Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp enrichment

Jamie, the artiste

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Generally speaking, for what ever reason, the chimps here don’t seem too interested in drawing or painting. However, every once in a while, Jamie will draw with a pen or crayon. So, I was pleasantly surprised today when I found the following mask (that was all white yesterday) in the Playroom during cleaning. I can only assume it was Jamie’s masterpiece because I saw her drawing with a brown crayon yesterday, and she is the most likely of the group to draw. I would say when she puts her mind to it (or feels like it), Jamie is quite the artiste.

The artist herself, lounging in the greenhouse:

In the comfort of your own home

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It may be sunny and beautiful right now, but this morning was very chilly and gray. It was definitely one of those mornings where all you want to do is curl up on the couch with your favorite blanket and watch a movie. So, it was no surprise when Missy decided to skip breakfast and stayed in her giant nest in the playroom. I certainly don’t blame her, but that meant cleaning the playroom was slightly delayed. Being behind in our routine did not stop the chimps from being adorably distracting. Jamie was looking quite bored, so I poured a little bit of (non-toxic) soapy water on the floor in one of the front rooms and gave her a couple of brushes. She cleaned a very large portion of the room and worked on it for nearly an hour (am I losing job security?). As if that wasn’t cute enough, Burrito spent some quality time with blankets today, which is something that we just don’t see from him very often.

The first blanket I saw him “cuddling” with is one that has a skull and crossbones on it 🙂

Then, Missy distracted him with a playful game of chase. He later returned to the same spot with a different blanket:

And then it got chilly, so he moved into the front rooms. I would say it was a very good morning to curl up with a blanket!

Jamie in repose

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Our enrichment theme for today is “Jody Day.” Why should Jody have to wait for her birthday to get all of her favorite things? So we put out lots of blankets and straw for nests, cattails, fresh produce from the garden, sunflowers, and buckets of soapy water. All the chimps seemed to enjoy their Jody day. Here’s a picture I snapped of Jamie reclining amidst the straw and cattails. I love how she’s holding up her right elbow with her left foot!