Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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chimp sanctuary

4th Annual Love a Chimpanzee Day

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Supporter Monica Best has taken sponsoring a day of sanctuary to a whole new level. Four years ago she declared April 23 Love a Chimpanzee Day and has sponsored the day every year since then. (Today also happens to be Monica’s birthday!) Love a Chimpanzee Day 2013 began with a breakfast of pears, strawberries, lemons, fruit smoothie, and peanuts (Negra’s favorite) in the greenhouse, followed by some adventures on Young’s Hill. After we cleaned the playroom we decked out the place in streamers and lots of fluffy blankets and watched Jody settle down into a nest.

I love to watch Jody nest. She first does a sweep of the area to collect any unclaimed blankets, then drags them all to her chosen spot. (Sometimes she grabs more than she can carry and drops some on the way.) Then she sits down and arranges the blankets into a fluffy throne around her. When she’s satisfied with her work, she gets to her feet and then dives headfirst into the nest, usually making what we affectionately call her “dinosaur noise,” a low moan of contentment. Jody doesn’t typically go out of her way to play with enrichment, but if there happens to be some near her nest she’ll inspect it lazily.

web Jody lie on back inspect troll playroom PR IMG_6867

web Jody lie on back inspect boot nest playroom PR IMG_6879

web Jody lie on back inspect boot nest playroom PR IMG_6878

web Jody lie on back inspect boot nest playroom PR IMG_6877

Once she’s settled, she stretches and wriggles from side to side until she’s totally content.

web Jody lie on back stretch blanket nest playroom PR IMG_6884

web Jody lie on back nest playroom PR IMG_6883

web Jody lie on back blanket nest playroom PR IMG_6871

web Jody lie on back blanket nest playroom PR IMG_6874

web Jody lie on back stretch playroom PR IMG_6896

web Jody lie on back stretch playroom PR IMG_6895

web Jody lie on back stretch blanket nest playroom PR IMG_6894

web Jody lie on back stretch blanket nest playroom PR IMG_6893

Thanks, Monica!

Negra gone wild

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It was perfect weather for chimpanzees here at the sanctuary this morning  (in Cle Elum, this means warm sun with no wind!) so we decided to put out a breakfast forage on Young’s Hill.  All of the chimps seemed more at ease and peaceful on the Hill today than I have ever seen them!  No one appeared to feel the need to keep an eye on where everyone else was and just went about peacefully foraging in their own direction.  Much to our surprise and delight Negra went further than I have seen her go yet!  She immediately headed for the far side of the Hill and promptly sat down to check out the neighbor’s horses.  I even saw her glance upward occasionally listening to the birds overhead.  And as if that weren’t enough, Negra continued to roam and explore even further, enjoying handfuls of grass along the way.  We were astounded and couldn’t stop taking photos!  I think even the other chimps were excited to see Negra venturing so far.  In the end it seemed to me that Negra had enough of all the paparazzi and promptly turned her back on everyone just to enjoy her adventure on her own.

web Negra walk grass YH IMG_6406

web Negra watch horses YH IMG_6472

web Negra sit in grass bamboo YH IMG_6426

web wild neggie YH bamboo negra IMG_6476

web Negra eat grape YH bamboo IMG_6450

I think Annie, Jody and Missy were as much in awe of Negra as we were!

web annie jody negra missy YH forage IMG_6494

Easter egg hunt

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(Be sure to check out the earlier post with pictures of the party set-up).

Happy Easter! Today we had a big Easter egg hunt on the hill for the chimps. They seemed to really enjoy it. We kept the fun going and had another forage in the playroom, too! When you’re done looking at all the photos, watch the video at the end to see the chimps getting some Easter goodies.

Burrito with an Easter egg basket:

web burrito easter egg basket party forage enrichment YH IMG_5068

Negra drinking some water out of a watering can (while sitting in her cabin)

web negra cabin easter party enrichment watering can YH IMG_5064

Jamie also liked this watering can, and Jody is here peering on:

web jody jamie peer watering can cabin easter egg enrichment forage YH IMG_5143

Annie really liked a different watering can:

web annie drink watering can enrichment easter YH IMG_5113

Foxie and Annie:

web foxie annie dora easter egg enrichment party forage YH IMG_5193

Foxie walking with Negra:

web foxie negra dora easter egg forage party enrichment YH IMG_5094

Jamie in the cabin:

web jamie easter egg enrichment forage cabin YH IMG_5128

Jamie found all our good hiding spots!

web jamie easter egg forage party enrichment YH IMG_5076

Missy with an Easter egg in her mouth:

web missy bouncy bridge easter egg forage party YH IMG_5059

Negra, looking very happy with her Easter egg:

web negra content face easter egg forage party enrichment YH IMG_5088

 

New iPad thanks to Apps for Apes! (and a plea for a chimp-proof case)

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(UPDATE: Thank you Jody! We’ve got our case on the way! If you want to still support the fun iPad project—we could use some iTunes giftcards for cool apps! You can send an e-card to [email protected])

A few weeks ago, Orangutan Outreach reached out to us after seeing my blog post about wanting an iPad for Jamie (and the other chimps, too!) They have this great program called “Apps for Apes” (featured on NBC news) which has mostly been used in zoos and with orangutans. The Center for Great Apes is involved in the program and they are a sanctuary for both chimps and orangutans, but we’re the first sanctuary to be involved with only chimps. I’m really excited to see what apps they want to interact with the most! Orangutan Outreach raises awareness about orangutan conservation while also providing great enrichment for captive orangutans. Their project falls perfectly in line with what we have going on with Eyes on Apes, our advocacy group.

Here’s me (so excited!) with the iPad. I set a photo from today’s earlier blog post of Jody as the background:

web caregiver debbie hold new ipad

And here volunteer Deb and myself show Jamie and Foxie the iPad.

web caregiver deb show jamie new ipad

web jamie look at ipad

web foxie jamie look at ipad

I can’t WAIT to be able to let the chimps touch the iPad themselves. First we need to have a durable case so we can safely have it against the fencing and the chimps won’t break it 🙂

J.B. has done a bit of research and this is what we’ve decided will be the best option: Life Jacket Waterproof Case. We’d like the case as well as the extra mounting bracket which is an additional cost. If someone would be willing to donate the case, the mounting bracket, (or both!) I would be forever thankful (and so would the chimps!)

Though we don’t know for sure exactly what will happen when they’re able to interact with it themselves, I imagine based on how enriching it is just to look at, that they’ll be very interested to touch it!

Negra hangin’ out at the cabin

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If you saw the blog the a couple weeks ago, we got pretty excited because Negra finally went into her cabin! Yesterday Jackie captured a short video of Negra sitting in her cabin. After hanging out in there for a while, she walked around it, stopped to look at Jody through the clear lexan panel, and then sat down next to it with a really sweet and content face.

web Negra sweet sit next to cabin arms crossed YH IMG_4596

The greatest staff meeting ever

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Today at the end of our staff meeting, Jamie started stomping in the playroom loft. As we’ve figured out, this seems to mean “please put on one of my boots and chase me around the hill.” We thought it would be fun if we ALL played this game with her. As we all started walking out there, Jamie’s hair stood straight on end and she ran so fast out to meet us—she was so excited! It was a lot of fun, and probably the best staff meeting we’ve ever had. I think Jamie would agree.