Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp enrichment

Fostering Friendships

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Volunteer Katelyn is in training to be a caregiver. We like to think of training as not only a time to teach people about chimp behaviors and how to safely interact with the chimpanzees, but it’s also a time to foster new friendships. The process usually takes several months beginning with the trainee sticking close to the trainer until gradually the trainer gets further and further away and the trainee gains more independence. It’s a fun process to watch, especially when you watch the chimps become more and more comfortable with the person, and watching their friendship begin. That’s what I witnessed today with Katelyn. She hasn’t had many interactions with the chimpanzees, but today we spent a good deal of time interacting with almost everybody! We played tug of war with Missy and a sock, and Annie came over and tickled the back of Katelyn’s hand– a rare treat! Later, we spent some quality time with Foxie in the greenhouse. Foxie was so playful! She literally rolled the entire length of the deck during a chase game– a sure sign that Katelyn going to be a fun friend.

I feel I should point out that Katelyn and I are standing on different steps in the next couple of photos 😉

Corn on the cob lunch

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Volunteer Connie brought corn on the cob for the chimps’ lunch today. Corn is one the chimp’s favorites so it was a great lunch for everyone.

Burrito:

Jamie:

Negra:

Foxie:

Once Foxie was done with her corn, Burrito came over to help her out with it:

Happy 4th!

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The chimps have had a great party today! The weather has been awesome– right now, it’s 70 degrees and it’s completely wind-less (a rarity these days!). This morning, we set up a huge forage on Young’s Hill- plums, grapes, peanuts, and chow, and the highlight– frozen grapefruit bowls. Last week, I had the idea to cut grapefruit in half and freeze juice and berries inside the peel, and a few days later, volunteers Seana, Lisa and Denice went to work and made it happen! They looked so delicious! Thanks so much for pulling that one off, ladies! The chimps loved them!

Foxie:

Missy:

Jamie collected the majority, of course:

and was very dedicated to the cause:

Annie collected an enormous mouthful of chow!

Last week, we asked our blog readers what they thought we should do for the 4th of July party. We received some great ideas! One was from Sara, who suggested “Firecracker Poppers” (toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper, filled with peanuts, and the ends tied with ribbon. Volunteer CJ and I made these yesterday and they turned out so cute! But I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any photos. So, volunteer Julie is here now and is going to make the chimps’ evening nightbags out of them. Thanks for the cute idea, Sara!

Elizabeth was inspired by blog commenter Annie N’s suggestion to make popsicles, so she froze juice inside Dixie Cups with little popsicle sticks. Again, the chimps were thrilled! Thanks for the idea, Annie!

Missy:

Negra was the most excited about these. While everyone else was exploring for goodies on the hill, she stayed in the greenhouse to have a party of her own– a 4th fit for a Queen!

Field Roast hot dogs have become a CSNW 4th of July tradition. Volunteer Patti brought Field Roast Frankfurters, ketchup, and mustard so we could serve them for lunch. The chimps love Field Roast! They truly savored each and every bite.

Jamie:

Negra ate the bread first

before enjoying the hot dog:

Even Burrito took the tiniest little bites of his hot dog to make it last longer! You don’t see that every day!

Along with making the Firecracker Popper Nightbags mentioned above, Volunteer Julie has also been hard at work making another frozen treat for dinner- limes cut in half and filled with red gatorade (to look like watermelon)! The “seeds” are sunflower seeds!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Inspiration

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I often use things I’ve seen the chimps do as inspiration to help me come up with enrichment themes. Annie seems to really like beaded necklaces. I often see her playing with them– swishing them around in her hands, using them to play tug of war with her friends, or shoving a bunch in her mouth, filling up with water, and sucking all the water out:

So, today I decided to make it easier for her, and everyone. I took containers, filled them with beaded necklaces and then filled them with water. The chimps must have been inspired because almost everyone spent some time playing with the necklaces. It seems it’s no longer just Annie that thinks water-filled beaded necklaces are fun.

Missy:

Jamie:

Foxie:

Close friends

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It’s so relaxing to watch the chimps groom one another. Grooming is often used as a way to, not only help clean up your friends, but also to strengthen bonds and friendships. Foxie and Burrito have a pretty close friendship and I caught them in the middle of a very sweet grooming session this afternoon.

Blanket fort play

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The enrichment at the sanctuary changes daily, and we try to come up with different things to entertain the chimpanzees. As I was picking up trolls that had clearly been bitten into (some were ripped almost in half!) I was thinking that there must have been some sort of troll forage. Jackie confirmed that they did indeed have frozen watermelon in troll dolls as a forage the day before. I started wondering what the average person must think when they hear that caregivers fill troll dolls with frozen watermelon as a fun project. It must sound so strange! But the chimpanzees really love stuff like that, and we try to take advantage of the kind of enrichment we have (and we have TONS of trolls since they are a Foxie favorite) and make it even more enriching.

Today we set up a blanket fort—we tied blankets together and made a really low ceiling for the chimps to walk under. It was sort of like the day we draped some blankets over the barrels, but this was bigger and more spread out. And it was enriching for the chimps, so I think we succeeded in our goal!

The blanket fort lasted a pretty long time, however I just saw Jody taking it down in order to nest with the blankets. She seemed pretty content with all the blankets she managed to collect since they were tied together.