Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

chimp

Jamie’s mood

by

Just like all emotional beings, Jamie’s mood fluctuates. We don’t always know if we’re going to be greeted in the morning by Happy Jamie or Somewhat Cranky Jamie. Lately she’s had far more of the former than the latter, which is a huge plus for all the primates at CSNW.

If Jamie wakes up on the wrong side of the nest, her crankiness can translate into intolerance for things like dropping food (which we do a lot—especially me, who wins the Clumsiest Caregiver award every year), or playing troll toss too loudly with Foxie, or standing closer to the fencing than Jamie would like. And sometimes, it’s for what seems like no reason at all.

One thing that Somewhat Cranky Jamie doesn’t always like is when we try to take photos or videos of her, especially if she’s working on a project. But she’s been very tolerant of such activities recently, and even let me take this very up close photo of her today:

web_jamie_close-up_eyes_gh_dm_IMG_2392

I usually thank her for letting me take her photo, and to show my appreciation, I turn the camera around so she can see what I captured. She likes to look at photos, so we will scroll through what is on the card until she turns away to find something else to do.

Today, Happy Jamie spent the afternoon getting groomed by caregiver-in-training Whitney, and played a brief game of tug-o-war and chase. Even though Jamie is very human-oriented, she doesn’t always roughhouse with her caregivers, so it’s a real treat when she allows us to play games like that with her. She also spent some quiet time grooming caregiver Lizz for awhile, and has already been on three walks, despite the drizzly overcast skies.

We love days like today… a Happy Jamie means a good day for everyone.

web_jamie_gh_dm_IMG_2390

Jamie’s precision enrichment project

by

As many of you know, Jamie loves projects. She appreciates a challenge, and seeks out opportunities for doing things “the hard way.” It’s really the opposite of most people’s instincts, because laziness is almost a default—we ask ourselves to find the quickest way to do things which require the least amount of exertion. Conserving energy might be the ultimate cause for this instinct, but in any case, it’s how most animals (humans included) operate. Jamie, however, has other things in mind. She wants to challenge herself.

Lately, when I serve breakfast, I have a little routine with Jamie. I give her a cup which she pins against the fencing, and then I place her servings in the bowl. So as I hand fruit pieces to the mouths or hands of the other chimps, I put Jamie’s in her bowl and she spends time fishing the piece out of the bowl. Once she gets the slice, she sort of leans the bowl my direction so I can refill it. Doing things the hard way tend to just make her happy. It’s awful to imagine the trauma she must have experienced from boredom in her previous life in biomedical research.

We can’t ever make up for what she must have gone through, but we try to give her as many challenges and projects as we can to keep her happy. Sometimes her projects come from surprising places—like today, I caught her playing with this enrichment toy for quite awhile. The small poles could be pushed through the holes in the wood center, and she would do just that and then flip it over and start again. The thing I found interesting was her technique—rather than just using her fingers to push the poles, she used another pole as a tool. You can see in the video just how precise she was with each push.

After taking some video of this activity I showed it to Jamie, who was interested in watching herself for a brief moment before returning to her project (watch until the very end to see that bit).

Go Hawks!

by

Today is Blue Friday, which around the Seattle area means that fans shows their support for the Seahawks by wearing their favorite blue and green Seahawks gear. Since the team will be playing in their first playoff game tomorrow night, we thought we’d join in the spirit and throw a Blue Friday party for the chimps! We had broccoli and grapes for a forage, as well as tea in blue and green champagne flutes, and watered down blue gatorade in Seahawks cups.

The party set-up:

web_becca_volunteer_caregiver_seahawks_party_setup_pr_jb_IMG_8004

web_seahawks_party_setup_pr_dm_IMG_2134

The blue drinks were a bit hit! Everyone had a taste.

Jamie:
Jamie

Annie:
Annie

Burrito:
Burrito

Burrito

Jody:
Jody

Negra:
Negra

Missy:
Missy

Jamie loved the table we setup with the forage and the decorations:

Jamie drink tea

Jamie eat broccoli

Jamie Seahawks football

We’re glad we were able to throw a fun party for the chimps in the spirit of camaraderie of the pacific northwest fans. Running a sanctuary is all about teamwork, and we are lucky to have some really great fans of our own!

Jamie

Happy Birthday, Burrito!

by

For B’s big day we centered everything around his favorites: food, food, and more food! We spread out the meals into many different portions so that about every hour the chimps had a quick snack. We also had a small forage in each of the enclosures, so it was basically Burrito’s dream come true—a way to eat pretty much the entire day away.

Here’s some photos of the birthday guy’s first party in the greenhouse, where we had a chow and tea forage:
web_burrito_birthday_decorations_gh_dm_IMG_2030

Mr. B:
web_burrito_forage_birthday_gh_kd_IMG_2035

web_burrito_forage_birthday_gh_kd_IMG_2054

web_burrito_birthday_tree_gh_ek_IMG_7973

Annie:
web_annie_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7957

web_annie_eat_chow_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7956

Jamie:
web_jamie_lick_cup_forage_birthday_party_gh_ek_IMG_7969

Negra:
web_negra_profile_look_up_good_gh_ek_IMG_7941

web_negra_tea_forage_gh_ek_IMG_7945

And then in the playroom we had more tea, some blackberries, and lettuce to snack on:

Annie:
web_annie_lettuce_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2066

Missy:
web_missy_lettuce_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2075

Jamie:
web_jamie_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2092

Jody:
web_jody_eat_forage_birthday_party_pr_ek_IMG_2090

Thanks to all of Burrito’s pals for helping make this day great for him and again to Tracy and Jenny who sponsored the day!

Low-key play

by

Missy and Annie tend to play rough when they wrestle, but Missy tones it down a little for the elder and slower Negra. Here you can see some quiet low-key play between Negra and Missy, but toward the end Annie steps in and Missy picks up the pace a bit.

Happy Birthday to Don Young!

by

Don Young, of the famed Young’s Hill that the chimpanzees enjoy everyday, has a birthday today! His wife Karen wanted the chimps to have a party in his honor, so she sponsored today and sent a little bit extra for party supplies and food. So be sure to check back later for party photos!

Karen had this to share about sponsoring today:

“In honor of the love of my life, my incredible, generous, supportive husband who will be 76 years old. Without him, his work ethic and decades of dedication to his profession, as well as love and attention to his family, we would not be able to donate to CSNW. What is important to me or to the rest of the family, is important to him. He is an amazing person, and we are all blessed to have him by our sides.”

We couldn’t agree more. The Young’s have done so much for Foxie, Negra, Annie, Missy, Jody, Burrito, and Jamie. Truly, the sanctuary would not be what it is today without their support. So, we too want to extend our heartfelt wishes for a very happy day to Don, with many more birthdays to come.

Karen sponsored this day last year as well, and here’s a photo from the party of Negra enjoying some Brussels sprouts. It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year!

Negra eating brussels