Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

A Little Piece of Jamie

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Jamie has many sides to her. One side that not everyone gets to see is her silly, playful personality. Though, don’t get me wrong – Jamie is mostly business. I mean she does have to run the whole Sanctuary and it’s not going to run itself! However, it is really fun to watch Jamie let loose, be goofy, and maybe even be a tad bit vulnerable. Today was one of those silly, carefree, read a book, walk around, lounge around days. You might not be able to tell in these photos how goofy Jamie was being, but Jamie let me take tons of photos today almost as though she was really enjoying the photo shoot. I would show her the picture after to see if she liked it; Jamie would nod her head and then we would take some more!

Before the photo shoot Jamie did have to make sure the volunteers were cleaning:

There is a page from Jamie’s boot book in her pelvic pocket:

Jamie:

Days like today make me feel very blessed to be a friend to the Cle Elum Seven.

“Me time”

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We often talk about how Foxie is a good friend to all the chimpanzees in her group. She keeps the peace and gets a playfulness out of her companions like no one else can. I would imagine that having so much social responsibility must be taxing, because she also seems to enjoy her alone time, particularly when she goes on a solo mission on Young’s Hill. Of course, she isn’t entirely “solo” on these adventures. There is almost always a prized doll close at hand to keep her company.

What’s Your Strategy?

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Today, while observing the chimpanzees forage on Young’s Hill, volunteer Patti said she likes how Negra goes about things.

While Missy is running from one structure to another, finding all of the food that was placed or hidden high up on the structures or the treat rock:

And Jody is busy running around collecting as much as she can, mostly from the ground (low hanging fruit, you might say):

Negra wanders about until she finds some food:

And then she plops herself down and simply enjoys what is at hand (in this case, a beet that she seems to have splayed open and a prized pineapple top):

After finishing, she’ll sit for a bit and look around before moving on to the next station:

J.B. described this as a lack of a strategy, but I think it’s still a strategy to have a laid back, “see what happens” way of approaching the forage.

Either way, she looked very happy out there. ❤️

A spotlight on Negra

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Negra Chimpanzee, AKA The Queen
Age: 45
Favorite foods: Peanuts, primate chow, baked sweet potatoes, bread on her birthday 🙂
BFF: Missy? It’s hard to pick because Negra is more on the independent side.
Special talents: Making big comfy nests, staying out of the drama
Favorite place to nap: Up high in a sun spot
Favorite activities: Napping, eating wild prickly lettuce on Young’s Hill in the spring, watching the valley below the sanctuary
Favorite food puzzle: Peanut butter smeared on magazines

The Thief

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Boss Jamie is not generally light-hearted. She runs a tight ship and she takes her job seriously. It’s rare to catch her playing with anyone, but when we do, it’s almost always with Foxie, and it’s almost always the same game.

Jamie knows that a surefire way to get Foxie’s attention is to swipe one of her beloved dolls, because Foxie will inevitably join Jamie’s game of keepaway.

Jamie (left, plotting) and Foxie (right, oblivious):

The theft is complete and Jamie makes her getaway.

All the way down to the ground…

Foxie follows, as Jamie knew she would.

Sleeeeepy…

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The toastiest of toasty greenhouses, a full belly, a good friend (annnnnd…a blanket?!?!) equals the sleepiest of sleepy Foxies:

If you’ve been following the chimps’ lives for awhile you’ve probably seen us write about the fact that Foxie is the only one of the chimps who chooses not to nest with any blankets. She’s quite comfortable curling up in her tiny chimp way with her dolls on the heated floor or a sun puddle on a platform. I took all these photos, speaking to her throughout and even resized them for the blog before it suddenly dawned on me that she was sleeping on a blanket! I ran out to the greenhouse to see if maybe it had just appeared that way in the photos, but nope! There was not one, but two blankets curled around her. Not in full nest fashion like most of the other chimps, but decidedly under her. !!!

You may think, “What’s the big deal?” In the grand scheme of things, nothing really, as she’s been perfectly content before. Foxie has appeared happy and at ease nesting as she chooses sans blankets for almost eleven years now. Perhaps her whole life. And while it’s merely emotionally appealing to the humans to think she might be extra comfortable with blankets, she obviously knows herself best. But I’ve observed Foxie choosing to incorporate a few new changes into her days recently.

Foxie has also been known not to like to engage much with enrichment or reach into things, like boxes or bags, even if her beloved dolls are in them. The other night we gave the chimps grab bags for their evening enrichment (brown paper bags filled with toys and treats such as seeds and nuts, peanut butter pinecones, etc) when I heard a flurry of ripping and tearing. Grab bags are coveted by most of the chimps, but especially Jamie. I assumed it was her creating the commotion and when I went to see what all the hullabaloo was about, there stood Foxie, bipedal, tugging with all her might to extract several bags from the food chute and then proceed to go through each one and pull out all the items she wanted. My heart swelled.

Foxie has also demonstrated sudden progress in PRT (Positive Reinforcement Training). PRT allows us to work with the chimpanzees and invite them to participate in their healthcare which ideally makes simpler medical interventions easier and often dramatically reduces their stress when treatment is required. Foxie and I, along with Missy, are partners. We’ve been doing PRT for a few years now and as you may already be guessing from the above, Foxie isn’t really a fan. Of course, it makes perfect sense given her history. But low and behold, with the support and assistance of Missy, and sometimes the other chimps, demonstrating that a little spray here and there isn’t really a bad thing, Foxie is now participating more than she ever has. She’s not always thrilled, but she does it and continues to engage. There are even times that her relief and satisfaction in having participated and coming through “unscathed” seems almost palpable, as if she knows she accomplished something that required a lot of courage and it wasn’t so bad after all.

All these years later since arriving to the sanctuary, the chimps continue to amaze, surprise and delight us with their new found interests and courageous adventures. Even if the chimps try something new and choose never to do it again, their universe and spirits expanded from all the courage it took to try. Reaching into a bag, allowing a blanket to touch you, comfort you, may not seem big in the grand scheme of things. But for Foxie and her family, these seemingly small steps continue to be big ones in their healing. And for me, my heart shoots off silent fireworks, I want to jump and shout from the rooftops, because I’ve had the privilege to witness the bravest of brave souls expand.