chimp enrichment

Happy New Year

January 1, 2017 by Keri

Happy New Year everyone!!

Many of you avid blog readers know that we like to celebrate the holidays here at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and since it’s New Year’s Day, we decided to throw another party! Parties are a great way to celebrate holidays, birthdays, the changing of the seasons, and just-because days.

What gets the chimpanzees so excited about parties you might ask? Well, I’d like to sometimes think it’s all about how we decorate the various enclosures…

…but really, it’s more about the food and drinks. In fact, food and drinks tend to be the central theme to most any party.

Little did I know, until Diana brought it up, that there are traditional foods eaten the night before and on New Year’s Day. Black eyed peas, green foods, grapes and cabbage are a few foods considered to bring abundance, luck and prosperity in the New Year. And circle-shaped foods signify the year coming full circle. So, in keeping with the green foods tradition, we set out green grapes, lettuce and alfalfa cubes and included round nuts for the circle shaped foods…

…and sparkling apple cider for toasting.

To keep with tradition, the dinner for tonight will include black eyed peas with rice, topped with roasted onions and sweet potatoes.

Here are some of the pictures from this morning’s party in the Playroom.

Jamie

Missy

Burrito

Foxie

Annie

Negra

Jody celebrated the New Year upstairs in the loft, so I was unable to get any photos of her.

Wishing you and yours a most happy New Year!!!

In honor of the Cle Elum 7!

December 24, 2016 by Katelyn

This Christmas Eve was sponsored for the Cle Elum 7 by friends and advocates of not only the chimps, but all our fellow animals, Kery Shaw and Terran Baylor! Kery and Terran give so much of their time and hearts to advocating for the well-being of animals and creating a compassionate world community. We are thrilled to start off almost a full week of sponsorships and celebration with their generous gift for the chimpanzees.

Kery and Terran, thank you so much for all you do to make the world a kinder, gentler, safer sanctuary for us all, especially for those who are most in need of it. Thank you for always holding the chimpanzees in your hearts:

Annie (bottom) and Missy (top):

Burrito:

Foxie and Dora:

Master Forager, Jody:

Negra picking wild lettuce:

And Jamie, Queen of her world:

Staff and volunteers have been like elves in the chimps’ workshop these last weeks processing all the incredibly generous and compassionate gifts pouring in for the chimpanzees, not only for the holidays, but for an even brighter future. From our hearts, thank you. Thank you. You have all given the gift of sanctuary and we are profoundly grateful to you.

However, you choose or don’t choose to celebrate this time of year, all of us here at CSNW wish you holidays and a season full of joy, hope, comfort, kindness, beauty and gratitude. Be sure to check in for the chimpanzees’ Christmas extravaganza tomorrow and have a magical Christmas Eve!

Overdoing it

December 15, 2016 by Elizabeth

We all know the experience of eating too much of something delicious, knowing you’ll regret it later. But sometimes it’s so hard to stop.

It.is.cold.

December 14, 2016 by Katelyn

In the years I have worked at CSNW I have yet to have a day where I was unable to get at least one somewhat decent photo of one of the chimps. Until today. We haven’t had a lot of additional snow since last weeks storm, but it’s remained below freezing for days. It hovered in the teens today without even a glimpse of blue sky or sun. And for the majority of the day the chimpanzees have been gathered together in the loft area of their home, nesting, grooming and staying warm and cozy. This is also an impossible area to get photos of.

We had the grand idea that today would be the day we shoveled paths to a couple of the nearest structures for the chimps and we did this, but when I opened the door to Young’s Hill, it was like a ghost town. Late in the afternoon Jamie did make one attempt to go for a walk and made it down the pathway to the gate and then decided that was enough of that.

In the chimp house, things are kept in the toasty 70’s and the chimps’ Christmas tree is making things feel more festive (this is the chimps’ view from a front room looking into the kitchen). Anna spent the afternoon roasting good things to eat as the chimps watched with enthusiasm from their loft area:

Sweet, beautiful Annie for a brief moment on Young’s Hill during somewhat warmer temperatures last week:

That’s all I’ve got folks! I will leave you with a funny story of the day though. Missy often asks to have us open up the barn doors that face the chimps’ garden area even when it’s freezing outside and we try to explain to her that it’s too cold. I am convinced the chimps think we are holding out and it’s secretly summer on that side of the building. Well, today Jamie AND Missy thought they wanted those doors open. So I said, “Okay, if you really want to see what’s out there, let’s do it!”

So for a brief moment I flung the doors open and you should have heard the excitement. Jamie was pant-hooting at the top of her lungs and running around the playroom, Negra looked at me from above as though I’d lost my mind, and Jody and Burrito ran over to look with their hair standing on end (pilo-erect) in excitement then quickly left with their “cold” grimace faces. Everyone had a quick peek outside and a bite of snow and then I closed the doors up. They continued to hoot and holler and chase each other around the playroom, raising a ruckus for several minutes. Maybe cursing me out in chimpanzee? Or maybe happy to have been able to feel the elements on their faces, breath the fresh snow air, and feel a moment of exhilaration from the safety and warmth of their home? Or both! Who knows, but it’s nice to be able to answer their requests even when it’s not what they had perhaps hoped for. And it was still a choice they got to make and explore. And really, isn’t that what we all want?

Sweet, beautiful juncoes in the chimps’ garden:

For the love of a challenge

December 13, 2016 by Anna

Jamie is an avid tool user. If something falls on the ground outside her enclosure and she knows that it’s within a tool’s reach, she is on it with a vengeance. Today, a couple slippery tomatoes fell during lunch service and she made it her mission to retrieve them as a bonus snack.

Jamie’s Snow Day

December 12, 2016 by Elizabeth

Winter can be tough on Jamie sometimes – her frequent perimeter walks have to be put on pause if she doesn’t want to trudge through inches of snow. But winter’s not all bad. When the chimps don’t want to go outside, we bring the outdoors to them.

Part joy. Part magic. All Foxie.

November 7, 2016 by Katelyn

Last week you may recall that I captured Foxie snuggled up napping on the heated floor with her dolls, Kate and Alana (Dora’s friends 🙂 ). I also promised there were A WHOLE LOT of photos of that scene to follow. So here goes…

When Foxie plays she often likes to lie on her back in a tiny chimpanzee ball repeatedly tucking her arms and legs into herself and then kicking and flailing them about as she snorts and laughs. On this day, after she woke up she rolled over and decided to engage her dolls in her play session (JB wrote a fantastic blog post on Friday about chimps and imaginary play). What ensued was part joy, part magic, and all Foxie: