing the chimps to tread carefully while wading through in search of food.

Negra:

Burrito:

Jody:

Jamie:

After collecting handfuls of produce, the chimps all climbed onto the habitat’s various wooden structures. From there, they could eat their meal in the warm sunshine while sitting far above the prickly grass below.

Foxie:

Negra:

The meal ended the way that all great meals end; the chimps put their feet up and took a well-deserved siesta.

Burrito:

Even this dismembered troll doll dozed off.

Only one chimpanzee returned to the outdoors to enjoy some alone time in the shade…

…and I soon identified her as Foxie, enjoying a moment of solitude in the warm summer breeze.

Keeping Watch

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The weather has been unusual this summer. As Katelyn noted yesterday, the temperatures have been cool and the skies have been misty at times. Today is a better example of a typical July day in central Washington- dry, sunny, and warm- and the sanctuary residents are making the most of it. The chimps enjoyed their breakfast while basking in the sunlight on the upper decking of the Greenhouse. The meal included some generously donated green apples and was lovingly served by Level III volunteer Miranda (below).

Afterwards, the chimps seemed to be sufficiently full of fruit and chow and appeared to be extremely content as they slipped into mid-morning naps in various corners of the Greenhouse. Neggie, per usual, settled in a ring of blankets on the upper deck (below), and even Jamie seemed to doze off between bouts of monitoring the caregivers through the playroom window.

Annie sprawled out on the lower decking, tucked her feet in, and inspected the writing on the underside of a toy (below).

Per usual, Missy stationed herself next to Annie and used the opportunity to give herself a quick groom (below). All was quiet in the Greenhouse.

Even when they’re resting and recharging, however, the chimpanzees don’t miss any of the events unraveling around them. Each part of the facility offers a unique view of the surrounding valley, enabling the chimps to be the sentinels of their own territory. Everything the light touches is theirs, and everything that occurs within sight is their business. This morning, that included the team of laborers constructing a new access road that will soon flank the sanctuary to the East (below).

As soon as they started working, Missy took notice (below). Then Annie sat upright and began to follow along. Soon, everyone was spilling out of the raceway onto Young’s Hill to check out the action.

Jamie led the way up the hill, pausing at regular intervals to watch the distant excavation. I could only imagine what she was thinking, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was analyzing the grade of the switchbacks or making sure the workers were wearing the proper protective equipment. She’s always supervising.

Foxie and her tiny troll doll traveled in the vanguard, providing Jamie with support and monitoring the situation (below). Missy, Annie, Jody and Burrito all followed close behind. (Neggie “kept watch” over her nest in the Greenhouse.)

Even with all of the planned activities and provisioned objects that the staff and volunteers provide, unexpected events can be the best source of enrichment for the chimps. Both free-ranging and captive chimpanzees engage in regular boundary patrols to survey the landscape and monitor neighboring communities, so unexpected changes can make things interesting. With all of the new developments in their vicinity, the chimps have a lot to keep tabs on as summer progresses and they seem to welcome the responsibility.

Another busy day (for the humans)

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It’s been another extra busy day in the chimp house for the humans with unexpected occurrences and cleaning to navigate in addition to the usual. Which of course still means the usual for the chimpanzees: doing whatever strikes their fancy every moment of the day. Just as it should be.

Jody and Annie spent the afternoon luxuriating in the greenhouse, grooming one another:

And if you’re Foxie, it’s just looking fabulous because you were born that way:

Here’s a bonus short story about Jamie and her never-ending ability to amaze us. We were in the midst of cleaning the playroom this morning when Jamie got my attention and had me follow her (immediately!) to the frontroom that the trash can sits across from. She immediately climbed up onto the food chute and frantically gestured for me to show her the trash contents. Well, this was new! But it didn’t take long for me to realize that some of her valued reading material had mistakenly (per Jamie) been throw away during cleaning. So I found myself dumpster diving for Jamie. Rifling through a can full of papers to see what she might be thinking of, holding up each page and getting her nod of approval or her gesture to keep looking. In the end, we found what she’d been missing: two magazine pages of cowboy boots and *GASP*, her beloved Dwell magazine! Whew! Crisis averted. I adore her.

Negra’s 46th birthday party!

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Today we celebrated Negra’s 46th birthday and the 11th anniversary of the chimpanzees’ arrival to their sanctuary. Since it’s Negra’s (honorary) birthday, we geared the day towards the things she truly loves. The morning started with a beautiful brunch featuring buckwheat carrot waffles (with a peanut butter drizzle) made with love by volunteer caregiver Patti, hard boiled eggs from my happy chickens, fresh roses and juicy plums!

I think this video of the waffle feast pretty much sums up how absolutely delighted Negra was.

Then for lunch we set out a giant lettuce forage. It’s really nice that simple things like a whole head of lettuce can still be so exciting to the chimps (even after 11 years!!).
Everyone enjoyed their lunch, but Jamie really wowed us (and not just because she collected a bunch of lettuce). It had more to do with what she decided to do after she filled her hands and mouth:

We were all in awe as she crossed an entire tightrope like this:

Here’s to many more years of waffle and lettuce celebrations!