One of our volunteers brought a giant roll of paper for the chimps (thanks David!), and with it, Jody created one of the greatest nests of all time.
chimpanzee rescue
Negra
It’s been so exciting to watch the chimps enjoy the greenhouse these past few days. Today was completely overcast, with temperatures in the upper 30’s for most of the day. Even so, it’s about 60 degrees in the greenhouse, and the chimps have been out there all day.
Even Negra has abandoned her usual spot on the play room catwalk to make nests outside. This is more than we could have hoped for.
In fact, the greenhouse has created a new problem for us. As I write this, at 5:30, I am waiting for Jamie to come back inside so I can close the door for the night (the greenhouse does get cold at night). But she doesn’t seem to care how late I have to stay 🙂 What a good problem to have!
News on Ning
A couple of days ago, I added a new feature to the Chimp Sanctuary Supporters network. It’s a feature that allows members to post links to news stories (or really anything). You can also add your own comment along with the link. I think it will be a nice way for us all to share stories about what sanctuaries are doing and anything that we come across about chimpanzees that we’d like to share with others. Check out Chimp Sanctuary Supporters and click the “News Share” tab to post.
Love Day!
The chimp’s had a fantastic Valentine’s Day party! Two of our supporters, Robbi and Dick Brown, brought TONS of fabulous new toys including books, stuffed animals, a plastic shopping cart, new troll dolls, scarves, socks, and a red feather boa. We filled gift bags of various new toys and wrapped the rest in red wrapping paper. Stephanie Perciful, our morning volunteer, brought tons of goodies as well, including food, decorations, and a lips-shaped pinata! The theme of the day- RED! Almost all the food was red- including strawberries, raspberries, red bell peppers, peaches, red pears, plums, apples, and pear juice in cute little bottles Stephanie brought. Elizabeth put a few raspberries and strawberries in decorative muffin cups (beautiful touch!) and put bite sized pieces of fruit in festive bags that we scattered and hung from various places in the playroom. The chimps were SO excited! The playroom was decorated to the max! Thanks so much to Dick, Robbi, Stephanie and Shelley, Margaret, and Karen! You guys put on quite the party! Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to put a video together today, but I’ve posted a sneak peek of the food. I promise more to come tomorrow… 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Foxie and her adorable toes
Foxie frequently rubs her toes together. I don’t think we’ve shared any video of this on the blog before. It is one of Foxie’s many endearing habits.
Annie and Missy
Annie and Missy have such a strange relationship. They are nearly inseparable, but when Missy decides to groom or play with someone else, Annie appears to be jealous. Its very predictable – if you see Missy playing with another chimpanzee, you can bet that Annie is watching her every move from a distance. Sometimes Annie will sit back on her butt and tap her heels on the floor, which is a behavior she often displays when she is anxious. And while Missy likes to interact with the other chimps, Annie mostly keeps to herself when Missy is not around.
Today I was taking photos of Missy and Jamie grooming and playing together outside:
And sure enough, there was Annie in the doorway, keeping an eye on things:
Tool modification
A few weeks ago, before J.B.’s recent post on tool use, I took several minutes of video of Jamie attempting to get a piece of chow just out of reach in the front rooms. I condensed the video a bit to show the highlights. There are a couple of things that Jamie does in the video that just make her all-around cool as well as demonstrate the intelligence of chimpanzees.