Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp enrichment

Celebrating Easter Chimp Style

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How did the chimpanzees celebrate the Easter holiday this year? In pure chimp fashion, of course (meaning, a lot of food, enrichment and a good ol’ fashion Easter egg hunt on Young’s Hill). Some of the party preparations included festive blankets, streamers, boxes in the shape of bunnies, books, toys, Easter baskets, bags and eggs.

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We decided to set out a breakfast forage in the Greenhouse this morning using appropriate dinnerware, including Easter cups, plates, napkins and straws. Breakfast consisted of grapefruit, muskmelon, grapes and oranges. Probably the biggest hit (next to primate chow) was the morning banana, almond milk, coconut flake smoothie topped with violet flowers.

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Setting up the streamers and the forage is a pretty exciting time and the chimps will often watch from the windows of the loft area that overlooks the Greenhouse. There’s usually a lot of food squeaks, head nodding and intense watching from the chimps, as staff and volunteers use their skills to transform an area into a party room.

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And what would Easter be without an Easter egg hunt? Young’s Hill is the perfect place for just that. We also “planted” carrots, beets, radishes and kohlrabi on the hill for the chimps to forage for lunch.

And finally, photos of the Cle Elum 7 enjoying their Easter party today.

Negra
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Jamie
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Jody
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Foxie
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Burrito
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Missy
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Annie
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Sometimes I wonder who has more fun at these parties; the humans or the chimpanzees. Often times, weeks before a holiday or birthday party, there is talk of what sorts of items (food, enrichment, decorations, etc.) that would be “chimp approved” that can be used to throw the party. Then there’s the time and energy that go into the preparation of the food, enrichment and the actual party setup (and clean up too). Every single bit of it is completely worth it, once we see how much the chimps enjoy the parties.

Parties are a way of breaking up the routine of day-to-day life and we’re more than happy to make this happen for the chimps, but we certainly do not do it alone. We want to be sure to offer a huge thank you to everyone that helps make celebrations like these so special, including Jayne Roepke, Lisa Stuverud, and Patti Sims. Thank you for all of the holiday decorations, enrichment, eggs and food. You helped make this Easter a hit!!

St. Patrick’s Day 2015

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As Katelyn mentioned in the sponsor-a-day post this morning, we love to find any reason to throw a party for the chimpanzees. So today we filled little shamrock cups with almond milk which was dyed green with food coloring, as well as their usual fruit smoothie which we also dyed green. We picked green apples and kiwis for the breakfast forage—and threw in some oranges because the chimps love them! Add some streamers and St. Patty’s day decor, and you have the perfect recipe for a great party!

Everyone loved the drinks. We added little straws to the cups, and some chimps used them while others tossed them aside while they licked the cups clean! Foxie was especially great at getting every last drop:

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And Missy, too:

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Negra delicately drank from the little shamrock glasses:

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Burrito had filled his hands with chow so he had no choice but to lean over and use the straw for sipping:

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Annie also enjoyed every last drop of the drinks:

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Of course, the fruit was a big hit! Jody was so motivated to get some that she took on some unusual (for her) acrobatic moves to get to the high windows to get a snack.

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Negra:

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Burrito:

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Missy:

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We also hid some peanuts in little green boxes. Annie was the first to find them:

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Burrito:

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Missy:

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Jamie, quite uncharacteristically, was not the center of everything during this party! She grabbed a stash of food and drinks and stationed herself in a corner where we couldn’t get any photos of her. But she certainly enjoyed the forage, and we saw her still searching around for leftovers hours later!

New Boots for Jamie

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Jamie got a new pair of boots today. She has a pretty consistent new-boot ritual that I love watching. After we give her the boots, she walks around and gathers blankets and other materials for a nest. She sets the boots aside momentarily while she gets her nest situated.

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Once everything is in its place, she can devote the necessary time to inspecting the boots closely.

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Time, Energy and Thought

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A lot of time, energy and thought go into building and maintaining friendships. Usually, there is an undeniable connection when first meeting one another; a sort of intrigue about what the other is all about. As time goes on and more energy is put into the relationship, more and more details of each individual are realized and a deeper connection forms. And the bond grows stronger, as one another figures out what makes the other tick. These lasting friendships help shape our lives.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to build friendships with the Cle Elum 7. Some of the friendships are low key, like with Annie, Jody, and Negra. Usually a morning greeting (consisting mostly of some head nodding and an arm extended toward the chimps) will suffice. One friendship demands more play time than the others, including chase and tug-of-war. This is often the case with Burrito. Foxie expects me to take care of her troll and dora dolls when she passes them through the cage to me. There is also the expectation that I will pass them back to her too. Quiet grooming sessions with Missy help maintain our friendship. Without a doubt, there is one friendship that takes the most time, effort and thought. Jamie demands me to be her friend; demands me to put on that boot (or boots) and take countless walks around Young’s Hill with her. She also demands that I sit with her afterwards with the boot so she can groom it.

