Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Chimp ID: Annie

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Those of you who have been following our blog for a while have probably gotten pretty good at telling the chimpanzees apart, but it can be tough when you’re first getting to know them. I thought it’d be fun to do a series of posts featuring each chimpanzee’s distinguishing physical characteristics.

Annie is pretty distinct looking. She has a uniformly dark face, unlike most of the other chimps, who have some white markings.

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She also has prominent ears with a notch out of the right one, which you can see in these photos:

web Annie lie on bridge sunshine big ears playroom PR IMG_3206

web Annie watermelon food eat forage funny face outdoor area IMG_4688

web Annie sit in grass under climbing structure shade YH IMG_1934

web Annie side glance close up birthday outside oa IMG_0441

Lastly, the hair on the back of Annie’s head and shoulders is almost always standing up:

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web Annie sit new bamboo greenhouse GH IMG_1857

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Here are a couple of photos of Annie playing with her BFF Missy. See if you can tell which one is Annie!

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web Missy grab annie foot play chase YH stump IMG_2640

Let’s Talk Body Language

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You may be aware by now that Jamie can be a pretty exacting boss. She knows just what she wants AND when she wants it. For example, as I type she insists that I should, instead, be taking a walk with her while wearing a cowboy boot. Right. Now. Seriously, NOW. Often people will ask about her specific requests (like wearing a boot while walking around Young’s Hill) “But how do you know that’s what she wants?”

The simple answer is she tells us. Chimpanzees rely heavily on the use of non-verbal communication to get their point across. Gestures such as foot stomping, play bowing, pointing, arm reaches, and hugs & kisses (just to name a few) are all part of the daily vocabulary of chimpanzee life. Additionally, facial expressions, body postures, and vocalizations all provide a potential social partner (whether chimpanzee or human) with important information to help understand the context for interactions. Sometimes those cues can be subtle and sometimes not. Often behaviors can be used in multiple settings (play and aggression, for instance) so it’s vital to make sure we’re paying attention to the full picture painted by someone’s body language.

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As I mentioned, Jamie is insistent about that walk. How do I know? She’s stomping her foot loudly and repeatedly while gesturing frantically towards the bin that holds her boots. If I pick one out and bring it to her (which I promised to do just as soon as I finish!) she will tell me to put it on by staring at my foot then gesturing to the boot and then my foot again. She usually won’t take off running for Young’s Hill until I have it on my foot. Then she’ll run faster than Forrest Gump for the entrance to Young’s Hill pausing every so often to to look back, make eye contact, and make sure I’m following along. For me, the question is not how I know, but how could I possibly not? The chimpanzees communicate their wants and emotional states as clearly as if they were speaking. In fact, I often wonder if life wouldn’t be less complicated without the use of spoken language confusing the matter at hand!

How do you know where you are if you don’t know where you’ve been?

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I decided to do a little retrospective of the blog today and found the posts around this time for the last five years. It’s interesting what’s changed, what’s remained the same, and what’s entirely different.

Today I posted this photo on Burrito’s Facebook page and described him as handsome:

handsome burrito on deck.

And today volunteers Lynn and Patti staffed our booth at PAWSwalk. I worked in the chimp house with Debbie and Keith stopped by for a visit this afternoon with some friends.

Five years ago today, I posted about Keith and I staffing the PAWswalk booth and I posted a photo of handsome Burrito:

five years ago blog post image

 

Today was a drizzly day, but that didn’t stop Jamie from going all around the hill four times – twice with me and twice with volunteer Keri. On her fourth trip around, Jamie ran the whole way. She got pretty wet from the rain, but didn’t seem to mind at all.

jamie walking in the rain

 

It was drizzly four years ago at this time too, so toothbrushes were the rainy day enrichment.

Three years ago we had the ingenious idea to fill troll dolls with treats and freeze them. We’ve probably done this 50 times since then. I love Jamie’s somewhat frustrated initial reaction:

Two years ago Young’s Hill was almost but not quite complete, and we were speculating about whether the chimpanzees might be hesitant to walk into the great wide open space.

