Today, Jamie built herself yet another nest using a blanket and a box. This sparked a conversation between Diana and I about the similarities and differences of nesting behavior of captive vs. free-living chimpanzees. We couldn’t find many videos on the internet of free-living chimpanzees nesting, however, Jane Goodall’s Discover Chimpanzees Website has a behavior glossary, complete with video footage of the chimpanzees in Gombe engaging in a variety of behaviors, including this clip of nesting. If you compare the following video clips of Jody, Missy and Jamie (in order of appearance) to the video clip from the Discover Chimpanzees Website, you can see many similarities. Notice how the free-living chimpanzee (named Fifi) pulls the branches into her nest and pushes them down to make her bed more comfortable. It truly is an exact science.
chimpanzee retirement
All About Burrito
Here’s a video all about Burrito in celebration of his 27th birthday which is on January 6th. Please share with others!
Thank you to everyone who has supported Burrito by being his Chimpanzee Pal and overall friend.
Happy 2010 everyone!
I’m trying out Vimeo (video below). The video is also on You Tube.
All About Burrito at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest on Vimeo.
Sponsor a Day of sanctuary and here’s to 2010!
Sarah came up with a great idea to allow people to sponsor a day of sanctuary. It’s just $100 and you can pick any day! More info and a calendar here. I’ve already signed up in remembrance of my mom’s birthday on Sept. 12th and Tom Chimpanzee‘s celebrated birthday on May 1st.
The Sponsor a Day program was announced in the e-newsletter sent out this morning, but I thought I’d share my excitement about the program and way of honoring others here on the blog too.
In other news, J.B. is working on the greenhouse in this strange sun-and-snow weather right now, and we’re planning for Burrito’s birthday on January 6th. Once everyone is back from their respective short vacations, we’ll sit down and prioritize some fundraising ideas for all of you eager blog supporters. Thanks so much again for raising the funds for the chimp proof window! J.B. has been talking with the steel contractors and trying to figure out a time line for installation, which will probably be weather-dependent. Oh, and I’ve begun to work with Kristi of Vintage Vine and Margie and Nicole to plan the late winter/early spring wine tasting in the upper county – Sippin for the Seven was so much fun last year that we’d love to make it an annual event.
Never a dull moment!
Thank you all for making 2009 full of fun and new experiences for both the chimpanzee and the human people at CSNW. I can’t wait to see what 2010 brings!
Jamie’s Christmas nests
Jamie took a couple of breaks from the celebration yesterday to make some pretty festive nests.
Party in the evening
A few photos of the dinner fun. The Tofurky dinner was a big hit, and of course, everyone loves cranberry sauce. Oh! And shots of punch (see Negra in the third photo below). A day full of food grunting!
Party!
Here are a few photos from the party thus far. We really can’t thank you all enough for the gifts and donations you sent to make this day so special for the chimpanzees in Cle Elum. They certainly do love a party. Little does Burrito knows his birthday is just around the corner! Hope you’re having a great day too!
Merry Christmas morning!
Happy Holidays to all. The chimpanzees got stockings filled with goodies last night and they are coming in for breakfast now. We’re serving them a special treat – fruitcake (more like fruit bread)! Elizabeth just let me know that everyone came in and we’re ready to get the day started. I’ll serve breakfast, then we’ll clean the playroom and set up the party with all of the donated presents – thanks everyone for making the chimps’ celebration so festive! More soon!