As a caregiver, I want what is best for each of these chimpanzees. I don’t mind the expectations, demands or work that these friendships take. I truly love to see them happy and I want what is best for them, as I would for any friend. Just a few days ago, I couldn’t help but notice the sweet smell of violets in the air as I was working in my yard. Instantly, the chimpanzees popped into my head; flowers are great enrichment for them. These chimpanzees like to eat lilacs, nasturtiums, grape leaves and violets to name a few. So, I picked what violet flowers we had and put them out as part of a forage this morning along with lettuce and today’s enrichment, which was enrichment-in-boxes day. Thinking that the flowers are the first flowers of the season, I thought the chimps would be excited.

I guess I was right, if you count them eating all of the lettuce first, followed by going through all of the boxes of enrichment, then going out into the greenhouse and then spending time on Young’s Hill before coming back in to snack on a few flowers. At least they liked two out of the three!

Here’s a photo of the lettuce and violet forage.

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Negra was most interested in the lettuce, while Annie checked out the contents of the box.

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Missy was more interested in the contents of the boxes of enrichment than anything else.

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Can you spot the flying sock?

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And Jamie was most interested in the boxes themselves.

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Annie was content to sit on the floor and drink from the fountain after checking out a few of the boxes.

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I’m forever grateful to call these chimpanzees my friends.

The Blanket Fling

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Burrito has a patented play move that is legitimately impossible to resist – we call it the blanket fling. He most often uses it when he’s trying to initiate play with a caregiver. The closest English translation I can come up with is “Heeeyyyyyy! Let’s get crazy!!” And get crazy we do.

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Sanctuary is love.

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Today has been all about love! We threw a big party in the greenhouse for Valentine’s Day with the help of decorations and enrichment donated by Lisa S., Carol M., and volunteer Patti—plus delicious food donated by Anne R. and Patti, including some tasty buckwheat waffles with walnuts and carrots. They smelled delicious! Patti excluded the sugar and salt from the recipe, but the chimpanzees didn’t mind one bit. They wolfed them down!

Here’s some photos from the set-up:
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During the party, Foxie started to whimper a little bit. Jamie swooped in and comforted her and even shared a waffle piece with her. Now that is love! Jamie is the boss of the group, and in the chimp world, that means she doesn’t have to share anything if she doesn’t want to. In fact, she can take anything from anyone to assert her dominance. So for her to share something with Foxie is a true gesture of friendship.

Negra especially loved the waffles:
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Jamie loved the drinks—we had red gatorade watered down plus smoothie in little shot glasses!
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Foxie:
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Jody:
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We all appreciate your gestures of friendship and love for the chimpanzees and are blown away with how we surpassed our Share the Chimp Love goal! It warms our hearts to know that these chimpanzees mean so much to all of you that you would share your generosity with them.

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note: Patty Clark’s name should have also been included in the heart above!

 

You all have played a part in a second chance at life for these chimpanzees.

As supporter Kathleen C. put it in her sponsor-a-day message for today, “Sanctuary is love.” Just watch the video below to see how much love they had for sanctuary today!

 

 

And here’s the final Share the Chimp Love image of what love is for Negra

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The favorite spot

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As I was walking around Young’s Hill with Jamie the other day, I was thinking about how she’s created a trail for herself (JB does mow the grass down during the summer, but there’s still a beaten path where Jamie walks several times a day) and it reminded me of when I visited the Louvre in Paris many years ago. One of the stairwells had worn down on one spot on each step because so many people walked that path every day. The favorite spot. I’m not really sure why I was thinking about that, but maybe because it’s just another way chimpanzees and humans are alike—we find a path we like taking, and stick with it.

The favorite spot phenomenon doesn’t just apply to pathways, but also places to rest or eat. Jamie has a few favorite spots, depending on the activity at hand. For her morning snack in the front rooms she likes to sit on her barrel in room 2, and she almost never strays from that spot for that activity. Foxie and Burrito both like to sit up on the lazy susans, and Negra will sit on a blanket just below.

Missy, Jody, and Annie all sort of move around during meals, but they do have favorite spots for resting. Annie and Missy like the catwalk by the bridge—it’s a popular spot for grooming. Negra has two favorite spots—her summer spot in front of one of the catwalk windows, and her winter spot in the middle of the loft. Jamie likes to rest in the corner of room 3 against the fencing, or near the playroom door. And Jody likes the bench in room 4—as we’ve dubbed it, “the portrait studio” because it has really great lighting. We have lots of photos of Jody lying down in this spot, both snacking on browse like cattails or bamboo, and taking a quick nap in a blanket nest.

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Jody nesting

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Whatever it is that motivates us to find our favorite spots—they represent comfort and safety, which is something that is so valuable for ex-biomedical chimpanzees. This is their second chance at life, and what better way to spend their day than in the comfort of their own home.

Watch the video below to see more ways the chimpanzees find comfort in their sanctuary home, and please Share the Chimp Love!