Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Eye gaze

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Primatology is such an interdisciplinary field—it’s a mix of anthropology, psychology, zoology, biology, and ethology—and depending on a primatologist’s background, they have very different interests. If you have an anthropology background for instance, you might be interested nonhuman primates from the perspective of human origins for group size, culture, linguistics, and so on.

My background is in psychology, so in many of my classes we studied comparative cognition of nonhuman primates and humans. One thing comparative psychologists study is theory of mind. Do nonhuman primates have a theory of mind? That is, do they understand that other individuals have different beliefs, desires, and perception than their own? There’s a ton of behavioral measures that researchers use to determine if an individual—nonhuman or human—has a theory of mind.

One behavior that is evidence of a theory of mind is eye gaze and joint attention. Chimpanzees, like humans, communicate with eye gaze. They use it with each other and with humans, too. For instance if some food has dropped just out of reach, Burrito might get a caregiver’s attention by making some noise, and when they approach him he will look straight toward the food item. If we follow his gaze we see the peanut he’s trying to get. Things like this happen all the time, and for us, common sense would say that of course chimpanzees have a theory of mind. Burrito understands that until he grabs my attention and points it out to me, I am not aware of the peanut lying just outside the caging.

Very frequently we are asked if eye contact is OK with chimpanzees. Well, it is! And they make eye contact quite frequently. It’s one way they communicate with us.

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Drinks from the hose

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Jamie often interrupts our cleaning routine to request a drink of water from the hose. She’s quite persistent; we’re usually not allowed to resume cleaning until she’s had her fill. Today, while Debbie and I were cleaning the front rooms, Jamie distracted us for probably fifteen minutes. We’re happy to serve, of course.

Happy Chimps

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The chimps here are so photogenic and always look happy, as you can see below:

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Every once in awhile we do catch them when they’ve perhaps woken up on the wrong side of the nest:

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The Great Baked Pumpkin

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Variety is the spice of life and we try to provide that for the chimpanzees even in their meals. Most of their diet is designed, as much as is possible, to simulate a natural chimpanzee diet and, as such, consists of primarily fresh fruit and vegetables. This is supplemented with nuts, seeds, and chow to provide protein sources.

Now it can, on occasion, become a challenge to accommodate personal preference in addition to providing creative variation whenever your options are fruit or vegetables. Often the refrigerator is full of squash varietals, especially during the fall and, as it happens, the chimpanzees are not that fond of raw squash.

I’m not sure who first thought to bake the squash but whoever it was deserves chimpanzee food squeaks! It turns out that, although the chimpanzees would rather not eat squash raw, if you bake it it becomes an exciting and delectable treat. So, in the spirit of fall baking and for the sake of a little novelty, I decided to see what happens if you bake and serve pumpkin for dinner. The result?

Seven thrilled chimpanzees, with the accompanying food squeaks of joy. Baked pumpkin, for the win!

Baked pumpkin dinner:
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Here is Missy (on the left) and Foxie (on the right) being served some delicious baked pumpkin in the greenhouse:
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Jody (on the left) and Jamie (on the right) enjoying the pumpkin:
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And, last but not least, Annie eating her serving of pumpkin:
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In honor of Sarah Baeckler

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Today’s day of sanctuary was sponsored in honor of Sarah Baeckler by Patty Wilkerson! As Patty appropriately summed up when asked about sponsoring the day, “Who doesn’t love Sarah?!” And we couldn’t agree more! Sarah is the former Executive Director of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and recently moved out of state and into the next chapter of her life as Executive Director of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance. And though she works tirelessly to improve the lives of primates everywhere, she still manages to come back to volunteer her time at the sanctuary as a volunteer caregiver. (As a side note, Patty is a chimp house volunteer who also comes from out of state. We have the most dedicated volunteers!).

I suspect Foxie is going to be doing a lot of pirouettes and back flips when she sees her good friend, Sarah, today. We humans might as well, but that would just be awkward, so we’ll leave it to Foxie.

Foxie with a playface

Patty, thank you so much for honoring Sarah and the chimpanzees in such a thoughtful way!

The inimitable Jamie

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Just as humans do, each of the chimpanzees has their own unique personality. And Jamie’s is like a kaleidoscope. She surprises us every day with her strength, beauty, intelligence, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and sheer, well, Jamie-ness. Jamie was my first chimpanzee friend and as such she holds a special place in my heart. While she can be demanding and intense in her relationships with both humans and chimpanzees, she can also be joyful, caring, and so much fun to hang out with. But one thing that Jamie consistently is, is a privilege to know, and an honor to call my friend.

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As Diana mentioned earlier today, it takes a virtual village to care for these seven amazing beings and we are so thankful to all of you who help provide them with the sanctuary they deserve. While this next photo of Jamie was previously posted, it’s one of my favorites and I feel, catches that inimitable spirit of hers. It also reminds me, as does Jamie, of one of my favorite quotes by Federico Fellini, “You have to live spherically – in many directions. Never lose your childish enthusiasm – and things will come your way.” Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for enabling things to come Jamie’s (and all of the chimpanzees’) way.

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On Young’s Hill

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The chimpanzees’ relationship with Young’s Hill has certainly developed over the time they have had access to it. Sanctuary has provided them with the room to run physically as well as the room to expand psychologically. Not only have they grown as individuals as a result of the space provided but their relationships and sense of self appear to have evolved as well. Today, in honor of the gift that space provides, here is a visual exposition of the chimpanzees experiencing the splendor of Young’s Hill.

Annie foraging:
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Jamie walking through the grass:
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Burrito climbing over logs:
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Missy smiling while running:
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Foxie sitting up on one of the wooden climbing structures:
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Jody walking through the grass:
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Negra enjoying the sun (a repeat but one of my favorites!):
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