Sept 7 2011 blog post screenshot

And one year ago, we posted this in-depth story that KOMO news did about the fire that burned the grass on Young’s Hill and damaged the caregiver house on the property:

In memory of Robert C. Thompson

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Today was sponsored by Madelaine Thompson in memory of her dad, Robert C. Thompson. Madelaine shared the following sentiments:

“My dad and mom welcomed strays and rescue pets into our household from the time I was a baby. At times, pets outnumbered humans – and there were nine kids! I am ever grateful for his compassion and sense of humor in dealing with the challenges and rewards of a chaotic, loving household.”

Madelaine, thank you so much for including the chimpanzees with such lovely memories of your family. What a generous and compassionate way to honor your dad. Something tells me he would have appreciated the chimpanzees’ household!

annie and missy playing

Life as Jamie’s assistant

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Jamie is the supervisor of all of us here at the sanctuary, chimps and humans alike, and today Jamie had many projects for me. Thank goodness I had her direction to structure my day. All of the chimpanzees are well aware of the daily routine and are amazing time keepers. And not just at mealtime. They typically know when it’s time for them to be given access to each area after we complete cleaning and if we are running behind, they start showing up to let us know. And as you can imagine, nothing gets by “the boss.”

Jamie followed me throughout the cleaning of the front rooms today, supervising my cleaning skills and making sure to request numerous drinks from the hose at each door. When it was time to give the chimpanzees access to the front rooms, I asked Jamie which door she wanted me to open first.  She immediately indicated her choice and we repeated this until all the appropriate doors were open.  With cleaning done, Jamie let me know it was time for a walk around the hill.  Immediately! Jamie typically has a specific boot in mind that she wants us to wear on our walks with her and sometimes it can take trying on several pairs in her collection before we find the one she wants. But you know have the right one when you put it on and she takes off running toward Young’s Hill!  Today, this was THE boot of choice:

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After taking several loops around Young’s Hill together, Jamie’s and my routine (per Jamie) is to sit together so she can groom the prized boot.  When she has groomed the boot (and me) sufficiently, she indicates she is ready to be given the boot by running into the front rooms where I drop it in a shoot for her. Once in her possession, she gazes adoringly at the boots, hugs it to her and kisses it:

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Jamie then let me know that she wanted to check out the chimpanzees’ garden (of course, with the boot in tow). Thanks to the hard work of volunteer, Denice, the chimps’ garden is in full bloom! Every day this week, Jamie and Missy (The Tomato Queen) have excitedly asked for cherry tomatoes which they can see growing outside the play room windows.  Here Jamie is watching me pick some for her:

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It’s hard to tell here, but I am serving her a few to try out:

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And while Jamie looks like she has a huge smile in this photo, she’s actually getting tomato seeds out of her teeth.  Nevertheless, I think she was still pretty pleased.

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Jamie is one of the toughest bosses I have ever had, but I can’t think of a more rewarding job, or anyone else I’d rather work for.

Play and laughter

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Everyone needs a good laugh… sometimes it takes friends to get a smile out of us, and other times we can make ourselves crack up.

Be here now

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The most invaluable lesson I think I have learned from working with chimpanzees is this: what matters is this moment, right now. The Cle Elum 7 had already lived so very many different lives before coming here to sanctuary and so much of that history is unthinkable, unconscionable to my mind. Not only have they survived difficult lives but they have also thrived beyond my imagination. Rather than languishing over the dark years of the past they enjoy the gift of freedom of today. I believe this is one of the reasons they, and so many other chimpanzees in captivity, can experience such a transformation under the right care. My hope is that all great apes in captivity will know such care. I consider it an honor to be a part of this moment. Thank you to everyone who makes it possible for us to be here now.

Negra and Jody foraging for breakfast on Young’s Hill this morning:
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Jody on her own on the hill:
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Negra on the hill:
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Burrito enjoying his breakfast beside Negra’s cabin:
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