Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
A year ago yesterday we posted this video of Jamie exploring a sandbox. Jamie takes her job as boss very seriously, and she doesn’t often sit back and kick her feet up, so to speak. But something about sifting through the sand seemed to captivate and relax her. And watching this video captivates and relaxes us.
And here’s a bonus portrait of the Zen master herself.
Jamie loves to watch her caregivers model boots for her. Sometimes this process lasts ten or fifteen minutes. Jamie is by no means a passive audience – she lets us know which boot she wants us to put on which foot, and she makes sure we keep the fashion show moving at a steady clip.
We provide the chimpanzees at the sanctuary with a wide variety of enrichment to enhance their daily lives. The great thing about enrichment is how flexible it is!
Some enrichment (and often the most popular kind) involves food…
A forage helps exercise the chimps’ bodies and minds:
Enrichment can also have nothing to do with food…
A daily rotation of toys and other objects give the chimps new things to play with and look at each day.
Enrichment can be large and permanent!
Enrichment can be tough and durable…
Or naturally sourced…
While some enrichment might require a bit of money and assembly time to create…
Other types of enrichment can be quickly created from recycled materials!
Making enrichment for chimpanzees relies on a little bit of imagination and creativity. If you know someone who works with primates and would like to share ideas with us, please feel free to direct them to our enrichment database!
We had a lot of playful chimps today! When the humans arrived this morning we found Missy and Annie chasing each other, Burrito with a toy in his mouth ready to play chase, Foxie throwing dolls, Jody breathy panting, Negra giving kisses, and Jamie ready with a grooming tool for boots. Throughout the day there has been quite a bit of napping and nesting because it was really cold today. However, do not fret, the chimps have been very busy! Burrito has been running around with his scooter and Jamie has been reading books and stuffing trolls into paper bags. Check out the video to see a few more of today’s activities!
Today was a beautiful brisk December morning, Jamie and I were on our usual perimeter walk. At the end of our walk I noticed Missy and Negra enjoying the warm sunshine beaming on Young’s Hill. Negra sat on a log watching Missy eat the little bit of snow left on the log, Negra then also took part in eating some snow! The Hill was pretty popular today even with the chill this morning, everyone made an appearance at one point. A little later, after I went back to the Playroom to help clean, I spotted Annie playing with the new mirror in the Greenhouse. Annie was being silly and flipping upside down and inspecting all the windows. Missy revealed herself from the cargo net near Annie, which made sense, Annie was trying to get Missy to play! It worked, they quietly played in the cargo net and I sneaked away so they could play in peace.
Negra:
Missy eating snow:
Negra on the log & Missy eating snow:
Negra:
Negra enjoying some snow:
Annie looking into the mirror:
Annie:
Annie checking the window frames:
Missy taking a turn playing with the mirror (can you see her toes?):
Can you tell who is who? Today at CSNW we have a challenge for you! There are four pictures and we want you all to try and guess which chimps are in the photos.
A freckled face:
Two mystery girls lounging together:
And who could be under this blanket:
Someone holding a troll doll:
Additional photos just because!
Foxie:
Jamie nestled with a boot:
Jamie finally off duty:
And last one because who wouldn’t want to see one more:
It’s been sunny today with no additional snow, but what we have has been taking its time melting and it’s still pretty chilly out.
The chimps have chosen to park themselves in front of sunny windows facing the valley to nap and groom and occasionally engage in games of chase, thundering through the loft of their playroom or nesting out of sight in the top of the greenhouse.
Foxie seems to be particularly enjoying the snow days and has been taking full advantage of the weather to enjoy some indoor games. She has also requested so many snowballs to eat that I think she has to take breaks in-between to be rowdy and raucous so she can warm herself up. So after a particularly large number of snowballs, we had a long bout of passing her beloved purple-haired doll back and forth with spins, leaps, pirouettes and general chimpanzee shenanigans.
Her she is lying on the heated floor playing with her doll and prepping to pass it to me through the caging:
Here she had two dolls and we were racing to pass them back and forth between us, always a favorite:
Foxie stopped to check out her image in the camera:
And what would be a proper game without standing on your head?
All those shenanigans can wear a girl out:
