Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp enrichment

Christmas Party Bonus Photos

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We took hundreds of photos during the various parties yesterday, no exaggeration. I combed through them today and selected a few I just had share.

Burrito unwrapped one of the many gifts and decided to wear the raffia ribbon for a while.

Then he donned a new leopard print scarf

The tree in the greenhouse was a real treasure this year and produced quite a lot of enjoyment.

Negra:

 

Annie:

Missy mastered the tree and got the most out of it until the very end when she toppled it over (see video from yesterday).

Look at that tangerine hidden way in the depths of the the tree!

Jody enjoying the fruits of her tree-scavenging labor:

There were several spots in the greenhouse that were dusted with coconut. Here’s Annie collecting some:

and Negra:

and I’ll end with this photo of Burrito, in awe of Christmas, with coconut dust on his lips:

for even more warm holiday cheer, check out our Instagram account to see a short clip of Mave’s Christmas nest. Happy Boxing Day, everyone!

The Forest for the Trees

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It’s been a busy week at the sanctuary, but that’s not stopping us from feeling a little bit of holiday cheer.

For the most part, the holidays don’t interrupt our operations. First and foremost, the chimps need the same amount of specialized care that they always do. Additionally, the ongoing construction of new chimpanzee areas will continue right up to Christmas and is set to resume immediately after. Since the electrical work that Anna mentioned last week is still in progress, the seven chimps living on that side of the building have been somewhat inconvenienced. For the past few days, they have had to hang out in the heated Greenhouse and cozy front rooms while the larger playroom is unavailable.

That hasn’t seemed to bother them too much, though. They have ample enrichment puzzles, nesting materials, views of the contractors, human caregivers to socialize with, and each other’s company.

Burrito
Burrito (and the Holiday Tree!)

Jamie seems to enjoy watching the electricians. Although she can’t see their faces because of their masks, Jamie nodded approvingly at their footwear today. The guys seemed proud when I told them The Boss was pleased.

Jamie

Fortunately, the first days of winter have been relatively warm and consistently clear, so the chimps have also felt comfortable making frequent excursions outdoors. The amazing weather convinced us to spread forages on Young’s Hill both Saturday and Sunday, but they seem to be motivated by other factors in the days since. Maybe they want to survey the land and spy on the neighbors, or perhaps they’re just looking for some recreation. Either way, it’s nice to see them using the large outdoor enclosure this late in the year. I took the following photos during Sunday’s special activities and today’s regular patrols.

Jamie (front) and Burrito (back)
Annie
Foxie
Foxie
Foxie
Annie
Missy
Jody
Jamie
Negra

Foxie, in particular, seems to value her time outdoors. Based on her tendency to wander off from the others, I’d guess that she enjoys the brief periods of solitude.

Foxie on “The Escher” structure
Foxie atop “Neggie’s Cabin”

Of course, she may just be taking in those sweet views of the surrounding pastures, forests, and snow-covered mountains.

Foxie

A Handful of Ingenuity and A Splash of Imagination

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As Diana mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Missy and Honey B are remarkably similar in many ways, while also uniquely different as Katelyn mentioned.

To add on to this growing list, they both show a knack for ingenuity for their enrichment items. It’s hard to be certain, and I would be questioned to no end by the scientific community, but I would go to say this requires at least some hint of imagination. (Though recently more researchers have been becoming more open to the idea of imagination in chimpanzees with the case of young chimpanzees carrying around and playing with sticks as if they were dolls in the wild.)

As you may know, Honey B shows her skills by using a different tool to master her PVC Tube food puzzle. And her mom, Missy, also shows some very unique ways to master her food puzzles. But what about after?

Most of the other residents are usually move on after they are done with an enrichment item. For Honey B though, these items just become a part of her fort-nest. Honey B is known to make these elaborate forts with anything she can find, usually blankets, toys, and used enrichment items. The other day, we found this in the Mezzanine.

(For some reason, a certain scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail came to mind when I saw this.)

Though Mave also has a knack to fort build as well, she is a little more particular on which items she uses. Most notably blankets and the cube chairs almost exclusively, though she may add some other things from time-to-time when she feels like it. Mave’s forts are also not as elaborate as Honey B’s forts.

It also could be that Honey B has been watching the construction workers build and felt like building something of her own.

However, Honey B has been building these “structures” long before their arrival.

Over on the other side, Missy is know to wear socks occasionally when she is in a very playful mood. But the following morning after the Seven were given Firehose Knots as an evening puzzle, Missy was seen with hers still in hand. She was carrying her pieces of firehose around while wearing an avocado sock I might add. After about 30 minutes or so, I witnessed her stuffing the firehose into the sock, which she proceeded to carrying around with her. I tried to find the past blogs of Missy holding a blanket down from the loft towards Annie and playing keep away with it, but I was unsuccessful. So you have to imagine her playing that game but with this instead of a blanket.

They both are remarkable in finding other uses of used enrichment items and to breath new life into them. And as one caregiver mentioned after seeing the above photo, “Maybe Missy is preparing some Christmas stockings” for their upcoming celebration.

Speaking of Christmas, thank you to all of you who have donated items from our Amazon Wishlist for their celebration! Your donations will help us try to throw a great celebration for them this year!

But did you know there are still some other items on the list!?

*Gasp*

You can still donate some of the items on the list to help us make this celebration special, but there are other items which helps us continue our day-to-day operations and ensure the residents’ home remains clean!

Just a Couple of Wishes

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What a week! Sunday was weird, Monday was better, and Tuesday and Wednesday were both busy and fun. It’s been another busy day of construction projects, produce shopping and delivery, routine cleaning and caregiving, and planning for the winter holiday season.

Speaking of which, we’d love if you all took a moment to consider purchasing something off of our holiday Wish List! Outreach Coordinator Kelsi curates the list and has added some special items. The additions include a new skateboard for Honey B, books for Jamie, fleece blankets for all the chimps, and hardware that will help us to furnish the new playrooms.

If the item you hope to donate is already purchased, there are always items such as dietary supplements, storage totes, cleaning products and office supplies that are equally important! I can’t speak for the other staff, but I get pretty stoked when people donate mundane items like wet erase markers and refills for the label printer. If you feel like making my day (or contributing to the welfare of the chimps), you can access the list directly by clicking here.

Additionally, we caregivers have two primary wishes that are not Prime items but are equally tangible: for all chimpanzees to reach their sanctuary homes and for all the sanctuary’s residents to stay happy and healthy.

Of course, this wish also applies to the bovines. As Katelyn mentioned on Monday, Meredith looked much better than the day before and her check-up went well, so we’re not too concerned but are still taking precautions.

To facilitate the health exam, we shifted the cattle into the Bud Box and then isolated Meredith in the narrow chute. Dr. Erin plays the role of “quarterback” during veterinary exams, managing the team and doing the specialized tasks that require her expertise. In this case, J.B. and I served as her assistants (and Chad also helped on a couple of occasions by promptly running some supplies up from the sanctuary’s vet clinic).

J.B. holds Meredith’s halter.
Erin listens to the activity in Meredith’s rumen.
Nutmeg sniffs the veterinary kit.

 

Frost covers the pasture and surrounding forests.
Meredith’s mother, Honey, watches attentively.

In summary, Dr. Erin did a full visual inspection, palpated and listened to Meredith’s gut, tested her reflexes and responses, collected blood and fecal samples for diagnostics, and used the opportunity to administer some preventative antibiotics. We then let Meredith back out with the herd and monitored her for further discomfort or difficulties.

Meredith peeks around the barn.

Since then, we’ve been frequently visiting the barn to check on Meredith and give her supplements. These include minerals, probiotics, electrolytes and anti-inflammatory meds. Surprisingly, though, Merry looks fantastic. She’s eating heartily, breathing normally, moving with the herd and laying down in the straw bedding at night. As happy as we are with this improvement, it makes her Sunday troubles even more mysterious. Dr. Erin and the staff are working to rule out some possibilities, but our initial diagnosis of “ain’t doin’ right” currently still stands. This whole thing loosely feels like a low-budget episode of House, M.D. where the team wears Carrhart overalls instead of lab coats.

The best part of the exam, however, was this series of opportunistic portraits that depicts Nutmeg showing affection for his mother, Betsy…

…to the point of being mildly annoying.

P.S. I took all of these photos with the new mirrorless camera and an 85mm portrait lens. A generous supporter purchased both of these items for us via the same Wish List I mentioned above. Consider it further evidence that your contributions help us to do our jobs!

 

PPE: Projects, Play, & Enrichment

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As mentioned on Sunday, there were a couple of mechanical issues that need to be fixed. When there is an upcoming project to take place, we as caregivers try plan the day out to ensure the projects can be finished in a safe manner, while not impeding on the residents’ daily activities too much. With so much going on during days like today, it can be somewhat difficult trying to take photos and develop a blog. So when the projects were completed, I was running around trying to salvage what time I had left in the day to at least get some photos. As the minutes kept ticking away, I may have started to panic a little bit. I almost decided to give up and just post whatever crummy photos I was able to get and call it a day. Then Honey B happened.

As I was still trying to get photos, I found Honey B, who immediately wanted to groom. As she was plucking rocks from the bottom of my boots, Mave made her way up to the Mezzanine. She began hooting, started to become piloerect, and was working herself up for a display. Honey B stopped grooming and started playing with me. I can’t confirm this, but it sounded like she exaggerated her laughs so Mave could hear. As Mave continued to build up her display, Honey B finally walked over to her with a play face, grabbed her foot, and raced away laughing. Mave’s hair was soon no longer on end and she raced after Honey B, playing a game of foot grab along the way. The game then evolved into a wrestling and tickling match. Here are a few of the photos captured with faces visible within a cloud of fur and laughter.

Earlier, Mave, Honey B, and Willy B were also treated to one of their favorite food puzzles: firehose cubes. When they first caught sight of the cubes, there was a chorus of pant hoots, food grunts, games of chase, and excitement that followed.

 

 

Unfortunately, Honey B grabbed hers and headed down stairs, so I was not able to get any photos of her.

Now that the day is over, Willy B is ready for bed with his favorite cheetah print blanket!

Fun Inside, Outside, and In-between. Subtitle: Caging is OK

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With the right camera lens and the right distance, we can “focus through” the fencing that surrounds the outdoor habitats so the fencing disappears or turns into blurs in the foreground.

It’s a trick of the camera. The fencing doesn’t actually go away.

But our eyes perform the same trick. This is roughly where Willy B was looking in the photos above and exactly what that hillside looked like to my eyes too.

We love sharing the sanctuary with loyal supporters and new interested folks too. One comment that people often make when they see a video from us for the first time on Facebook or Instagram is that the chimpanzees shouldn’t be indoors or “in a cage.”

I tried to answer this years ago in this blog post, but I felt it needed an update.

It is helpful to begin as that post did with the image of the type of cages that many of the chimpanzees at CSNW spent the majority of their lives:

cage outside

That is a cage.

At the sanctuary, there is also caging.

Caging makes people uncomfortable. They want to see chimpanzees outside “where they are meant to be.” They want to imagine that they are free and close to nature.

I’m not immune to it myself.

Just yesterday, I noted what a lovely afternoon it was and tried to implore Jamie to go outside. The voices of my parents echoed in my head as I said, “you should be outside, it’s beautiful.”

When my parents issued similar sentiments, I’m not sure if I ever responded out loud “well then why aren’t you outside?” If Jamie could speak, she would have been right to ask me the same question. She was perfectly happy making a nest by the window in that moment.

We all have individual preferences, and how we want to spend our time can change from one moment to the next. The chimpanzees are the same.

They like different spaces for a multitude of reasons. I hope the video above illustrates both the utility of caging and also how the chimpanzees might view it differently than we do; without all of the symbolism that we humans put on it.

It took us a little more than three years from the time Negra, Burrito, Jamie, Foxie, Missy, Annie, and Jody arrived to give them Young’s Hill – their two-acre habitat surrounded by double electric fences.

In those three years, the chimps were not unhappy. They played, foraged, nested, and spent lots of time in the indoor/outdoor greenhouse.

We knew they should have more, and we wanted to see them truly “outside.”

I can’t imagine Jamie not having Young’s Hill now. She loves it. She owns it.

Negra, on the other hand, can take it or leave it. Seeing her outside in the spring, though, still takes my breath away.

We can’t get inside the heads of the chimpanzees. We can’t ask them what they are thinking. But we can observe them and watch where they choose to spend their time and how they utilize different spaces.

We can (and should) do things to encourage them to GET OUTSIDE, but it’s worth asking ourselves if we are doing that for their sake or for our own – to fulfill the vision we have of what chimpanzees in captivity should be doing instead of what they want to be doing.

These chimpanzees cannot live in the wild. Our job is to give them the best possible captive life possible, with lots of choice and variety, based on their individual needs, personalities, and quirks.

We’ll continue to blur the fencing out of some photos and put the cameras up to the caging for an unobstructed view, but it’s not because we want you to forget that it’s there; it’s so you can fully see the unique and wonderful chimpanzees who are choosing to do whatever they are doing in the moment when the camera shutter closes.

The Reflection of Oneself and Others

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Chimpanzees are an highly intelligent species. You probably know this by now if you have been following the blog for a while. One test chimpanzees have passed numerous times is the Mirror Self-Recognition Test. This test simply shows that an individual knows that the reflection they are looking at in a reflective surface (i.e. mirror) is in fact their own and not a separate individual. Only a handful of species have passed this test to date, including all the large-bodied apes (including humans), elephants, dolphins, orcas, and magpies.

The chimpanzees here are no exception. They all seem to like to look at their reflections. Willy B absolutely loves staring at himself in the mirror!

While Willy B, and most of the other residents, like to stare at their reflection, Honey B uses it a tad differently.

First and foremost, the large Looky Lou mirror in the Mezzanine is a giant swing toy!

Once she has her fun swinging on this giant pendulum, she will stand there holding it. Then ever-so-slightly, turn it to make sure the humans watched her “coming in like a wrecking ball.”

And she will make sure we were watching from multiple angles.

Even when we arrive with camera in hand, she will watch us intently taking pictures, but through the reflection of the mirror.

Honey B is so clever and fun spirited. Her intelligence never ceases to amaze us, as do all the residents here! Just the other day I was quickly reminded of how clever they really are, especially with the use of mirrors and other reflective surfaces. As I was in a (what I thought was) blindspot in the kitchen, I heard Burrito Bronx cheering and banging on the mesh from one of the front rooms. This is usually Burrito talk for, “Hey you! It’s play time!” I didn’t think it was possibly directed to me because how could he see me? Then it hit me! The door leading to the chimp area was positioned ever-so-right that he could see me through the reflection of the window on the door! Since this discovery, I’ve noticed he will position himself in the front rooms if he has the slightest hint any of us are in this blindspot trying to get some work done. “Silly humans!”

As a bonus to end the day, here are some photos of Negra and Jody today!